Purplish

Lawmakers were in an usually good mood as they wrapped up their session this week, a marked change from recent years.

Lawmakers say sharing an occasional drink can build camaraderie and release stress during long days under the golden dome, but the legislature’s long tradition of social drinking comes with risks […]

Battles over air quality and the future of drilling are threatening to spill out of the state capitol and onto your ballot.

The state has a “train guy” for governor, and the federal government is offering billions in funding.

Spending limits make it hard for the legislature to put new priorities in the budget. But the tax code is another matter altogether.

Each year, hundreds of Coloradans with terminal illnesses use medication to aid their deaths. But guardrails put in to prevent abuse can turn into major roadblocks for patients. Now lawmakers are considering some changes to the policy.

Denver is cutting its budget to keep up with the cost of sheltering the steady flow of arrivals from the southern border, and that's leading to strain between cities, and questions about what role the state should play.

The session started with a protest over the war in Gaza and the issue has continued to reverberate.

From fateful tarmac conversations to contentious committee hearings, Colorado leaders tell the inside of story of their years'-long fight to ensure the high tech command stays in the state permanently. And why it may not be over yet.

The Mesa County clerk is accused of breaching the security of her office's election computers in order to hunt for evidence of massive fraud. How did Peters, a political novice who ran on lowering DMV wait times, become such a pivotal figure in the ongoing campaign to prove false claims that American elections are rigged?

Lawmakers start their annual session Wednesday, after an off-season that contained more than the usual number of bumps and bruises.

We break down the electoral courtroom drama playing out in Denver right now.

The state collected more money from new tobacco and nicotine taxes than it expected, and now voters must decide what to do.

Wondering what this Prop. HH measure you see on your ballot is all about? We explain what this proposal would mean for your finances, and the state's.

Yes, politics may be shifting in this conservative bulwark, but that's only one part of the story.

The end of session brought dramatic developments, bruising disagreements and a few goofy moments.

Here’s a math problem for you: how do you get hundreds of different bills to add up to one balanced budget?

Single-family homes have ruled Colorado development for a century, but Gov. Jared Polis and his allies believe the future needs to look very different.

As Republican lawmakers adapt to their ‘super-minority’ in the House, they’re grappling with a big question: is it better to negotiate when they can, or dig in on delays?

Sky-high utility bills and record corporate profits have many Coloradans — and lawmakers — asking if it’s time to rethink Xcel’s business model.

Housing, recreation, government -- advocates for people with disabilities say there are a lot of ways Colorado could be doing more to make those things accessible to all.

The policy has been banned in Colorado for four decades, but that could all change this year.

From the founding of the state to modern mass shootings, we look at the forces that have driven changes to Colorado law over the years, and what it means for this year's brewing debate.

In the first State of the State speech of his second term, Gov. Polis picked a big fight with local governments, while saying little on a major priority for many in his party.

State lawmakers have returned to session in Denver. We cover a bit of DC-style drama on opening day, and hear from congressional reporter Caitlyn Kim how the actual DC drama went down with the many, many Speaker votes.

Yes, we know what happened Tuesday, but we're still not changing the name of the podcast.

The big day is almost here and our team looks at where the campaigns, the polling and the voters stand, as things come down to the wire.

Colorado's election system has all sorts of checks built in to prevent fraud and subversion, but much of it happens out of public view. We go through some of the biggest security measures -- and some of the biggest conspiracy theories still circulating.

There are 11 statewide measures on the ballot this year, and we're here to give you the key points on each of them. Oh, and Andy plays stump-the-hosts with 140 years of initiative history.

Coloradans are increasingly naming housing as a top issue, and it's one that will appear on ballots this fall in a couple of ways.

One in six Colorado voters is Latino, a fact the campaigns are very, very aware of. But are candidates and parties forging meaningful connections, or just falling back on transactional habits?

Senate candidate Joe O'Dea is getting national attention for his views on abortion, Trump and other issues that set him apart from many in his party. But will his positions be enough to win over the moderate voters so crucial to winning Colorado's elections?

Colorado's Republican establishment is celebrating a night of victories that they believe will give them a leg up on the general election, and could even be a turning point for their party.

the primary approaches, one big question is what influence an influx of unaffiliated voters might have on the GOP selection contests.

The party is torn between its grassroots, with their concerns about the 2020 election and their hunger for a more combative tone from lawmakers, and its more traditional voters, who […]

Over the past 120 days, lawmakers have argued over justice reform, housing, behavioral health and so much more -- we'll wrap up everything they did -- and didn't -- get done.

Colorado ranks last in the nation, when it comes to mental health care available, compared to the number of people who need it. This year state lawmakers are hoping to make a big difference in the problem.

Lawmakers are debating whether to ban menthol cigarettes, flavored vapes and similar products. It's an issue that's pulled in tons of lobbying money and is causing some deep divisions between usual political allies.

And what do the choices made at the GOP state assembly say about the state of that party?

The story of how one county clerk came to believe in false claims about her own voting equipment, what it reveals about the many ways in which our election system […]

Colorado has been a landmark state for both sides of the abortion debate: home to one of the earliest laws to liberalize access to the procedure, as well as the birthplace of the personhood movement. Now, with Roe v Wade in doubt at the federal level, state lawmakers are writing a new chapter Colorado's convoluted history on the issue.

For more than a decade, Colorado lawmakers have pursued a range of criminal justice reforms.

Some legislative leaders want to give all local public worker unions the power to collectively bargain, but they're up against a lot of powerful opponents.

Seven percent of the state legislature is currently running for Congress — that’s the largest number in recent years and it speaks to the many ways in which this is […]

With home values and rents rising at a dizzying rate, state lawmakers are rushing to try to address Colorado's housing crisis. They do have one ace up their sleeve: a whole lot of federal money.

The legislature has gaveled in its session. The governor has laid out his agenda. The cost of living and rising crime are high on the list of priorities on both sides of the aisle. What lies ahead for this year's policymaking?

When rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol a year ago, most members of the Colorado delegation were in the House and Senate chambers. A year later, the memories still haunt them.

It's beginning to look at lot like politics, at least for our public affairs team; everywhere they go they seem to be hearing about what's ahead at the legislature...

And it gave us a lot to talk about.

With minutes left on the clock, the congressional redistricting commission approved a new map. We give you the lowdown on what it looks like, what it means, and how commissioners got there.

Marathon Zoom sessions. Painstaking geographic descriptions. And the slow struggle toward something like consensus. We head inside the final days of the Congressional redistricting commission's work to see how they're trying to get it done.

Colorado is one of the few states where the rules for redistricting encourage competitive districts. But is competition really all it's cracked up to be?

Redistricting commission staff have released a new proposal that -- if adopted -- would make some dramatic changes to Colorado's congressional districts.

Two stories in this episode about different communities that are hoping to persuade the commissions to take their concerns into account as they draw their maps.

The first draft of the Congressional map puts the state's newest district north and east of Denver. We hit the road to hear what residents think of that idea.

Denver's Northside, historic home of the Chicano movement, has been getting whiter over the last decade. At the same time, some suburbs, like Commerce City, have seen their Latino populations increase. How Colorado's new political maps reflect these changes could have a big impact on the state's Latino representation.

Republican relief, a bit of Democratic chagrin, and a whole lot of thumbs hoping to sneak onto all sorts of scales -- we look at the political side of Colorado's new approach to redistricting.

Colorado's redistricting is in the hands of new independent commissions -- we explain what led up to the change and how the process is works.

Redistricting: that once-in-a-decade process with huge implications for representation and the balance of power, in Colorado and nationwide. In a special season of Purplish, we look deep into how the state's new process is working and what may come of it.

Everything you need to know about the end of session, from 11th hour bill failures to last minute filibusters to post-session caucus infighting, all brought to you by two hosts who really, really need to get some sleep.

Several mysteries unfold at the Capitol as the final days of the legislative session approach.

We're down to the last two weeks of session and that means two things: rush, rush rush, and stall, stall, stall.

Through new fees and tweaks to the tax code, Democrats are moving forward with policies that could bring in a lot of new money to state coffers, all without having to ask voters' permission.

Issues of race and systemic racism have boiled over repeatedly during this legislative session, in policy discussions and public comments, exposing deep divisions in lawmakers' views, and their lived experiences.

Transportation. Guns. The public option. Climate change. We check back in on how four of the biggest policy areas of the session are shaping up.

Some state lawmakers want to make even more changes to how police do their jobs, but their ideas face stiff opposition amid rising crime and changing politics.

Renters and undocumented immigrants are two groups that could see their situations change significantly, under a slate of progressive policies at the statehouse.

Look, we know it's complicated. It could also be the biggest thing the state does on health care since the Affordable Care Act.

Congressional redistricting is a one-in-a-decade political dogfight like no other, and this go-round in Colorado is starting off with some extra challenges.

You've heard a lot about health care, guns and transportation. But lawmakers are working on a ton of other ideas that will affect your life in ways you might not expect.

The mass shooting at a Boulder grocery store has Colorado Democrats rethinking how far they might be willing to push for more restrictive gun laws.

How did the Jared Polis of 1918 handle *his* deadly pandemic? After a year of living through COVID we decided it would be interesting to look back and tell the tale of Colorado politics during the Spanish flu. One big difference? A lot more moustaches.

Statehouse Democrats want to go big on climate change this year. Is Gov. Jared Polis ready to go along with them?

Congress signed off on spending an out-of-this-world number of Benjamins this week. The Purplish crew looks at what all that money means for Colorado.

This episode of Purplish is brought to you by the letter P: For Polis, pandemic, policies, persuasion, piñata, and proposal.

It could be THE big issue at the state legislature this year, and we have all the details.

How would YOU finish that sentence, after the year we've all had?

This week, two Coloradans took center stage at the second impeachment trial of former president Trump, while back at the state capitol, state lawmakers are warming up for the restart of the legislative session, with plenty of big policies and political drama waiting in the wings.

Caitlyn Kim gives us the scene from DC, recording from the same room she had to hide from rioters in just over a week ago. Bente Birkeland has been back in the Colorado Capitol for the start of a legislative session unlike any other. And Andy Kenney, stuck at home with a baby, has a lot of questions for both of them.

Yes, that's actually what it's called.

Every election is a time of reckoning -- a chance for the state to look at its choices and divisions and consider where things go from here. To begin that conversation, this final episode of the season turns to two guests with a deep understanding of the state's politics and voters.

You know Colorado voted for Joe Biden, and chose John Hickenlooper over Cory Gardner. But what about all those ballot measures voters said yes to -- what will that mean for your life here? And hey, spare a thought for your state legislature; the balance of power came out basically static, and that's actually rather interesting. Intrigued? Good.

Obviously the big headlines on election night will be who wins and who loses, which ballot measures pass and which fail. But elections also tell a story -- about where the state is now, and where it might be headed. And that's what our Purplish team looks ahead to in this, our last episode before the election!

More than a million people have already cast ballots in Colorado. The Purplish team digs into who they are and what's motivating them to get it done so early. At the same time that lots of people are voting, there are also a lot of rumors flying about alleged attempts to prevent that from happening. A special guest joins to help separate fact from fiction.

You know we’re getting close — the whole Purplish team is finally together in the studio for the first time.

Eleven, to be precise. Do we manage to talk about all of them in a half hour? Heck no. But our team does dive deep on a few, while also talking about the larger dynamics at play on the ballot.

What happens when two candidates who are both running as the "nice guy" in the race meet on stage? This week we look ahead to the upcoming run of Senate debates. What's at stake for Cory Gardner and John Hickenlooper? And what about that presidential debate, huh?

It's political gospel that to win a campaign, you've got to reach individual voters, the more directly the better. So how are campaigns adapting their techniques to meet the challenges of the pandemic? Plus, there's about to be a giant Supreme Court nomination fight in Washington. Do Colorado voters care?

Some people worry the rapid move to mail ballots nationally is inviting massive fraud. Others fear postal slowdowns could sabotage the whole system. The Purplish team takes a local look at the reality behind the fears here in Colorado, a state with a long-running tradition of universal mail ballots.

CPR's Public Affairs team is back with your weekly dive into the upcoming election: the big races and the big issues, what we're hearing from candidates — and voters, and the moments that make us go wait... what? It's all here in the new season of Purplish.

In this bonus episode, we talk to voters about the primary race for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat, between John Hickenlooper and Andrew Romanoff, and review the candidates' records.

The legislature is on its final sprint to adjournment and we'll catch you up on everything they've done, and are still trying to do.

Last week lawmakers were laying aside even the most popular bills to make room to focus on the pandemic. But the past week of protests have pushed a new issue to the top of the agenda: police reform.

Lawmakers returned to work Tuesday in a changed world. The first order of business was to start laying aside most of their bills from the first half of session. The second order of business was to argue passionately about how they'll work from here on out. And the third was to set a new, pandemic-driven agenda. We discuss it all on this week's Purplish.

…But that doesn’t mean candidates won’t try it in this, the most unusual of election seasons.

Lawmakers have a lot of decisions to make before they return to work at the end of May. Those are as big as cutting three billion dollars from the budget, and as small as where people will sit to achieve social distancing.

Remember the start of the legislative session, when all talk was about paid family leave, the public option, and how Jared Polis might use his power as governor in the […]

What happens to the right to a speedy trial when the court system is shut down during a pandemic? Can testing every last person in a small Western Colorado county yield new insights into the spread of coronavirus? What will life in Colorado look like the day after the "stay home" order lifts? And how much, really, will lawmakers actually try to push through once they're allowed back in the state capitol? Hosts Bente Birkeland and Andrew Kenney tackle those questions and more with CPR's Justice reporter, Allison Sherry.

Times of crisis generally bring people together, but even in the depths of the coronavirus pandemic, politicians can only sing kumbaya for so long.