Headlines Monday October 27, 2025
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Colorado Redistricting, SNAP Shortfalls, Boulder Transportation Management Fee, RTD Report, Ski Season Opens KGNU News
CU Defense Compact
Two University of Colorado (CU) Boulder faculty groups will weigh the merits of a higher education alliance among Colorado’s colleges and universities, in the face of threats from the Trump administration.
The Faculty Assembly and Faculty Senate both approved a resolution in support of the proposed alliance. If the idea moves forward, it would be studied at the Faculty Senate’s executive meeting on Nov. 20. The Faculty Senate represents the entire CU system.
The proposed alliance would be a mutual academic defense compact, according to Boulder Reporting Lab. It’s a statewide effort that began last spring, to resist pressure from the Trump administration.
The compact would be one of strength in numbers: CU faculty union officials say it would treat threats to any Colorado higher education institution as a threat to all of them. In a statement, CU leadership said the university understands faculty concerns, and is already involved in similar collectives.
Higher education institutions nationwide, including CU, have lost millions of dollars in federal funding due to resistance to administration policies against diversity, science, and other issues.
Colorado Redistricting
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser says he would support an amendment to the state constitution that allowed the redrawing of congressional maps to counter gerrymandering in other states.
Weiser, a Democrat who is among the candidates running for governor, told Colorado Newsline that when states like Texas and North Carolina redraw their maps to be more favorable to Republicans, Colorado must be prepared to respond. Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have all redrawn their congressional maps recently, at the direction of Donald Trump. Voters in California will decide in November whether to allow their congressional maps to be redrawn.
Redistricting is not on the Colorado ballot this year, but may be next year. Congressional maps are typically redrawn early in a decade, after the latest census. The recent mid-decade map redrawing by red states is unusual. Weiser said that while he would support an amendment that allowed redistricting, such an amendment should be limited in scope.
Senator Michael Bennet, who is also running for Colorado governor, said that while all options should be on the table, Democrats should focus on flipping Republican-held seats without redrawing congressional maps.
SNAP Shortfalls
Federal food aid will not go out on Nov. 1. That announcement came on a post to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website, and comes as the government shutdown continues. Friday’s post came after the Trump administration said it would not use any of the approximately $5 billion in contingency funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, according to the Associated Press.
In Colorado, Governor Jared Polis is proposing $10 million in state funds for emergency food assistance. But food pantry operators are saying that the emergency funding may not reach those who need it the most.
More than 600,000 Coloradans are facing uncertainty due to the suspension of SNAP benefits. That’s according to 9News who spoke to Angelica Village food pantry. Food pantry operators told them that are worried that the organization that will receive and divide the money, Feeding Colorado, the organization that distributes the funding, supports key food banks, but may not focus enough on smaller food pantries.
In a statement, Governor Polis proposed the state assembly’s Joint Budget Committee dedicate $3.3 million every two weeks to Feeding Colorado through about mid-December. Polis also urged Coloradans looking to lend a hand to donate their funds to Feeding Colorado. 9News said that Colorado is facing its worst food insecurity crisis in 10 years.
Advocates say that Feeding Colorado is a food bank network dedicated to all Coloradans, and money dedicated to SNAP recipients should be for them. While Polis’ proposal is dedicated to SNAP recipients, Feeding Colorado would be supporting food banks that also serve federal workers with stressed pockets from the government, along with others who are in need, but may not qualify for SNAP.
Boulder Transportation Management Fee
Boulder City Council approved a fee on most privately owned properties with the aim of bringing in $6.2 million annually towards transportation infrastructure projects. The Daily Camera reports that single-family residences will pay $54 annually, and multi-family residences will pay $42 annually per unit. Non-residential property owners, including private schools, hospitals and religious buildings, will pay $11-$160 per 1,000 square feet annually based on their land use category. The University of Colorado and Boulder Valley School District are currently exempt from the transportation management fee, but future agreements could include them.
The transportation management fee has seen opposition from the private sector, including businesses still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Concern was raised about the depth of the engagement process with stakeholders and the impact renters and people living in affordable housing will face as landlords and management companies might preemptively increase rent. City Council has considered a transportation management fee several times in the past. Collection of the newly-approved fee won’t begin until mid-2026.
RTD Report: FasTracks
A new report from the Regional Transportation District, or RTD gives a projected estimate of how much money will go into a rail line connecting Longmont, Boulder, and Denver. The report released late last week said RTD is asking for $1.2 billion as they’ve only been able to generate $441 million going to the project. A law signed in the 2024 legislative session required the transportation district to report that the north metro rail project, also known as the FasTracks Project, could be completed by 2034 if properly funded.
The large project cost does not account for inflation, and RTD said they could only scale back the project to a cost of around $1 billion , eclipsing the current $441 million raised currently. Public comment is open for this current project and will close Nov. 12. RTD will be holding their next board meeting on Oct. 28.
Ski Season Opens
The new ski season is underway in Colorado. Keystone Resort became the first ski area in North America to open this year, according to 9News when they began welcoming skiers and snowboarders on Saturday. Arapahoe Basin followed suit yesterday. Chairlifts there will be operating until 4pm every day of the week. Skiing generates billions of dollars a year to the Colorado economy, and supports some 46,000 jobs.
Importance to Colorado economy
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