LWV rescinds Polis award; Polis signs two transit bills into law; New law loosens affordable housing requirements

Headlines Wednesday, May 27, 2026

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    LWV rescinds Polis award; Polis signs two transit bills into law; New law loosens affordable housing requirements KGNU News

 

LWV rescinds Polis award

Gov. Polis’ commutation of the prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters continues to draw criticism.

As KVNF’s Audrey McCabe reports for Rocky Mountain Community Radio, the League of Women Voters of Colorado has rescinded its invitation for the governor to receive the organization’s 2026 Leaders of Democracy Award.

In a letter to members, the League says the decision follows Governor Polis’s commutation of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ sentence. Peters was convicted on multiple felony charges related to a breach of Mesa County election equipment tied to efforts challenging the 2020 presidential election results.

The League says Governor Polis had originally been selected for the award because of his record on civil rights, civic participation, and expanding opportunities for Coloradans. However, the organization says commuting Peters’ sentence conflicts with the values the award is meant to represent.

The League emphasized that the decision is not partisan and not a rejection of Polis’s overall record. Instead, leaders say it reflects the group’s longstanding commitment to secure elections and accountability for actions that undermine democratic institutions.

The organization says it informed the governor of its decision directly and remains focused on voter registration, ballot access, and civic engagement efforts across Colorado.

The League’s Leaders of Democracy event is still scheduled for June 18 at History Colorado, where two remaining honorees will be recognized.

 

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Polis signs two transit bills into law

Governor Jared Polis signed a pair of bills into law yesterday that will shape the future of some of Colorado’s biggest public transit systems.

One measure shrinks the Front Range Passenger Rail District. That’s the special district created to help fund a proposed Front Range commuter train.

The district is now scaled back to liberal-leaning cities where more residents live near planned stations. The change cuts out more conservative communities, like Castle Rock, Lone Tree, Monument and Greeley.

Voters in the district will decide this November whether to approve a sales tax increase to help pay for the train.

Another measure will reform the leadership of the Regional Transportation District, or RTD, which serves the Denver-Boulder region. It’ll reduce the RTD board from 15 members to nine starting in 2029. Supporters say the current board is too large to efficiently make decisions.

The law will also launch a study on RTD’s paratransit system, which serves people with disabilities.

 

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New law loosens affordable housing requirements

Colorado communities will soon have an easier time qualifying for money from the state’s flagship affordable housing fund.

Governor Jared Polis signed a bill into law yesterday that tweaks a funding program created by Proposition 123.

The 2022 ballot measure earmarked hundreds of millions of dollars for towns, cities and counties that committed to growing their affordable housing stock each year. The new law loosens the requirements to qualify for the funding.

Lawmakers decided to make the changes largely because most of the local governments enrolled in the program have not met their targets.

 

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VA hospital’s backlogs reveal delayed cancer treatments

The VA hospital in Aurora says it has cleared a backlog of nearly 5,000 mammogram results in response to a federal audit released last week. Auditors found the backlog delayed cancer treatments at the medical center.

The issue started in 2024 when the hospital shut down its breast cancer screening program. After that, it referred veterans who needed mammograms to outside providers who would then return results to the hospital through the VA’s Community Care program.

Federal auditors found the community care program in Aurora was understaffed and overwhelmed by the number of mammogram images coming in. They also said providers were unclear on the process and failed to send images on time. In some cases, they never arrived at all. As a result, some breast cancer surgeries at the hospital were delayed. The Aurora VA says no veterans were harmed by the backlog.

This story was reported by the Colorado Capitol News Alliance.

 

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Boulder County will resume controversial herbicide spraying

Boulder County is going ahead with controversial herbicide spraying at Red Hill. This is after the plan had been paused for months due to backlash from the local community.

Boulder County commissioners voted to continue the plan to use drones to spray the herbicide Indaziflam across roughly 800 acres of county open space west of U.S. 36 near St. Vrain and Hygiene roads, to combat invasive cheatgrass.

At the meeting, County Commissioner Stolzmann said she had received hundreds of emails from residents citing concerns about past pesticide applications, and that she was concerned the county had not adequately explored alternatives to chemical spraying. She was the only commissioner who voted against the project.

County staff said public feedback led to a more cautious approach to the spraying. They presented commissioners with a modified version of the project that included mitigation measures like 100-ft buffers from homes, the addition of drift-retardant chemicals, and additional environmental monitoring.

Two advocacy groups have filed legal complaints against Boulder County in Boulder County District Court related to pesticide spraying.

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