There was a lot of coming togetherness this week in Colorado. There were sizeable protests outside the state capitol starting with the March 17th rally in support of immigrant rights. On Thursday, March 20th, thousands of teachers from across Colorado protested over potential cuts to education funding in the state budget. Also on Thursday, tens of thousands of sports fans descended upon Denver for the NCAA Basketball Tournament. At the Colorado Inside Out table, we have a weekly coming together of different ideas and viewpoints, and this week’s conversation went into overtime, you could say. We had to cut six minutes from the show so that we could fit into the allotted time on PBS12 (the extended version runs as is in our podcast on Apple and Spotify).

Immigration: Federal Policies, Detentions and Need for Reform:
This week, there was a lot of legal posturing following the government flying detained illegal immigrants back to Venezuela. Here in Colorado, the Acting Administrator for the Drug Enforcement Agency said that Colorado is ground zero for some of the most violent criminals in America, including leadership for the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TDA).

• Detention of Long-Term Resident and Activist: The detention of Jeanette Vizguerra (pictured below), an immigration activist who entered the U.S. illegally and had previously taken sanctuary in churches, sparked significant discussion. Vizguerra was detained by ICE agents on a break from her job. Laura Aldrette said, “It’s disappointing to see it. There’s no due process. They are not following the law of the land of the United States, and we are in closer keeping with the Duarte’s, the Putin’s and Maduro’s of the world than we are, as being, you know, upholding our American democracy now!”
  

  Immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra

• The panel acknowledged while Vizguerra is “not a legal citizen” perhaps she could be considered a potentially valuable “asset in Colorado” due to her community involvement and good behavior. Westword Editor Patty Calhoun: “Vizguerra behaved herself well. She did not try to escape, unlike, say, the two people who were residents of the ICE facility in Aurora who escaped Tuesday while people were protesting her being arrested.”
• Need for Immigration Reform: Chris Rourke: “Vizguerra is caught amid bad policy. I think the only the only policy worse than immigration policy is perhaps our tax code. It’s Democrats and Republicans at fault for not having a good policy… I’m not advocating for amnesty, but there should be a pathway forward for people who do come to this country. Maybe they haven’t come in legally, but let’s correct the problem and let’s give them an opportunity to establish residency and perhaps get a path to citizenship. We need that clearly defined.”
• Colorado’s Potential Response: The Colorado legislature is considering its own immigration bill to address some of these challenges and provide more protections to immigrants in the state. However, the business community is concerned about possible compliance issues for businesses. Carly West of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce said, “One of the questions that we have in the business community is… are there inadvertent impacts from immigration policies? Are we going to see Colorado law that’s in conflict with federal law in this area, or that directs Coloradans to not comply with federal law for a business? You can’t be in conflict like that.”

Economic Uncertainty and State Budget Shortfall:
This week, state economists confirmed a not so good financial forecast for Colorado, characterized by uncertainty. Next week, the Long Bill will be reviewed by the State Senate. The Long Bill outlines the funding for all the various departments and programs. Colorado faces a $1.2 billion shortfall.

• Chris Rourke: “Every March the legislative economic forecast comes out… and there’s anticipated lower tax revenue, higher unemployment, lower consumer confidence, higher inflation, likely due to tariffs and then fears of recession. There was a prediction that there’s going to be a drop in the general fund revenue.”
• The expiration of approximately $1 billion in pandemic-related federal funds exacerbates the budget challenges. Chris Rourke also noted that the state budget has seen a “41% expansion” under Governor Polis, highlighting the need for significant adjustments now that short-term funding has ceased.
• Former City Planner for the City & County of Denver Laura Aldrete: “Having lived through some significant budget cuts as a public sector appointee, I understand the pain that everyone’s about to go through… it’s going to happen. I wonder if we are keeping an eye on our long-term economy for the state of Colorado, for the jurisdictions? And are we thinking about that in terms of having long term success?”
• Patty Calhoun: “We’re not really dealing with what’s going to happen when the federal money goes, when we could be punished for being what, the gang capital of the universe, by the feds who have made threats to Denver… that we will lose some of our funding. So, next year could make things even trickier than right now.”

Teachers from Across Colorado Protest Potential Cuts in Education:
One big issue is a proposed shift from paying schools based on an average student count over 5 years, to a single-year student count. Schools worry that kind of change could result in millions of state dollars not going toward education. Other areas of education could be eliminated or shrunken in the budget which will go into effect in July.

• Thursday was the Statewide Day of Action: The Colorado Education Association (CEA) galvanized teachers from across Colorado to protest possible cuts to funding outside the state capital building and held a “no more cuts statewide day of action” in Denver, demanding proper funding for education. CEA reports that state schools are underfunded by around $4,000 per student per year. Another report suggests an additional $4 billion is needed each year to adequately fund Colorado schools. Laura Aldrete researched some statistics:
  • Colorado ranks 45th in education, and the average teacher salary is “$11,000 less than the state median income.
  • Colorado has a relatively low graduation rate for its own students.
  • 95% of Colorado students are in the public education system.
• Chris Rourke: “Governor Polis isn’t really keen on the protests, which I can understand. As far as the teachers taking the day off to protest… I don’t know if they really help.” Patty Calhoun concurred that maybe protesters voices are getting lost. “At the same time that all the Coloradans were out protesting at the State Capitol over potential budget cuts, we have the feds eliminating the Department of Education. Now, some of what they did was redundant, but some of those grants are key. We are really going to miss that.”

Plans for Stadium for Denver’s New Professional Women’s Soccer Team:
Denver will be home to a new professional women’s soccer team with a planned 14,500-person stadium at Broadway and I-25 in the Santa Fe rail yards, expected to be ready for the 2028 season.

• Patty Calhoun: “It’s a win. And the fact that so much of it was already set up for the potential for financing, I think we’ll see it move pretty quickly and they will be able to play there by 2028.”
• Laura Aldrete: “As a consultant working for a developer or on the public side in my role as planning director, I have worked on this project, on this 40-acres three times over the course of 20 years… it was the Gates Rubber Plant for decades. Now, it’s right next to a transit station. And this is transit-oriented development is a great opportunity.”
• Carly West: “When you look at Colorado’s impact on professional sports, we truly punch above our weight. We are going to have nine professional sports teams… and as we look at this development, the mix of retail and restaurants and things that will bring people downtown and have them stay, it truly is a great opportunity for the state.”

CHECK IT OUT: The stadium’s design was created by Populous, a global architectural design firm with headquarters here in Denver. Take a look at the plans!

The soccer team is currently being referred to as Denver NWSL. Fans took part in a naming contest and we’ve yet to hear what the new name will be when they start playing in 2026 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (where the Colorado Rapids currently play).

A little bit of trivia: That area of South Broadway was home to another sports team way back when. From 1922 to 1948, the Denver Bears, our city’s first professional baseball team played in the area where the Denver Design Center currently stands.