Of Bens, Baracks, And The Real Race War

Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law Monday that officially eliminates most restrictions on how many unrelated roommates can live together in Colorado. House Bill 1007 prohibits local governments from enacting occupancy limits, which Polis and other critics of the policy have derided as discriminatory and outdated. Roughly two dozen Colorado cities have such restrictions on the books, though lawmakers said that only a few — including the college town of Fort Collins — actively enforce them. “This issue is both a housing issue and a civil rights issue,” Polis said during a bill-signing ceremony outside the Capitol.

With just over three weeks left in this year’s session of the Colorado General Assembly, lawmakers are starting in earnest to push through their preferred policies — and that urgency means bill schedules will become even more fluid. Major bills are still being introduced, and some — chiefly around property taxes and relief — are still expected in coming weeks.

A state agency that planned to house some sex offenders in a Northglenn neighborhood — near an elementary school and a children’s playground — will no longer do so after neighbors and public officials rose up in loud opposition. The Colorado Department of Human Services will move forward with a 32-bed mental health transitional living facility at 11255 and 11275 Grant Drive but agreed late last week to bar registered sex offenders from residing there, according to an announcement by the north suburban city. The prospect of people with convictions for sex crimes living at the home brought out a large crowd in opposition at a community meeting earlier this month.

This article is part of The D. C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. Roughly a year before the 2004 campaign hit its frenzied stride, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich huddled in a private room at a French restaurant just a few blocks from the White House.

Someone like this has no business chairing an organization that receives even a penny of taxpayer money, let alone tens of millions annually.

Where is the rest of the country? Also, if you’re an Iowan or Illinoisans, time to get on the horn.