Krista Kafer

3 weeks ago | denverpost.com | Krista Kafer

Eventually, the “Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals” law, if it passes, will be struck down by the courts as an unconstitutional suppression of free speech, but by then, damage will already have been done. In the time it takes to wind its way through the legal system, public discourse will deteriorate, family relationships will be hurt, and schools will lose trust. The damage will be immense and unmendable. Better that Colorado House Bill 1312 not become law in the first place.

1 month ago | canoncitydailyrecord.com | Krista Kafer

Colorado laws restrict youth access to gambling, pornographic magazines, cigarettes and chewing tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, and firearms, but not to pornographic websites. This week, lawmakers began the process of remedying that oversight. A bill to restrict pornographic websites to only those over the age of 18 passed by a bipartisan 8 to 1 vote in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

1 month ago | denverpost.com | Krista Kafer

Editor’s note: This column ran as a pro-con with another column that supported the possibility of Gov. Jared Polis granting clemency for Tina Peters. Remember when Republicans were tough on crime? Lock ‘em up and throw away the key? If you don’t want to do the time, don’t do the crime? My have times changed.

2 months ago | denverpost.com | Krista Kafer

Should politicians tell therapists what they can and cannot say to patients? This week the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a case involving Colorado’s Minor Conversion Therapy Law. The law prohibits mental health professionals from challenging a minor client’s sexual or gender identity. The counselor can challenge other beliefs and practices but not those. “I’m facing a serious challenge,” said plaintiff Kaley Chiles, a Colorado Springs counselor.

2 months ago | denverpost.com | Krista Kafer

Subsidize something and you’ll get more of it. Tax it and you’ll get less. That’s Economics 101. It’s not surprising that nearly three years after Colorado voters approved a ballot measure to subsidize free lunches for all students, regardless of parental income, utilization rates are higher than proponents expected, and the program is coming up short on funding. Proponents of the free lunch program sold voters on the ballot initiative by promising to tax the rich for it.