Mike McMacken

Just a guy in Colorado, optimistic and opinionated 'N such.

[Colorado Senate Republicans @ColoSenGOP]

At the 2026 Western Mining Summit, Colorado Senate Minority Leader @SenSimpsonCO spoke on legislative initiatives supporting mineral development and shared insights alongside Wyoming @GovernorGordon. He participated in discussions on the role of policy in strengthening the mining sector. At the summit’s conclusion, the @ColoradoMining Association recognized him as a Champion of Mining for his ongoing commitment to the industry and its significance to Colorado’s economy and communities.

[New Mexico House Republicans @NMHouseGOP]

Too often we see progressive Democrats stand in the way of common sense reforms on education, healthcare and crime. Now we are seeing those same progressives target their fellow citizens and law enforcement with financial and career ruin. 

This is beyond the pale. They passed an unconstitutional law and are now throwing a temper tantrum at the publics expense. Local communities are doing what is best for their communities, and following the law in the process.

#NewMexico #ICE #nmpol @SenJoeCervantes @TheJusticeDept

[Richardson-HD56 @RichardsonHD56]

Colorado’s Business Climate Cannot Be Taken for Granted

Colorado is still living off its historic advantages: talented people, strong communities, natural resources, agriculture, aerospace, energy, tourism, research institutions, and a quality of life that has drawn families and businesses here for generations. But those advantages are not permanent. They can be weakened, and in too many cases, state policy is doing exactly that.

As the Ranking Member of the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee, I hear regularly from employers who are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for a fair chance to operate, hire, grow, and serve their communities without being buried under constantly changing mandates, reporting requirements, legal risks, wage rules, benefit expansions, and regulatory uncertainty.

That matters because small businesses are not a side issue in Colorado’s economy. They are roughly half of our job producers. They sponsor the local Little League team, donate to the county fair, keep the lights on downtown, and provide the first job for many young people. In rural and frontier Colorado, a small business is often more than a business. It may be the feed store, the repair shop, the café, the local contractor, the grocery store, or the only employer keeping a family in town.

To be fair, the 2026 legislative session did include some useful steps in the right direction. Measures to reduce administrative burdens, streamline certain health-care rules, modernize CPA certification pathways, preserve job-growth incentives, support small-business recovery loans, address child-care capacity, and reduce certain payment-card fees all show that regulatory relief is possible when policymakers listen to job creators. Those efforts deserve recognition.

But targeted relief does not erase the larger trend. For years, Colorado has layered new costs and compliance obligations onto employers: paid leave requirements, wage and hour penalties, pay-transparency rules, harassment liability changes, privacy and AI regulations, deceptive-trade-practice expansions, and sector-specific mandates. Each one may be defended in isolation. Together, they create a stack of burdens that small businesses are least able to absorb.

When state government adds cost after cost, it may look minor from Denver. On Main Street, it can mean one less employee, shorter hours, higher prices, delayed expansion, or a closed storefront. Rural businesses cannot always absorb these costs, and they cannot simply relocate across town to a larger market.

Colorado does not need to choose between workers and employers. We need a climate where both can succeed. That starts by recognizing that every new mandate has a real-world cost, and that a healthy business environment is essential to keeping our communities, especially our rural communities, alive and strong.

[Colorado Senate Republicans @ColoSenGOP]

As a dedicated Weld County businessman, @ScottBright4Sen pours his heart into what matters most: our kids and their education. Representing a wonderfully diverse community, he had a massive 2026, championing 21 bills with the vast majority signed into law. That’s a huge win for District 13!

Support the mission by liking, sharing, and commenting on Senator Bright's video today!

#WrappedUp2026

[Colorado Senate Republicans @ColoSenGOP]

“Pull back the curtain and find out what the men are doing, and women are doing behind that curtain with Senate Bill 135, because they are doing nothing more than increasing taxes on taxpayers when we are one of the most unaffordable states in the nation. How about the governor talk about that?” - @SenKirkmeyer

📽️ @KDVR

[Richardson-HD56 @RichardsonHD56]

End of Session RICHARDSON REPORT":

“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.”

The 2026 session proved that warning still matters. After 120 days under the Gold Dome, the gavel finally fell at 7:17 p.m. Wednesday. Some good bills made it through. Too many common-sense reforms were killed. Here’s my recap of the wins, losses, and fights for House District 56

Read the newsletter at: https://t.co/b9SS1ZhRN2

[Mike McMacken @RealMikeMacken]

While any person can be dishonest and spin things to their advantage, but thats the thinhs about numbers, they dont lie.

Is this legal? Yes, via jumping through definition hoops, it is. But is this unethical? Yes, extremely and transparently unethical.

[TT @govtgrifters]

1) In a "tearful" moment, Lorena Garcia rose to the podium and emotionally defended her "Non-profit" work, for some reason.

Let's fact check it, follow along 🧵🧵

[New Mexico House Republicans @NMHouseGOP]

New Mexico Democrats spent the legislative session focused on virtue signaling instead of public safety.

Now the U.S. Department of Justice is suing New Mexico and Albuquerque over the so called “Immigrant Safety Act” and local sanctuary style policies, arguing they obstruct federal immigration enforcement and violate federal law.

At the same time, federal prosecutors announced more than 160 immigration related criminal cases in New Mexico in just one week. Human smuggling. Illegal reentry. Drug trafficking. Organized crime.
This is what happens when politicians prioritize activist talking points over the safety of the people they represent.

New Mexicans want safe communities, secure borders, and cooperation between law enforcement agencies. Instead, Democrats pushed policies that put ideology ahead of common sense and now the state is headed into a major legal battle with the federal government.

How much time and taxpayer money will be wasted defending these policies in court?

#NewMexico #Immigration #Politics #PublicSafety #nmpol

[New Mexico House Republicans @NMHouseGOP]

Enough is enough. Pass the SAVE Act.
New Mexico House Republican leadership just sent this letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune urging immediate passage of the SAVE Act and demanding a standing filibuster if Senate Democrats try to block it.

The American people overwhelmingly support proof of citizenship requirements and basic election safeguards. Yet Democrats continue fighting to block them. We already saw it happen in New Mexico. House Republicans pushed a state level version of the SAVE Act to strengthen election security and transparency. Democrats killed it.

No more excuses. No more games.

The future of New Mexico and our country depends on Americans having trust in our elections. Bring the bill to the floor and make every Senator defend their position publicly.

Only American citizens should vote in American elections.

@johnthune @SenateGOP @SenJohnBarrasso @ScottPresler @realDonaldTrump @elonmusk @GOP @NewMexicoGOP @EricLDaugh

#Politics #VoterID #SaveAct #AmericaFirst #NewMexico #nmpol

[Barb Kirkmeyer for Governor @KirkmeyerforGov]

@pweiser says regulation "should be like garlic just enough, never too much."

That’s rich coming from someone defending the same one-party Democrat control that dumped in the whole jar, drove up costs, and pushed businesses out of Colorado.

As Governor, I’ll cut red tape, protect small businesses, and make Colorado competitive again.

#itstime #kirkmeyerforgovernor

[Colorado Catholic Conference @cocatholicconf]

HB26-1309 was on the floor today. We are thankful for Sen. Zamora Wilson for addressing the problems in the bill and the severe break in decorum by Sen. Sullivan, who disrespected the Colorado bishops and one million Catholics in Colorado during committee -- and did not apologize.

HB26-1309 is the newest effort by Colorado to take children away from their parents if the parents disagree with their child’s gender ideology. Last year, 700 Coloradans opposed this bill. It came back again deceptively hidden in a domestic violence bill.

In committee last week the chair Sen Tom Sullivan @Sully_720 showed anti-Catholic bigotry and break in decorum against two members of the Colorado Catholic Conference and toward core Catholic teaching. It is shown on the attached video.

We asked at minimum to receive an apology from Sen. Sullivan on the Senate floor during second reading. His half apology at the end of committee suggested that the Catholics in the room (the Colorado Catholic Conference) go to confession for mortal sin -- presumably our position on this bill. That was not an apology.

We asked Sen. President @ColemanforCO to ensure this happened today. It did not. Very disappointing actions by a sitting state senator and leadership. It disrespects the one million Catholics in the state of Colorado.

It is important Coloradans hold their elected officials accountable for their actions. In a self-government, the people are protected by the constitution and should never have their parental rights or religious freedom threatened by elected lawmakers.

@COSenDem @COHouseDem @ColoSenGOP @COHouseGOP #coleg #copolitics

[Colorado Senate Republicans @ColoSenGOP]

Colorado roads rank 47th in the nation. HB-1430 is another dishonest tax-and-spend scheme disguised as “transportation funding.”

Democrats are asking voters to trust them with billions more in redirected revenue while pretending a temporary gas tax reduction somehow offsets the long-term costs to taxpayers. Coloradans need that money to fix our roads, not another pet project for the Democrats.

Watch the road debate here: https://t.co/uS91GmPfTH

[Colorado Senate Republicans @ColoSenGOP]

HB26-1281 is another example of Colorado Democrats trying to “rework” criminal law instead of focusing on stopping crime and protecting victims.

Thankfully, the Senate Republicans killed this reckless bill that would have put pressure on the judicial system and our courts.

HB-1281 would have changed major homicide statutes and created new legal classifications that would add confusion and inconsistency to some of the most serious criminal cases in our justice system.

[Mike McMacken @RealMikeMacken]

Thank you @bradleyforco for detailing the actual math and the full impact of this bill. So frustrating as a taxpayer and resident of Colorado.

One of the more infuriating parts of this multi-year effort meddling in healthcare fees and regulations is to send money straight into the Majority's laundromat to clean cash and fund programs, especially in healthcare, to benefit illegal immigrants. All while this effort happens, the Majority explains and "empathizes" regarding the great deal of program cuts to Colorado residents and American citizens, because of, "TABOR's spending constraints."

They tend to put it like our Democrat State Treasurer candidate and former Joint Budget Committee Chair, Senator Jeff Bridges says, "TABOR is why we (the state government) can't have nice things."

[Rep Brandi Bradley @bradleyforco]

Colorado families are being told these premium hikes are just “pennies.”

But SB26-178 adds up to over $1.168 BILLION in increased premium costs through fees, assessments, and mandates hidden inside government programs.

Even the legal memo raises constitutional concerns under TABOR — because calling something a “fee” doesn’t magically make it constitutional.

Coloradans are tired of paying more while politicians play word games.

[Representative Max Brooks @MBrooksHD45]

We tried twice to add a sunset clause to SB26-155.

If this policy truly works the way supporters claim, then there should be no problem revisiting it in a few years and reviewing the real-world impact on consumers and Colorado families.

Both sunset amendments failed.

Accountability and review shouldn’t be controversial.

[BasedHomo @5280BasedHomo]

Today, the @coagriculture1 decided to fully engage, and make official, their whistleblower retaliation and terminate my employment.

@AAGDhillon @JDVance @CivilRights

[Representative Max Brooks @MBrooksHD45]

Today, the Colorado House was opened in prayer by Pastor Bryan Fields of Grace Chapel in Castle Rock — and I was so proud and grateful to welcome my very own pastor to the House floor.

Pastor Fields delivered a bold and unapologetic prayer for truth, justice, protection of children, parental rights, and the sanctity of life. He reminded this chamber that every vote and every decision carries weight and accountability.

“May we stop pardoning the abuser and start protecting the abused.”

Colorado heard a message today about courage, conviction, and moral clarity. Thank you Pastor Fields for standing firmly in faith and speaking truth over our state!

[Mike McMacken @RealMikeMacken]

Fissile baby fissile!

[Larry Liston @LarryListon10]

Big news! Today the CO Senate passed my SB26-045 Nuclear Workforce bill 30-4.

This creates a council + new training programs to build skilled talent for safe, clean, reliable nuclear energy.

Jobs, innovation & keeping Colorado competitive.

Next, on to the CO House!

[Mike McMacken @RealMikeMacken]

Thank you @Senator_LyndaZ

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results," is one of my least favorite common phrases in general, but if the shoe fits...

[Senator Lynda Zamora Wilson @Senator_LyndaZ]

HB26-1322 is blatantly unconstitutional.
SCOTUS ruled in Chiles v. Salazar that HB19-1129 ban on conversion therapy talk violates the 1A by discriminating against one viewpoint. CO Dems are wasting time & taxpayer money pushing a lawsuit workaround. Classic fraud, waste, & abuse.

[Mike McMacken @RealMikeMacken]

Super excited to see our sports portfolio expand... maybe a WNBA team soon too?

Mountain high altitude with a Mile high attitude. Looking forward to cheering on @denversummitfc!

[Colorado Senate Republicans @ColoSenGOP]

Honored to welcome @denversummitfc to the Colorado State Capitol today!

State Senator Marc Catlin and the Colorado Senate Republicans were proud to recognize the club with an official proclamation celebrating their impact on youth development, teamwork, and strong community values across our state.

Organizations like Denver Summit FC are helping shape the next generation of leaders, on the field and beyond. We’re grateful for their commitment to excellence and the positive influence they bring to Colorado communities.

Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition!