{"id":2108,"date":"2025-11-21T11:23:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T18:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/?post_type=article&p=2108"},"modified":"2025-11-25T11:25:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T18:25:27","slug":"colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Lawmakers\u2019 Luxury Trip Sparks Ethics Complaint"},"template":"","class_list":["post-2108","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Common Cause is under attack for doing our job: holding power accountable.","featured_image":"","article_type":168,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"41\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":155}"],"related_issues":[419],"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

A $25,000 Luxury Retreat Funded by Dark Money<\/span><\/h2>\r\nIn Colorado, a group called \u201cOne Main Street Colorado\u201d \u2013 a pro-business dark money group that spends big in Colorado primary elections \u2013 covered a $25,000 tab for hotel rooms for state lawmakers to mingle with lobbyists at a luxury ski resort in Vail.<\/span>\r\n\r\nI\u2019ll be frank: it\u2019s pretty sad that while Coloradans are grappling with an affordability crisis, politicians are getting wined and dined at a swanky retreat.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s why they never intended for it to make the news <\/span>(but it did)<\/span><\/a>...<\/span>\r\n

Why This Matters: Colorado\u2019s Gift Ban and Ethics Rules<\/span><\/h2>\r\nHere at Common Cause, we know exactly what this kind of trip is for: corporate \u201cgenerosity\u201d always comes with strings attached. That\u2019s why we helped write and pass Colorado\u2019s gift ban back in 2006.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSo, my team jumped into action and filed an ethics complaint against the 17 lawmakers \u2013 and this week, the ethics board agreed our case has merit and should move forward.<\/span>\r\n

Backlash From Corporate\u2212Backed Politicians<\/span><\/h2>\r\nNow, these corporate-backed politicians are fighting back.<\/b> They\u2019re smearing our reputation, attacking our integrity, and even <\/span>accusing US<\/i><\/b> of siding with the President because <\/span>we called them out!<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 For reading the newspaper and acting to uphold the law?<\/span>\r\n\r\nOne Main Street Colorado doesn\u2019t disclose their donors, but now they\u2019re calling us a \u201cdark money group\u201d \u2013 even though you can read who\u2019s funding us (it\u2019s mostly people like you!) right on our website, and we readily adhere to <\/span>our transparency policy<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\r\n

What\u2019s Really at Stake: Transparency for the People<\/span><\/h2>\r\nThe reason this group is trying to tarnish Common Cause is to distract from the real story here \u2013 ordinary people should know who is financially influencing their elected leaders.<\/span>\r\n\r\nWhat we\u2019re seeing from this group of Colorado legislators is the exact opposite: slinging mud when their lack of transparency is exposed.<\/span>\r\n

Common Cause Will Keep Fighting for Accountability<\/span><\/h2>\r\nI\u2019m tired of politicians who avoid accountability. And I\u2019m proud to be part of an organization that will call out anyone \u2013 no matter their party \u2013 who puts their own interests ahead of the public interest.<\/span>\r\n\r\nCommon Cause works for the people \u2013 all the people.<\/b>\r\n\r\nAnd to the Colorado Democratic Party: yes, we do take contributions to enable our work! Thanks to our grassroots donors, Common Cause can continue fighting for accountable government that\u2019s not beholden to special interests.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThanks for all you do,<\/span>\r\n\r\nAly Belknap, Executive Director, Colorado Common Cause<\/span>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_articles","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_related_articles":{"heading":"Updates","button_text":"See all Related Articles","manually_curate":false,"articles":null}}]},"yoast_head":"\nColorado Lawmakers\u2019 Luxury Trip Sparks Ethics Complaint - Common Cause Colorado<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colorado Lawmakers\u2019 Luxury Trip Sparks Ethics Complaint\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Colorado\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-25T18:25:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/\",\"name\":\"Colorado Lawmakers\u2019 Luxury Trip Sparks Ethics Complaint - Common Cause Colorado\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-21T18:23:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-25T18:25:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Colorado Lawmakers\u2019 Luxury Trip Sparks Ethics Complaint\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/\",\"name\":\"Common Cause Colorado\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Colorado Lawmakers\u2019 Luxury Trip Sparks Ethics Complaint - Common Cause Colorado","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Colorado Lawmakers\u2019 Luxury Trip Sparks Ethics Complaint","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/","og_site_name":"Common Cause Colorado","article_modified_time":"2025-11-25T18:25:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/","name":"Colorado Lawmakers\u2019 Luxury Trip Sparks Ethics Complaint - Common Cause Colorado","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-11-21T18:23:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-25T18:25:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/articles\/colorado-lawmakers-luxury-trip-sparks-ethics-complaint\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Colorado Lawmakers\u2019 Luxury Trip Sparks Ethics Complaint"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/","name":"Common Cause Colorado","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Common Cause Colorado","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2113,"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2108\/revisions\/2113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/colorado\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}