Newsletter Week of 2/12

This Week at the Capitol

The session is moving fast, and I'm engaged in conversations from housing to wolves, you can track our session schedule here. As commitees and votes are happening every day I want to share below some highlights of the week.

Tuesday HB24-1143 passed including my vote - this bill seeks to add an increase to the monetary cost cap at or below which the Department of Transportation can conduct highway maintenance without having to hold a bid. The bill will require the transportation department to report annually on highway maintenance projects that cost no more than the project cost cap which is intended to streamline our maintenance and get us driving on better roads.

Last Friday, I supported the Bill of Rights for Foster Youth by Co-Sponsoring House Bill 24-1017, this bill creates a statutory bill of rights for youth in foster care in Colorado with the intent of ensuring rights to children in our foster care system. I think giving written notice of rights to these youth in transition programs will improve trust and create healthy outcomes for the youth in our system and their host families.

  That same day I turned my attention to the privacy and security of our biological data as I voted to expand “sensitive data” to include biological data in HB24-1058. As our lives are being more and more influenced by the technology around us I think it is important to limit the sharing of our data.

Let's Talk about Housing

Due to the unique housing issues that face our district, ie. terms like transportation corridor, protecting the make-up of our communities, and dealing with our inability to have dense, purchasable housing built in house district 37 - I am primarily focused on a multi-year approach for how to bring back a condominium marketplace. Housing is a complex issue statewide, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution that will work for our district and satisfy some intentions from our region. I am engaged with Arapahoe County, and the municipal governments of Centennial and Greenwood Village to balance, identify, and address legislative priorities as well as educate all parties about our unique concerns.

What the region needs: dense affordable housing. The region is eying "the transportation corridor" (the area around I-25 and the light rail station) as an opportunity to build dense housing. There are inherently a number of problems with this plan, the largest of which completely changes the face of our communities by building thousands of apartment units and not addressing the need for purchasable housing. In the Capitol, almost anyone you talk to has their own idea about housing and there are a number of bills that seek to make changes about how we house people, many of which are tone-deaf to the fundamental need for purchasable housing in our area or our communities wishes for what housing should be built and where.

Any progressive housing policy that we pass will ultimately be ineffective if we don't deal with purchasable inventory. The problem is, due to unintended consequences of legislation passed in 2001 and 2010, there is no building marketplace or competitive insurance available for the development of high-density purchasable housing such as condos. There is no magic wand, one-year legislative fix to this problem. To address this, we must take a multi-year engaging focus addressing several areas of legislation. This year for me, step one is dealing with how we resolve construction defects.

Bills That I Have Nonstop Attention On

HOUSING - I am working on legislation with others to deal with construction defects in a manner that they get corrected, actually addressing the defects is both a consumer protection issue and ensures that our housing assets are either built correctly or fixed. Next year I will specifically go to work on the areas of legislation that impact the insurability of these projects.

AIRPORTS - Centennial is the busiest general aviation airport in the United States, Rep. Kyle Brown and I are working together to address issues related to noise and environmental concerns for all airports in our state near highly populated areas. As you may know, airports are challenging to legislate at the state level considering it is primarily regulated at the federal level. This year's bill seeks to create an Enterprise that will allow existing state taxes and fees related to aviation fuels that will allow us to incentivize airports to play nice in their communities by reducing noise over populated areas and address environmental concerns such as increased lead pollution caused by the use of leaded fuels.

DOLA- According to the CDC 20% of Coloradans live with a disability.  Coloradans with disabilities represent a large portion of Colorado's economy and spending power. Right now there is no resource for businesses to go to with questions or advice on ADA requirements.  This bill would allow the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) to act as a resource to collect and share information with all businesses looking to increase their accessibility to customers with disabilities.

JYACAP- For youths who are tried and convicted as adults in our state, the path to freedom is notoriously difficult.  This bill hopes to reduce a very serious bottleneck in our system by removing the need for the governor's signature from parole board decisions. This measure was originally put in place when there were doubts about how Juvenile Parole would function and is no longer necessary - the change streamlines the process. Even the Governor thinks that Juvenile Parole can be managed without his personal oversight.

TRAP- Training Repayment Agreement Programs: These agreements are typically used for higher-skilled professions; medical careers, lawyers, engineers, pilots, etc. and typically involve a payment plan or period of time to work with an employer to satisfy repayment for training that is paid for by an employer. This bill requires proper accreditation before being able to utilize this type of agreement and gives the Attorney General regulatory authority for how these agreements get used. We have a constituent that had their credit destroyed by an employer who said that their "Pet Grooming Academy" was worth a substantial sum, and is attempting to collect from a minimum wage employee thousands of dollars for what most people would consider "on-the-job training". The misuse of these agreements is what we aim to give the Attorney General the power to regulate.
 

State Employee Deductions Bill - The Department of Personnel & Administration asked me to sponsor this bill to address a gap in the state employees' benefits system to modify the Department's ability to deduct non-healthcare-related benefits from state employee paychecks. This bill will expand the options available for voluntary deductions and give the department flexibility to add future additional benefits to remain a competitive employer.

Community Engagement

While the end of Mardi Gras came about there were those partying on floats down in New Orleans, we in Colorado prepped for Valentine's Day. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day and got to spend time with those you love, and that we all got the chocolates that we deserve.

If you're looking to make a difference in our district this spring make sure to check out the Community Grants page here. The funds are available for various community enhancements, such as neighborhood signage, fencing, landscaping upgrades, place-making initiatives, and the development of community gardens. Starting February 16th Neighborhood Services will start accepting applications for the Large Community Improvement Grants.

We hosted our first town hall on February 10th where we were able to talk to our community members looking to share thoughts and hear what we're at work on. I had the opportunity to discuss Senate Bill 24-068 with a local doctor who shared how this bill will affect persons considering medically assisted suicide. This bill aims to reduce the waiting period from 15 days to 48 hours for any aid to dying in the state of Colorado. I presented a number of bills that I'm focusing on for the remainder of our meeting and delved into discussions concerning Centennial Airport, Housing, and TRAP agreements. Being able to have personal conversations with the people in my community is a privilege - and it's important to me to ensure that people know that I understand that my title is "Representative". I will represent my community and I encourage everyone to attend one of our town halls.

Last Friday was Military Appreciation Day at the Capitol! We set this day aside to honor and recognize the Coloradans who serve our country to protect our rights and our nation. I had the honor to welcome Bernie Rogoff, Jean Greenberg, and Brian Asbeck to the Capitol from Centennial and Aurora. Thank you all for your service.

In the News

If you’re looking for more information on the happenings of the Capitol, look at these curated news articles below.

AP // 2.5.24 A record number of Americans can’t afford their rent. Lawmakers are scrambling to help.

Fox 31 // 2.6.24 Your brain data could get privacy protections in Colorado

Montrose Press // 2.6.24 Catlin, Amabile sodium nitrite bill advances through House

Denver Post // 2.2.24 What’s happening in Colorado’s legislature? Check our 2024 bill tracker

Colorado Politics // 2.7.24 Poll: Worried about housing, Colorado voters support several ideas percolating at the state Capitol

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