Yesterday marked the start of the Second Regular session of the 74th Colorado General Assembly! Our legislators wasted no time in getting started, with the introduction of 96 bills on the first day, 36 of which are sponsored by Western Colorado lawmakers.

At Western Colorado Alliance, we’ve been working on a few bills for several months now and are in high anticipation for what is to come this session.

A look ahead at our priorities

Homegrown Prosperity — Our Local Foods and Agriculture team has been in communication with legislators and allied organizations regarding several great agriculture bills that will be introduced this session, looking to build more support for regenerative agriculture practices and local food economies. Expect to hear more soon!

Climate and Energy —  It wouldn’t be a legislative session in Colorado if we weren’t tackling Climate and Energy issues. We’ll engage around bills that grow Colorado’s clean energy economy as well as provide more protections and rules to govern oil and gas development. There are some exciting things to watch for in this sector! We’ll also keep an eye on bills that address water and drought in Colorado, as this issue touches much of the work we do.

Local county teams — While several issues have surfaced in our local communities in recent years, we have a few priorities we know we’ll focus on at the Capitol this year — local public transportation, affordable housing, and tenant rights, as well as mental and behavioral health support.

These bills won’t be the only ones we track, and if there is a bill or issue you are interested in, there are several ways to get involved. Please connect with me if you’d like to learn more about how to join our legislative committee, would like to get in touch with another organizing committee, or are interested in joining us on the People’s Lobby Trip this year (dates to be announced soon)!

A few internal legislative updates

It’s me, Jeriel, back in the saddle. For those of you who have tracked our legislative work for a while, I had the privilege of organizing alongside our legislative committee for several years. In 2022, I fully transitioned to the position of Organizing Director, so if you’re newer to our Alliance, you may not recognize me in this position. While I still hold my Organizing Director responsibilities, I’m excited to be back temporarily and organizing with our legislative team to engage at the Capitol this year!

Another familiar face joining the team is our 2024 Legislative Intern Kenya Contreras. Kenya is formerly a West Slope Youth Voice program student, and in addition to attending CMU this semester, we are thrilled to have her back with Western Colorado Alliance supporting our legislative work.

We have new faces on our legislative team! We’ve more than doubled the number of members of our Legislative Committee this year in order to better represent all the counties in which our Alliance works as well as our regional committees. This means we’ll have more people power to leverage at the Capitol around the issues we are actively working on at home.

I look forward to talking to you soon!