At this point, Colorado stands one third of the way through our annual state legislative session. Hundreds of bills are flying through committees, floor readings, mock-ups, and votes. Western Colorado’s seven State Representatives and four State Senators are doing their darndest to represent and fight for our
many needs amidst 89 other lawmakers from other parts of the state.

This year’s session may have started slower than normal, but one thing is clear — this will be a decisive year for Colorado.

The life-changing impacts of the COVID pandemic are, at least for now, fading into our rearview mirror. The transformative legislation of recent years on healthcare costs, climate pollution reduction, overhauls of Colorado’s social and behavioral health services systems, and cost of living relief is taking hold. Voters’ passage of 2022 ballot items including a large new state affordable housing fund and healthy meals for school students have brought funding and stability to those vital aspects of life. The passage at the 2022 ballot of yet another state income tax reduction means that the legislature is wrestling with $400M in cuts and virtually no discretionary funds for new policy ideas and public needs.

These shifts herald a legislative session unlike anything we’ve seen in years. This session looks to be defined by a few major, seminal pieces of legislation — among them new oil and gas regulations and next-generation policies on decarbonization and reducing climate pollution – alongside several smaller pieces of legislation that do their best to advance solutions on key issues without costing much if anything.

Here are the highlights so far:

SB23-006 | Rural Opportunity Office

From a stellar bi-partisan lineup of Western Colorado lawmakers Sen. Dylan Roberts, Sen. Janice Rich, Rep. Marc Catlin, and Rep. Barbara McLachlan, this bill streamlines a host of state programs, grants, and technical assistance towards a single coordinating office.

The bill codifies a Rural Opportunity Office and tasks it with helping communities better access resources for coal community transition, rural economic development, small business growth, and other rural social development needs.

SB23-016 | Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Measures

This sweeping omnibus bill, from Colorado’s famous MIT and Oxford graduate Senator Chris Hansen, introduces a package of next generation climate action policies. Large insurance companies in Colorado are required to assess and publish climate risks to their operations, as is PERA, Colorado’s large public employees retirement fund. The bill updates Colorado’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals to add a 65% reduction goal for 2035, an 80% reduction goal for 2040, and a 90% reduction goal for 2045 compared to 2005 pollution levels. And in a small and significant provision, the bill creates income tax reduction credits for the purchase of electric lawnmowers.

HB23-1005 | New Energy Improvement Program Changes

This bill expands Colorado’s Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (CPACE) program to offer up-front financing options for building and agricultural property improvements that make properties more climate change, wildfire, and earthquake resilient.

HB23-1003 | School Mental Health Assessment

This bill creates an option for middle and high schools to offer student mental health assessments, just as many schools offer dental and vision health assessments. Qualified healthcare providers are selected by the Department of Public Health and Environment. Where student mental health needs are identified, students and parents are referred to resources with some key important exceptions for protecting student privacy.

SB23-162 | Increase Access To Pharmacy Services

This bill from Western Colorado Senator Perry Will takes aim at the frightening pace of rural and semi-rural pharmacy closures with provisions that empower supervised pharmacy technicians to perform more work and services.

To Be Introduced: Oil and Gas Reform Bills

Several new bills on oil and gas industry regulation include provisions that 1) require reporting on water use by industry operations and encourage recycled water use; 2) allow residents who document environmental safety noncompliance by oil and gas operations to access more concrete and responsive investigations of their evidence by regulators; 3) empowering the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission to regulate a type of well that would allow carbon from oil and gas operations to to be stored underground.

Our Work and Growing Lobby Trips!

Today the Western Colorado Alliance Legislative Committee, made up of volunteer members, is working hard to track and make sense of hundreds of bills. We digest new bills, dig deep into research, chat with legislators, suggest improvements, vote on priorities, and offer every day people ways to make a difference on key priority moments during the legislative session. We’ve already won some big changes to bills that will help build the healthy, just, and self-reliant Western Colorado communities our families deserve.

For decades, Western Colorado Alliance has brought our membership to the capitol in Denver each year to discuss key bills, values and priorities face to face with our legislators. This year, we’ve grown so big that we need two trips! This last week of February, Alliance staff will journey to Denver with our West Slope Youth Voice leaders, followed by an adult Lobby Trip the first week of March. Look out for email updates with photos, videos, and reports from these big upcoming trips.

Where is the Western Slope Delegation?

Legislative power — and the ability to get our priorities heard — often comes down to committee power. Thanks to years of untiring work, several Western Colorado legislators of both parties have risen to command important committee and leadership positions that we want to celebrate. We’re grateful for their service and their willingness to often work across party lines. Collectively, our delegation is now able to cover most of the vital committees that impact our lives.

Senator Dylan Roberts (Steamboat) is now Chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Roberts also serves on the Local Government and Housing Committee, Judiciary Committee, and Committee on Legal Services.

Senator Perry Will (Rifle) serves on the Health and Human Services Committee and Business, Labor, and Technology Committee.

Senator Janice Rich (Grand Junction) serves on the Education Committee, Health and Human Services Committee, and Local Government and Housing Committee.

Senator Cleave Simpson (Alamosa) serves on the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, the vital Finance committee, the Transportation and Energy Committee, and the Capital Development Committee.

Representative Julie McCluskie (Dillon) secured a winning majority to serve as the State House Speaker, becoming the first from our region in over 20 years.

Representative Meghan Lukens (Steamboat) is serving on the Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resources Committee, alongside the Education Committee.

Representative Elizabeth Velasco (Avon) serves on the vital Appropriations Committee, the Agriculture Water, and Natural Resources Committee, and the Energy and Environment Committee.

Representative Rick Taggart (Grand Junction) serves on the Finance Committee, Business Affairs and Labor Committee, and Transportation, Local Government, and Housing Committee.

Representative Matt Soper (Delta) is Vice Chair of the Committee on Legal Services and serves on the Health and Insurance Committee and Judiciary Committee.

Representative Marc Catlin (Montrose) is Vice Chair of the Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resources Committee and serves on the Transportation, Local Government, and Housing Committee as well as the
Capital Development Committee.

Representative Barbara McLachlan is Chair of the Education Committee — a big deal for a rural legislator — and also serves on the Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resources Committee.