We’re more than halfway through session now and the Capitol is really heating up. With some of the widely supported bills now passed through both chambers, the focus has shifted to the budget and some heavy hitting legislation. Among these bills is the Colorado Public Health Insurance Option, a Climate Roadmap bill, and even a seemingly innocuous bill to implement media literacy tools in schools.

This Thursday, April 15, we’ll highlight two of these bills, and hear from their sponsors during our sixth We Are The Change webinar. As a reminder, this webinar series is just 45 minutes every other week, and you won’t be onscreen, so all you have to do is tune in and take action on your own time!

We’ll hear from West Slope Representative Barbara McLachlan this Thursday on HB21-1103 which would implement media literacy tools in the classroom. This bill follows up on a 2019 bill which created a panel of experts (comprised of rural and urban school districts, broadcast stations, nonprofit journalism organizations, librarians and parents) to establish a curriculum and resource bank to help educators teach media literacy to students. This year’s bill takes the 158-page findings from that panel and directs the Department of Education to incorporate media literacy materials into grade-appropriate curriculums. So why is this bill considered a heavy hitter? The intent of this bill is to give students tools to analyze information online and form their own opinions about the facts and evidence presented, but some legislators feel it will steer students in one ideological direction. Here at our Alliance, we believe in the importance of being able to distinguish fake news from facts, and trust our educators to give students the tools to help them make up their own minds. We are excited to host Representative McLachlan so she can give us some actions we can take to help see this bill succeed.

We’ll also hear from Senator Faith Winter who is co-sponsoring SB21-200 which creates a climate roadmap for Colorado. In 2019, she co-sponsored Colorado’s Climate Action Plan which established targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2025, 2030, and 2050. Yet nearly two years later, Colorado is still far off-track from meeting the outlined targets. The state’s projections show Colorado is on pace to meet only half its stated goals for 2025 and 2030.

Fortunately, Gov. Jared Polis has released a plan to help get us to reach our climate goals, and while a plan is great, it requires immediate action with some teeth. SB21-200 will set the governor’s roadmap into law, ensuring Colorado reduces pollution in line with the Climate Action Plan. Sen. Winter will outline the specifics of how this bill will help Colorado meet our goals, and of course, share with us actions we can take to help ensure this bill succeeds.

Sometimes the amount of bills that Colorado is working on can feel overwhelming. But aren’t we lucky to live in a state where such work is possible? On that note, we just received word that HB21-1119 for Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention passed the Senate and is headed to the Governor’s desk. This is a huge achievement for Western Colorado and it brings hope to the students and families here who have worked so hard to encourage the state to consider additional tools to address the high rate of suicide and attempts in our communities. Thank you to the four bill sponsors, including three West Slope legislators – Representatives Janice Rich and Lindsay Daugherty and Senators Kerry Donovan and Don Coram.