The head-spinning 2021 CO legislature

As packed and busy as it can be, the state Legislature is more-or-less reliable in its steadfast rhythm, with legislators working to determine the fate of hundreds of bills in just 120 days. While some days can make your head spin, this year we discovered something far worse than the busy hum of session was the “wait and see”mode that we sat in until February 16.
By early December, rumors were circulating that the 2021 Legislative Session would begin only temporarily, and then quickly adjourn for a time to let COVID-19 cases fall. That’s just what happened on January 13. Our legislators came together at the Capitol, new and returning lawmakers were sworn in, and then they got to work for three days to address several COVID-related bills that couldn’t wait. By late Friday, the legislature recessed with a plan to resume session on February 16.

A one-month gap in session made this year odd. At the risk of messaging their bills too early, legislators were sitting in a cone of silence, and it was difficult for us to anticipate what legislation we would see introduced at the Capitol.

Important bills emerge

But despite this, our members were working hard to make sure at least three bills were introduced — some helping draft language and holding meetings with local lawmakers, and others sitting in coalition meetings to discuss strategy. And now that we’re here, a full month into session, we have already seen the fruits of those efforts start to grow.

Last year, our local Food and Agriculture Committee members were following a bill that had passed through the Wyoming legislature. By the end of the year, our ranchers determined this is exactly what Colorado needed, and luckily, several legislators agreed.

Senate Bill 21-079 (coined the Animal Shares Act) would open up meat sales for local ranchers in our community to go directly to residents here in Western Colorado. So if you subscribe to a produce CSA from one of your favorite local farms, this bill would allow you to subscribe to a local rancher too. Not only does this mean peace of mind in knowing where your meat comes from, it’s also vital for the survival of local ranchers who would benefit from better market access to consumers, higher compensation for their product, and shorter wait times for processing — all solving problems made worse by the pandemic. And ranchers and local food consumers are in luck! This bill has sailed through the legislature and has already passed the Senate and its first House committee. In fact, by the time you read this, it may have passed the House entirely and be headed to the Governor’s desk. We’ll send an email update as soon as it has, but pull out your phonebooks folks, look up your favorite rancher, and get ready to buy some meat.

Also moving smoothly through the legislature is House Bill 21-1131. This bill is being championed by a coalition of clean energy partners from around the state, with our very own clean energy staff and committee members at the forefront of the work. Among the bill sponsors is the West Slope’s very own Rep. Marc Catlin. Over 70% of Colorado’s geography is powered by Rural Electric Co-ops (or RECs), including much of Western Colorado. Rural electric co-ops are member-owned cooperatives, making you the boss of your electricity — supposedly.

In Colorado, most RECs purchase their electricity from the power supplier Tri-State under long-term contracts. Over the years, many of our co-ops have leveled criticism of some of Tri-State’s practices and those co-ops have recently begun to win major reforms.

This bill tackles a number of Tri-State and REC reform priorities, including ending Tri-State’s practice of requiring board members to vote exclusively in Tri-State’s best interests instead of the best interests of their own communities. Among other things, this bill would enable co-ops to conduct electronic voting for board of director elections, and require the reporting of key co-op financial information to the public. This bill has passed the House and is headed to the Senate, with lots of opportunities for members to show their support.

Our final priority bill, House Bill 21-1119, was drafted with input and support from legislative committee members, former West Slope Youth Vote interns, and several other West Slope community members. It’s a devastating truth that Western Colorado communities experience higher-than-average suicide attempts and deaths year over year. For every life lost to suicide, there are 25 people who survive a suicide attempt. Responders, providers, students, and other suicide survivors suffer elevated risk themselves. This bill’s sponsors include three West Slope legislators (Senators Don Coram and Kerry Donovan, and Representative Janice Rich) and challenges the state to rethink suicide prevention to include suicide intervention and postvention. But what does this mean? Did you know suicidal thinking can be a direct result of common medical conditions, and only 46% of suicides are mental health-related? This bill would improve conditions for attempt survivors, their families, loss survivors, and medical professionals. It would ensure that all those affected are brought into the conversation when studying our historic self-harm related deaths, including working to understand what needs to be done differently to protect lives in our communities.

These three bills are really just the tip of the iceberg for bills introduced this session, and some of the state’s biggest bills, including a statewide affordable health care option, are yet to come. Bills addressing farmworker’s labor rights, universal representation for our immigrant community, sustainability grant programs, and the creation of an outdoor equity fund for students without access, have our heads spinning again, but in a really good way.

To help us keep track of all of these bills, we’ve even hired our first legislative intern, Daniel Haas, who’s really helped us kick this session into gear. [See more about Daniel here!]

We Are The Change

This year, we won’t be heading to Denver for our annual People’s Lobby Trip, but we still plan to smash our record and bring the Capitol to Western Colorado and more folks than ever. This year, we’re hosting a bi-weekly webinar series, We Are the Change: Your Guide to Engaging with the Colorado State Legislature. This is a chance for us, for you, to make a real impact at the Capitol. Here’s how it works:

Every other week on Thursdays at 5:15, for just 45 minutes, staff and members present a brief overview of what’s going on at the Capitol in real time. We’ll give an update on what bills are coming up in Committee, and hand you tips, tricks, and talking points to connect with legislators so we can help good bills get passed. Just like many of our Lobby Trip attendees from years past, this might be your first time engaging with legislators and we’re making it easy.

During the webinar, whether you’re making dinner or sitting on the couch, we don’t mind how you tune in. What matters is what you do after. We’ll send you away with a choice of actions you can take that will influence legislation in our state to help create healthy, just, and self-reliant communities for all of us in western Colorado. It might look like sending an email to your representative, perhaps submitting written testimony, sending in a Letter to the Editor, or even, on occasion, like signing up to provide video testimony. We’ll explain the importance of each of these tactics, why we’re utilizing them, and show you how to participate. You won’t need to be the expert — you can be the storyteller. Legislators need to hear personal stories from real West Slope people! I hope you’ll join us on this never before embarked on mission to do just that.

The pandemic continues, but during this legislative session, we can still come together.

For more information, please email me at jeriel@westerncoloradoalliance.org or join a webinar and I’ll see you on the other side of the screen!