By Sen. Dylan Roberts
Special to the HT
RBC | The Colorado General Assembly just adjourned our annual 120-day legislative session. As we concluded our work, spirits were high as several major bipartisan efforts successfully passed, including a permanent solution for slowing the growth in property taxes, modernizing our school funding formula, protecting thousands of acres of wetlands, and so much more.
Further, the partisan rancor that often led headlines last year was significantly reduced this year, and Colorado will be better for it as we worked together to deliver much-needed solutions and progress on some of our state’s most pressing challenges. For me, responding to the needs of the rural and mountain communities I serve in the State Senate had me working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and always focusing on results — and we got a lot of good done.
Cost of Living
Addressing the rising cost of living in Colorado was top of mind this session. To that end, we cut income taxes, reduced sales taxes and made it easier for working families, parents, educators, healthcare professionals, and many others to get ahead. This was done through a bill that will be the largest tax cut in Colorado history as well as several pieces of legislation to expand existing successful tax credits as well create new ways to promote the workforce that Colorado needs.
Affordable Housing and Property Tax Relief
Affordable housing, and the impact of rising property taxes, has been one of the top issues before the legislature for several years. I was proud to introduce and pass SB24-002, which authorizes counties and towns to establish property tax credits for homeowners that rent to long-term tenants or needed community services, such as child care.
I also supported bills that will help the state significantly expand the availability of affordable housing. Finally, we passed a bipartisan property tax bill. The legislation will provide over $1 billion in residential property tax relief, will reduce commercial property tax rates, halt the growth of property tax rates in the future, and give local governments the certainty they need.
Protecting Water
We continued to make significant strides toward securing our water future. I worked to implement the recommendations of the Colorado River Drought Task Force with SB24-197 which will expand protections for agriculture water, increase stream flows, keep water in the Yampa River as energy companies explore new energy production, and increase funding to our tribal nations for water projects.
Speaker McCluskie and I successfully restored environmental protections to Colorado’s wetlands, streams and rivers after they were stripped away by the US Supreme Court last year.
I was proud to sponsor the annual water projects bill which includes millions of dollars to fund the Water Plan, conservation and infrastructure improvements, and $20 million to help the Colorado River District secure the Shoshone water right on the Western Slope. We also passed legislation to prohibit the use of nonfunctional, water-intensive turf grass in new development and added funding to the popular turf-replacement program.
Investing in Rural Economies
Supporting small businesses and incentivizing new businesses to rural Colorado was a major priority of mine this year. Working with local stakeholders, we crafted SB24-190, a bill that will incentivize businesses to locate in coal transitioning communities, specifically Craig and Hayden, and use the rail line to move freight which will will make mountain passenger rail more fiscally possible, bring new businesses and jobs into the region, and facilitate both tourism and local commuter traffic.
Additionally, I was excited to be the prime co-sponsor with Rep. Lukens of HB24-1001, which will extend the successful rural jump-start program that I helped expand several years ago.
I introduced and passed SB24-194 which will allow fire and ambulance districts to utilize new funding sources in order to keep up with new construction and increased demand for their services. I also passed SB24-221 which will increase funding for the rural healthcare workforce initiative and send much-needed dollars to rural hospitals.
Historic Support for Education
Finally, this year was transformative for Colorado’s students and schools. The 2024 state budget and the School Finance Act will provide historic funding for K-12 public schools and eliminate the Budget Stabilization Factor, which will increase average per-pupil funding by $780 next year. We also passed a landmark policy to overhaul Colorado’s public school financing formula which will direct more resources to support schools that need it most, like the rural schools in communities across the Western Slope.
Now that the session has ended, I am grateful to be home with my family and am looking forward to connecting with folks as we unpack this past session and start to prepare for the next one. I will be holding Town Hall Meetings in all 10 counties of SD8 over the next month and hope to see you at one or, as always, you can contact me directly at [email protected] or 970-846-3054.
Dylan Roberts is the State Senator for Clear Creek, Eagle, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson,
Moffat, Rio Blanco, Routt and Summit Counties