RBC | Colorado state Representative Dylan Roberts is wrapping up his second term serving CO House District 26, formerly consisting of Routt and Eagle Counties prior to redistricting that resulted from the 2020 U.S. Census. Roberts is now running for State Senate District 8 which includes 10 Northwestern Colorado counties including Moffat, Routt, Rio Blanco and Garfield.
Having grown up in Steamboat, Roberts has spent most of his life in northwest Colorado, apart from some time pursuing his education at Boston College before returning to attend law school at University of Denver and eventually working as a prosecutor for Eagle County. During his time in law school, Roberts served as a policy analyst, which he said helped him to learn “how things worked” at the state legislative level.
“We need a person down there who understands rural Colorado and is from rural Colorado,” said Roberts, emphasizing the importance of rural representation within the state legislature and more specifically, its majority party. “I’ve tried to, in my two terms, and hope to in the future, be a bridge between rural Colorado and the majority party down at the Capitol, and really be that voice for moderation and reasonableness when it comes to issues that impact our part of the state.”
THREE PRIORITIES
Roberts lists his legislative priorities under three broad categories, many of which he has already written, supported and passed legislation for. Those priorities are:
- Affordability of healthcare, housing and childcare
- Economic recovery and diversification
- Water
AFFORDABILITY
“Rural healthcare is a huge passion of mine” said Roberts, who has supported legislation aimed at lowering costs and improving access for Western Slope communities. Key among these are the reinsurance program which he said lowered costs on the individual market and increased the numbers of insured Coloradans. He also supported the recently passed “Colorado Option,” a public health insurance option he and other proponents say will increase competition and drive down insurance prices, especially in rural counties where residents traditionally have only one or two insurance options. “That lack of competition just allowed prices to go up and up and up” he said.
Roberts also wrote and passed a bill making Colorado the first state in the nation to cap the cost of insulin for people with diabetes. “People were paying a thousand to two thousand a month for insulin,” said Roberts “and my law has lowered that to $100 a month for anybody with diabetes in Colorado”
He said other action to address affordability issues in rural communities include passing a bill to place more doctors, nurses and healthcare providers in rural Colorado over the next five years, and leading the “affordable housing taskforce” where he said he “fought hard” to make sure at least 50% of federal fund allocations for housing developments went to non-metro areas.
WATER
As “one of the few” who have worked on water law, Roberts said he understands the nuance and enjoys working on water policy because it “helps our part of the state more than any other part of the state, and that’s going to be a priority over the next few years.”
Facing multi-decade droughts and the potential for a compact call on the Colorado River, Roberts said, “While I think we all hope that that can be avoided, I think we need to seriously prepare for that to happen relatively soon.” In the event of a compact call, which would mean mandatory water usage cuts for certain agricultural users in the state, he said, “We need to make sure that our ranchers and farmers get compensated for their losses, and that we make it as temporary as possible.” He also said he’s “very much against” policies that allow for buy-and-dry and water
speculation, while supporting policies to promote general water conservation, watershed restoration after wildfires, and continued funding for implementation of the Colorado water plan.
ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION
Robert’s legislative record also includes efforts to help local economies recover after the pandemic and promote economic diversification and transition. “I wrote and passed the bill in 2020 that created and expanded the rural jumpstart program” said Roberts, describing the legislation as a program to incentivize businesses to locate in rural Colorado, noting that Moffat, Rio Blanco and Garfield counties are eligible “jumpstart counties.”
He has also led efforts to fund the “Just Transition” office, aimed towards helping rural economies transition from industries like fossil fuel extraction to things like tourism, manufacturing and remote work.
“It’s kind of a holistic effort in my opinion, one that requires someone who really knows rural Colorado and is willing to stand up for that at the capitol,” Roberts said.
Roberts said he’s willing to talk individually with any current or potential future constituents, noting his direct contact information is available at his website dylanroberts.org where you can also find “legislative roundups” for 2019, 2020 and 2021 that detail all legislation he’s supported, written and passed as a Representative for State House District 26.
By LUCAS TURNER | [email protected]om
