SD8 candidates on the issues

The non-partisan group Club 20 hosted debates this month featuring candidates for state and national seats. Last week, we covered Colorado’s Third Congressional District and State House District 26; you can read that story at https://bit.ly/3fjGGOB. This week, we turn to the debate between Colorado State Senate District 8 candidates.

Eagle County residents Matt Solomon (R) and Rep. Dylan Roberts (D) took the stage to debate issues like energy production, agriculture, the urban/rural divide and more in their bid for State Senate District 8. SD8 spans 10 Colorado counties: Moffatt, Rio Blanco, Garfield, Routt, Jackson, Grand, Eagle, Summit, Clear Creek and Gilpin.

Candidate Matt Solomon’s message focused on curtailing what he called the growth of government and increased state budget, and his ability to bridge gaps between urban/rural and public/private sectors. “I don’t want to enable the ‘across the aisle’ talk because that shows the divide that’s happening and it’s tearing our state apart,” he said, preferring the term “building a bridge.”

Colorado House District 26 Rep. Dylan Roberts focused on his legislative accomplishments in the last four years, including writing and passing a bill that, among other things, caps the cost of insulin. Other accomplishments Rep. Roberts noted were investments into affordable housing, tax cuts for rural businesses, economic diversification and a bipartisan legislative style. “Every single one of those bills I just mentioned were bipartisan, because that is my style of legislating and lawmaking. I’m proud to be one of the most bipartisan legislators at the state capitol,” he said.

ENERGY DEVELOPMENT

Candidates agreed on the need to ensure coal workers are not left behind by coal mine shutdowns. Solomon said that legislation meant to create transitions was inadequate, stating “that bill had to come about to help those workers transition but the question remains, what are they going to transition to?” He also advocated for nuclear power as a viable replacement to coal production in the state. Rep. Roberts said that SD8 can be a leader on the issue of transitions for workers by viewing the challenge as an opportunity to create jobs and diversify the economy by working with the private sector and integrated energy industry. He agreed that bringing nuclear to the state would be a good idea, and cited legislative efforts to promote economic development in areas of the district already impacted. “The town of Hayden and the town of Craig received significant grants to help build a new business park so they can bring new businesses in. That’s the type of leadership that is required on this issue, is finding solutions,” he said

AGRICULTURE

Candidate Solomon argued that the state is micromanaging the agriculture industry, specifically citing state Senate Bill 87 which was signed into law last year. The bill extended already existing labor rights to ag workers, who previously were exempted from certain protections including the right to regular meal/bathroom breaks, the ability to form a union, and protection from unsafe working conditions, among other things. “We’ve become a state of regulating industry, not fostering it,” said Solomon.

Rep. Roberts returned to legislative efforts to promote and advance the industry including drought contingency programming, property tax cuts for ag producers, and additional funding towards assisting producers with compliance and the impacts of wolf reintroduction. “This is a top priority for me because it’s a tough road for this district,” said Roberts.

RURAL/URBAN DIVIDE

Rep. Roberts noted that the urban districts will always have more legislators than rural districts, which is why the future senator for SD8 should work on promoting partnerships with urban partners, rather than trying to fight with them. “I feel probably more part of the Western Slope caucus than the Democratic caucus,” said Roberts.

Candidate Solomon referred to points from CSU’s Dean of Agriculture to say, “It’s not the rural urban divide. It’s the rural urban bridge, and I am the candidate that can function as that bridge.” He added that his mix of private/public experience would help him relate to people on both sides of the state and would therefore assist him in building that bridge.

CROSS EXAMINATION

Solomon made a variety of claims based on Rep. Roberts “yes” vote on the Misdemeanor Reform act, which lowered the penalty for certain crimes from a felony to a misdemeanor. Notably, Solomon criticized Roberts for voting to lower the penalty for fentanyl possession. Roberts responded, “I voted for the misdemeanor reform act and so did every single senator in the Senate,” adding that the bill was widely supported, including by 63 of 64 district attorneys in the state.

Rep. Roberts asserted that Solomon did not support background checks for firearm purchases, based on a lawsuit the candidate was part of to sue the State of Colorado following the passage of a background check law in 2013. Solomon said he opposed the bill because it was redundant with federal background check laws. Rep. Roberts also questioned his opponent about climate change, asking him if he believed it was real and caused by human activity. Solomon said, “Climate change is real and humans contribute to it,” later asserting that the carbon emission data is skewed to fit an agenda. In regards to addressing the issue, Solomon said Colorado needs to hold lower basin states accountable for overdrawing from Colorado river storage.