Western Slope legislators host virtual Town Hall

“I know I sponsor more bills with my Republican colleagues on this call than I do with my Democratic colleagues from the Front Range,” said Senator Dylan Roberts of Colorado’s 8th Senate District (SD8) following a “bipartisan virtual Western Slope town hall” earlier this week.

Western Slope legislators from 10 Senate and House Districts joined the conversation to highlight proposed legislation working its way through both chambers of the Colorado general assembly, in addition to bills that were signed into law by Governor Jared Polis in recent weeks and months. On the call were Sen. Dylan Roberts – SD8, Sen. Cleave Simpson – SD6, Sen. Janice Rich – SD7, Rep. Perry Will – SD5, Rep. Marc Catlin – HD58, Rep. Matt Soper – HD54, Rep. Megan Lukens – HD26, Rep. Elizabeth Velasco – HD57, Rep. Julie McCluskie – HD13 and Rep. Barbara Mclachlan – HD59.

Speaker Julie McCluskie of Colorado’s 13th House District is the first Western Slope Speaker of the House “in many many years.” She summarized some of the priorities of rural legislators as “affordable housing, affordable accessible healthcare and rural hospitals, water issues and wildfire.” Rural lawmakers also covered education, workforce, behavioral health, wolves and more.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Sen. Roberts kicked off conversations about affordable housing by discussing proposed Senate Bill 1 and other legislation coming down the pipe about land use and local government control. “Hopefully, we can find that sweet spot between allowing for local control for local decision making, but also making sure that government’s not getting in the way of affordable housing development,” said Roberts, noting the bill also aims to build workforce housing by utilizing underused state owned land to reduce land costs.

EDUCATION

Newly-elected HD26 Rep. Megan Lukens highlighted the passing of HB 23-1064, titled the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, her first bill signed into law. It intends to expedite the process for teachers from other participating states to get teaching licenses in Colorado. Lukens is sponsoring a bill to incentivize preschools or providers to participate in the Colorado universal preschool program, which is set to roll out this year. “Every 4-year-old in the state will have access to funded preschool anywhere between 10 and 15 hours for those families that choose,” said Speaker McCluskie, adding that the law provides additional tuition assistance for low income families. Rep. Lukens also stressed the importance of investing in state education programs and “continue to buy down the budget stabilization factor.”

HEALTHCARE AND HOSPITALS

HD54 Rep. Matt Soper talked about a hospital transparency bill that focuses on “our systems moving cash outside of state, and using Coloradans as a cash cow for helping supplement other states’ health care.” He said the bill negates the necessity of another controversial “hospital fee bill” that would prohibit healthcare providers from charging facility fees for certain services. Rep. Soper argued the fee bill could actually lead to less transparency, noticing that hospitals would “just somehow try to move it into your physician fee, or something that’s less transparent.” SD7 Sen. Janice Rich said hospital representatives told her “if that bill passes, there’ll be about five rural hospitals that will go under and go under immediately,” a sentiment echoed by SD5 Sen. Perry Will.

WATER

Sen. Roberts is the chair of the Water Resources and Ag Review Committee which has been focused on water issues, in particular the Colorado River Compact negotiations and preparation to mitigate impacts of federal cuts. He said “cuts need to significantly come from other places like California and Arizona” while noting that he is working to help prepare Colorado for the future. “We need to do everything we can to prepare for the reality of the federal government imposing cuts” said Roberts, noting that the state is not in a good position against the lower basin, particularly California and Arizona. “They have much more political power than we do in Washington,” he said.

HD58 Rep. Marc Catlin, who also serves on the Colorado River District (CRD) board of directors, discussed local efforts to influence the system conservation pilot program being implemented by the Upper Colorado River Commission. CRD pushed for the ability to review applications to the program, but were unsuccessful. He said if SCP continues beyond the first year, the district “is going to be adamant about reviewing applications” and pointed out the desire/need for local water managers to have more say in federal water negotiations. Specific concerns include proof that water released from Colorado reservoirs actually make it to their intended locations, the fact that water conserved under SCP will not count towards compact negotiations, and proposed buyout of $150 per acre foot being too low among others. “We cannot do it all on the Western Slope,” he said, adding “until Southern California and those folks start to live within their budget Colorado should not be the ones that are sending more water for them to spend.”

Rural legislators from across the western slope covered a variety of other issues ranging from economic and energy development to wolf reintroduction and more. Examples of other legislation discussed were, SB23-006 – Rural opportunity office appropriation, HB23-1238 – Protection For Helicopter Search And Rescue, HB23-1094 – Extend Agricultural Workforce Development Program and HB23-1190 – Affordable Housing Right Of First Refusal.