Hudak’s Senate Notes –August 2009

Month: 
August
Year: 
2009

BUSY, BUSY!

  The level of activity of the interim committees is intense now, and I’m very involved with that work.  Not only am I on two legislative interim committees – the Early Childhood/School Readiness Commission (ECSR) and the Economic Opportunity/Poverty Reduction Task Force (EOPR) – but I am also on the Drug Policy Task Force, a subcommittee of the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ), and a planning committee for the Race to the Top grant (R2T).  In addition, I am on subcommittees of these committees, and even a subcommittee of one of the subcommittees! – I’m chairing the Education and Poverty subcommittee of the EOPR; I’m on the Principles of Drug Sentencing subcommittee of the Drug Policy Task Force; and I’m working with two subgroups of the R2T Teacher Effectiveness committee.

 

JOIN ME FOR COFFEE (OR BREAKFAST)!

Beginning on September 3, and on the first Thursday of every month thereafter, join me at Panera Bread Café, 7739 Wadsworth Blvd., 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. for coffee (or tea or breakfast) to discuss issues of concern to you.

 

TOWN HALL MEETING

My next Town Hall Meeting will be Saturday, September 26, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the Standley Lake Library.   The topic will be education, including the “landmark” accountability legislation passed during the last session and other significant education initiatives.

 

WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING AS YOUR SENATOR

Here are some of the things I’ve done since mid-July, when the last newsletter went out:

  • Attended a celebration for the approval of funding to build the new state Judicial Center and the Colorado History Center, made possible in part by a bill I sponsored.
  • Held a meeting of stakeholders to discuss what might go into a bill to provide education to juveniles charged as adults who are being held in county jails awaiting trial.
  • Met with the EOPR Task Force at its first meeting. [See article below.]
  • Attended part of the School Finance Interim Committee to learn about ideas for improving funding for high-poverty and other “at-risk” students.
  • Met with the ECSR Commission at its first meeting. [See article below.]
  • Attended a meeting to work on planning for pedestrian and bicycle access to the Arvada stations of the Gold Line.
  • Attended the legislative breakfast of the state Cancer Action Network of the American Cancer Society.
  • Attended the press conference releasing the “SchoolView” website that implements new accountability provisions of SB 09-163, my education accountability bill.
  • Participated in the Conversation on Parent Engagement sponsored by CDE (Colorado Department of Education).
  • Attended the first meeting of the CCJJ’s Drug Policy Task Force. [See article below.]
  • Spoke at the 4-H Awards ceremony at the Jeffco Fair.
  • Attended the PERA Public Input Meeting for the Denver metro area.
  • Continued working with COPINE (Colorado Parent Involvement Network for Education) and CDE to organize the State Advisory Council for Parent Involvement in Education authorized by SB 09-90, my parent involvement bill.
  • Continued working with CSAN (Colorado State Accountability Network) to update the Accountability Handbook based on provisions in SB 09-163 and SB 09-90.
  • Attended the R2T Teacher Effectiveness committee.
  • Participated in the 3rd Annual Endurance Challenge to benefit Ralston House.
  • Attended the Westminster Faire.

 

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY/POVERTY REDUCTION TASK FORCE

The purpose of the EOPR Task Force, which is made up of 10 legislators, is to design a plan by December 2010 to cut the state’s poverty rate in half by 2019 (10 years from now). 

The first task of the committee is to define the poverty rate, so we can measure whether our plan is successful.  The “poverty line” is the amount of income needed for a family to meet its basic needs for survival.  Most organizations and programs set the poverty line using the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), which is calculated from the cost of food for a minimal diet times 3, using income adjusted for inflation.  At our first Task Force meeting, we learned that poverty can also be calculated by the National Academy of Sciences measure (NAS), which is based on the cost of food, clothing, shelter, utilities, and medical care, using income adjusted for inflation and location.  Then there is the Self-Sufficiency measure (SS), based on the ability to meet basic needs without public assistance.  For a family of four (two adults and two children), FPL is $20,444; NAS is $23,118; and SS is $43,810.  We have not yet made a decision as to which to use; the Metrics Subcommittee will look into the issue and make a recommendation to the task force.  To find out more about the EOPR, including agendas and dates of meetings, go to http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/lcsstaff/2009/comsched/09EconomicOppTFSched.html. 

 

EARLY CHILDHOOD/SCHOOL READINESS COMMISSION

The purpose of the ECSR Legislative Commission is to improve state policy related to early childhood and school readiness, including the areas of health, mental health, parent involvement, family support, child care, and early learning.  The Commission, made up of 10 legislators, is required to solicit input from members of the public, particularly those with expertise in early childhood, and recommend legislative changes. However, unlike an interim committee, the ECSR will meet through July 2012, with at least 6 meetings per year. 

At the first meeting, presentations were made to give the ECSR an overview of current and past efforts to improve early childhood in Colorado, starting with information about the original Child Care Commission.  The three state departments that are most involved with early childhood presented:  CDE, the Colorado Department of Human Services, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.  We also had presentations from Qualistar Early Learning, the Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance, the Colorado Office of Professional Development, the Early Childhood Association of Colorado, the Colorado Head Start Association, the Early Childhood Advisory Committee of CASB (Colorado Association of School Boards), the Family Child Care Association of Colorado, and the Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children.  For more information about the ECSR Commission, see http://www.coloradokids.org/our_issues/early_childhood/early_childhood_caucus.html.

 

DRUG POLICY TASK FORCE

As part of its mission to improve sentencing laws in Colorado, the CCJJ created the Drug Policy Task Force and the Sentencing Task Force.  Each one will be meeting 5 times August through September to determine what recommendations to make to the CCJJ on October 9.  The Drug Policy Task Force is to look at laws related to sentencing of drug offenders, with the hope of finding ways to reduce the number of people sentenced to prison for drug crimes.  The Sentencing Task Force is to look at sentencing overall, with the hope of finding ways to reduce the prison population and to streamline the sentencing laws.

At the first meeting of the Drug Policy Task Force, we were given an overview of the state’s drug laws and data on drug convictions, including the data on who is going to prison for drug crimes and who is put on probation.  Some of Colorado’s drug laws are based on federal laws, such as what drugs are categorized as “Controlled Substances” (e.g., heroin, LSD, Ecstasy, cocaine, and methamphetamine).  Sentencing is based on four things:  what kind of drug it is, what was done with the drug (e.g., possessed or sold), how much it weighed, and what the defendant’s prior criminal history is.  Our committee seemed to be in agreement that sentencing for drug crimes needs to be different from sentencing for other crimes (so that, for example, it wouldn’t require a person to be incarcerated for 8-24 years for possessing a little over a gram of cocaine).  The task force decided to have 3 subcommittees to guide its work: one to look at what evidence-based practices might apply, one to see what strategies are already in place that might be utilized more (like drug courts), and one to determine what principles and policies are needed for drug sentencing (which is the subcommittee I’m on). 

 

THE VOTERS’ VOICE

Don’t forget that if you didn’t receive a copy of The Voters’ Voice, you can see it online on my website.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

These are some of the meetings I will be attending or hosting in the next month:

  • Wednesday, August 19 – Groundbreaking ceremony for the Colorado History Center at 10 a.m.; meeting of the Direct-File Subcommittee of the CCJJ, 1-3 p.m.
  • Thursday, August 20 – Colorado Substance Abuse and Healthcare Summit.
  • Friday, August 21 – MetroNorth Chamber’s quarterly Development Breakfast.
  • Wednesday, September 2 – Visit to the Community Corrections facility in Jeffco.
  • Thursday, September 3, 7:30-8:30 a.m. – Coffee talk with me at Panera Bread Café, 7739 Wadsworth Blvd.
  • Friday, September 4 – Arvada Roundtable breakfast.
  • Tuesday, September 8 – EOPR Task Force meeting.
  • Saturday, September 26, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. – My Town Hall Meeting at Standley Lake Library.

 

(Because I will be on vacation August 23-29, I will miss the meetings of the School Finance Interim Committee and the Drug Policy Task Force on August 27, as well as the ECSR Commission meeting on August 28.)

 

To get further information about the State Legislature, go to the General Assembly website at http://www.leg.state.co.us.  For more information about the Senate Democratic Majority, go to http://coloradosenate.org/home/.