October 2009

Month: 
October
Year: 
2009

SET BACK THE CLOCKS, BUT NOT OUR STATE!

 

Daylight Savings is on Halloween night this fall – scary! But what is even scarier is the state’s economic situation, which forced the Governor recently to cut another $350 million from the state budget, and which will likely require the Legislature to cut millions more during the 2010 session. I got my start in the Legislature this past year at a time when we had to cut over a billion dollars from the budget, so I know we have already made all the “easy” cuts and did all the accounting “gimmicks” possible. What’s left is to eliminate programs that people are depending on for survival. It will create some real ghosts and zombies! Trick or treat? – neither!

 

JOIN ME FOR COFFEE (OR BREAKFAST)

Don’t forget to join me on the first Thursday of every month at Panera Bread Café, 7739 Wadsworth Blvd., 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. for coffee (or tea or breakfast). The next one will be on November 5. I don’t have agendas for these and I don’t put on programs – so take advantage of the opportunity to chat with me about issues of concern to you.

 

TOWN HALL MEETING

My next Town Hall Meeting will be Saturday, November 21, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the Standley Lake Library. The topic will be “financial literacy” for adults in these tough economic times.

 

WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING AS YOUR SENATOR

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

  • Attended a meeting of the Interagency Task Force on Drunk Driving, in order to be informed for the DUI subcommittee of the Drug Policy Task Force.

  • Spoke to the attendees of the Serious Women, Serious Issues conference about why women need to get involved in politics.

  • Held my Town Hall Meeting, with presentations on the topic of public education.

  • Toured the Jefferson County Jail.

  • Attended a presentation about Jeffco’s Recovery Court. [See article below.]

  • Attended a symposium on how to improve low-performing charter schools.

  • Held my second Legislative Coffee.

  • Gave a legislative update at the Arvada Roundtable.

  • Continued meeting with the Drug Policy Task Force. [See article below.]

  • Attended a briefing for legislators presented by PERA (Public Employees Retirement Association) about ideas for making the fund viable despite the economy.

  • Participated in a teleconference on the H1N1 flu.

  • Continued meeting with the EOPR Task Force.

  • Attended another meeting of the School Finance Interim Committee.

  • Continued meeting with the ECSR Commission.

  • Participated in work sessions of the Race to the Top (R2T) committees on teacher effectiveness and on turning around struggling schools.

  • Gave a legislative update at the Arvada Chamber’s 3rd Friday Issues Breakfast.

  • Attended another meeting of the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.

 

 

JEFFCO’S RECOVERY COURT

Jefferson County recently created the Recovery Court, a special county court for people charged with drug offenses, based on a model called “Drug Court.” Its purpose is to take swift and appropriate action with people who commit crimes related to their drug addiction so they do not continue to pose a danger to public safety, they get into treatment to overcome their addiction, and they stop committing crimes. Nationwide, Drug Courts have reduced crime as much as 35% over other sentencing options. For every dollar invested in this kind of program, taxpayers have saved as much as $3.36 in criminal justice costs alone. For methamphetamine-addicted people, the program has been shown to quadruple the length of abstinence from the drug. With adult arrests for drug offenses increasing at 12% per year, while most other categories are decreasing or stabilizing, Recovery Court is a wise investment.

 

DRUG POLICY TASK FORCE

The Drug Policy Task Force is a subcommittee of the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ), created as part of its mission to improve sentencing laws in Colorado. The Task Force’s purpose is to recommend changes in drug laws that will streamline drug sentencing and reduce the prison population and recidivism of drug offenders.

The Drug Policy Task Force consists of people with a variety of perspectives, including judges, district attorneys, policemen, defense lawyers, victims advocates, and legislators. We met several times over many hours during the last two months to prepare recommendations to present to the CCJJ on Friday, October 16. We decided to include DUI sentencing in our work, since drunk driving is a type of substance abuse crime. We based our recommendations, to the extent possible, on evidence-based practices which focus on changing the judicial system so that when crimes are committed because of addiction, the offenders can receive treatment which will result in their recovery and they won’t re-offend, and to make it less likely that they will be sentenced to prison. The Task Force proposed changes in the classifications of drugs – as to what level of felony or misdemeanor they are – to make the laws more realistic based on the impact on public safety from drug possession, use, distribution, or manufacture. We did not recommend the legalization of marijuana, but we did suggest significant reductions to the penalties for it. The CCJJ will decide at its meeting on November 13 which of our recommendations to endorse.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

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

  • Tuesday, October 20 – Meeting of the EOPR Task Force, at which decisions will be made as to which bills to sponsor.

  • Thursday, October 22 – Meeting of the School Finance Interim Committee, at which decisions will be made as to which bills to sponsor.

  • Friday, October 23 – Meeting of the ECSR Commission, at which decisions will be made as to which bills to sponsor.

  • Monday, October 26 – Meeting of people interested in providing input on my proposed bill to provide education for juveniles charged as adults who are in jail awaiting trial.

  • Wednesday, October 28 – Meeting of the R2T committee on teacher effectiveness, at which decisions will be made as to what recommendations to bring forward.

  • Friday, October 30 – Meeting of the R2T committee on turning around struggling schools, at which decisions will be made as to what recommendations to bring forward.

  • Monday, November 2 – Meeting of the P-3 Subcommittee of the P-20 Council.

  • Thursday, November 5, 7:30-8:30 a.m. – My monthly Legislative Coffee at Panera Bread Café, 7739 Wadsworth Blvd.

  • Monday, November 9 – Meeting of the ECSR Commission.

  • Friday, November 13 – Joint meeting of all R2T committees, at which decisions will be made as to what recommendations to make for the state’s R2T application.

  • Friday, November 13 – Meeting of the CCJJ, at which they will consider the drug policy and sentencing recommendations of the Drug Policy Task Force.

 

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