January 2010

Month: 
January
Year: 
2010
HOPEFUL NEW YEAR
 
Happy New Year! I am looking forward to the beginning of the 2010 session on January 13. With the impending cuts to the current year’s budget that we will need to approve (a total of $600 million) and the revenue for Fiscal Year 2011 projected to be $1.5 billion lower than the amount currently budgeted for FY 2010, you might ask why I’m hopeful. It’s because the recession appears to be over in Colorado, and the recovery has begun. The recovery won’t be quick, but it has begun, as we can see from the drop in the unemployment rate (to the lowest it’s been in over a year) and from the slowing of the decline in income tax and sales tax revenues.
 
JOIN ME FOR MY LEGISLATIVE COFFEE
My next Legislative Coffee is coming soon – on Thursday, January 7, 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. – at Panera Bread Café, 7739 Wadsworth Blvd.  There’s no program – you can take advantage of the opportunity to chat with me about issues of concern to you. I will continue to hold these Legislative Coffees on the 1st Thursday of each month, at the same time and location, all year.
 
TOWN HALL MEETING
My next Town Hall Meeting will be on Saturday, January 16, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the Standley Lake Library, 8485 Kipling St.   In 2010, I will be holding my Town Halls regularly on the 3rd Saturday of each month, same time and location. I’m kicking the year off with guest speaker State Treasurer Cary Kennedy, who will talk about the state of the state’s treasury. This is an opportunity for you to see her “up close and personal.” There will also be a presentation on the changes you’ll need to know about when preparing your taxes this year.
 
WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING AS YOUR SENATOR
Here are some of the things I’ve done since mid-November, when the last newsletter went out:
  • Attended briefings and/or hearings of the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) for the state departments that the committees I serve on have oversight of: Judicial, Law, Public Safety, and Corrections (Judiciary Committee); Treasury, Revenue, State Planning and Budgeting, and PERA (Finance Committee); and Education and Higher Education (Education Committee).
  • Attended a symposium on Juvenile Prison Reform.
  • Went to the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative’s annual fundraiser.
  • Participated in the Jeffco Legislative Forum’s annual training.
  • Attended the West Chamber’s Economic Forecast breakfast.
  • Gave input at the Jeffco Facilities Usage Committee’s public forum in Arvada.
  • Attended a shareholder meeting of PERA (Public Employees Retirement Association).
  • Presented at the first meeting of the State Advisory Council for Parent Involvement in Education (created by my bill SB09-90).
  • Presented as part of a legislative panel at the annual conference of the Colorado Association of School Boards.
  • Met with the Jefferson County Commissioners for their annual legislative breakfast.
  • Attended the annual legislative breakfast for U.S. 36 Commuting Solutions.
  • Met with the Jefferson Business Lobby for their annual legislative breakfast.
  • Attended the Arvada Chamber’s monthly 3rd Friday Issues Breakfast.
  • Held my monthly Legislative Coffee and Town Hall meeting.
  • Had numerous meetings to plan legislation for the coming session.
 
SEE ME ON COMCAST NEWSMAKERS
If you have Comcast cable television, watch CNN Headline News, Comcast Channel 37, in January at 54 minutes after the hour for my interview with Comcast Newsmakers, which will appear once daily. It will also be available on “On Demand” in February. I will let you know exactly which hour each day in January it will be televised, when I find out. In the interview we discuss the Early Childhood & School Readiness Commission, which I serve on, and the bill I’ll be sponsoring from the commission.
 
LEGISLATION THAT I WILL BE SPONSORING
Until bills are introduced, their exact content is subject to change, unless they come from interim committees. These are the two bills I’m sponsoring from interim committees:
  • (From the Early Childhood & School Readiness Commission) Using federal grant money to pay for the continuation of high-quality services in kindergarten to at-risk children who had been receiving them in Head Start or the Colorado Preschool Program.
  • (From the Economic Opportunity & Poverty Reduction Task Force) Allowing and encouraging multi-agency collaborative groups created by county departments of human services for the purpose of supporting youth and their families to include early childhood councils and community colleges (for a P-20 focus) as well as family resource centers and workforce centers.
These are some of the bills I hope to sponsor and what I think they’ll cover:
  • Requiring educational services to be provided to juveniles who are charged as adults for crimes they committed and placed in county jails awaiting trial. The bill determines the responsible party for the space, funding, and education provider for these “direct-file” youth (who are entitled to an education but have not been receiving it because the logistics had not been worked out.)
  • Allowing agencies in addition to community centered boards to provide for the case management of services for children with autism.
  • Updating the invasion of privacy laws to include live-feeds through “peep-holes.”
  • Allowing counselors or hotlines to keep confidential a sexual assault reported by an adult if it happened when he or she was a child.
  • A House bill by Representative Tyler to establish the recorded date of receipt of property tax payments when there is no postmark.
  • A House bill by Representative Soper to modify certain laws regarding automobile insurance coverage of repairs.
 
UPCOMING EVENTS
These are some of the events on my calendar for January:
  • Jan. 6 – JBC hearings with Departments of Public Safety and Corrections.
  • Jan. 7 – My Legislative Coffee at Panera’s, 7:30 – 8:30 a.m.
  • Jan. 7 – JBC hearing with Department of Revenue.
  • Jan. 8 – JBC consideration of changes to Department of Education’s budget.
  • Jan. 11 – Meeting with City of Arvada to discuss upcoming legislation.
  • Jan. 13 – 2010 LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS at 10:00 a.m.
  • Jan. 15 – Arvada Chamber’s 3rd Friday Issues Breakfast.
  • Jan. 16 – My Town Hall Meeting, Standley Lake Library, 10:30 a.m. – noon.
  • Jan. 18 – Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday – the Senate will not meet.
  • Jan. 22 – Arvada Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner.
  • Jan. 29 – Metro North Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner.