May 2010 - 1st half

The Legislature is allowed to be in session for only 120 days. Any bills not passed by midnight on May 12, 2010, are dead. The Governor has 30 days after the end of the session to sign or veto all the bills that have been passed and have not yet been signed or vetoed. So far the Governor has signed 89 bills (and has not vetoed any). We are working furiously to consider all the remaining bills out of the 430 House Bills, 8 House Concurrent Resolutions, 209 Senate Bills, and 9 Senate Concurrent Resolutions that have been introduced. (A Concurrent Resolution is a bill that proposes to put something on the ballot – it requires a two-thirds vote in each house, but not a signature of the Governor.)

My next Legislative Coffee is coming soon – on Thursday, May 6, 7:15 - 8:15 a.m. – at Panera’s, 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 do this on the first Thursday of every month, at the same time and place.

Much of my attention in April was consumed by Senate Bill 191, Ensuring Quality Instruction Through Educator Effectiveness. This bill, co-sponsored by Senators Johnston (D-Denver) and Spence (R-Centennial), aims to overhaul the state’s system of performance evaluation of teachers and principals based on their “effectiveness,” which will be defined by the new Council on Educator Effectiveness, but which will include a requirement that 50% be based on students’ “growth” on test scores. The bill caused an uproar from teachers and parents around the state, who believe that the bill will damage the teaching profession rather than improve it. I was one of the 14 Senators who voted against the bill on Friday, April 30. To find out more about the bill and why I voted against it, see my blogs: Senate Bill 191, Principal and Teacher Effectiveness and Why I Voted NO on SB 191.

We have seen the damage to the entire economy caused by under-regulation of financial institutions. Colorado’s Attorney General who reported that most people who take out payday loans are already in a crushing cycle of debt – about 67% of payday loans went to people with 12 or more loans in the past year, and 46% of loans went to people with more than 16 loans in the past year. This indicates that Coloradans who need a quick loan for unexpected expenses, like a car repair or bills beyond their budget, end up needing to take out additional loans to pay off their initial loan. The average payday borrower pays $573 for an initial loan of $354 and takes out the same loan six times before being able to pay off their original loan. HB 10-1351 was introduced to deal with this situation; it seeks to help thousands of Coloradans escape the cycle of debt because of predatory lending by capping the interest rates of payday loans at 45%, reforming the industry so it’s honest, affordable, and still profitable. The bill has passed the House and the Senate.

 

If you or someone you know is struggling to get out of payday loan debt, here are some alternatives that might help:

April 22, 2010, was the 40^th Earth Day. Check out these 40 ways you can protect the planet.

My guests at the April 17 meeting were Monisha Merchant from the CU Board of Regents, Jane Goff and Angelika Schroeder from the State Board of Education (SBE), and Robin Johnson and Paula Noonan from the Jeffco School Board. I asked them to describe to us what the role of their board is in regard to education and answer any questions members of the audience had. 

 

Monisha Merchant is the Regent representing the 7^th Congressional District (CD). She explained that the Regents are in charge of the four campuses that are part of the University of Colorado system: CU Boulder, CU Denver, CU Colorado Springs, and the Anschutz Campus (formerly Fitzsimmons) that houses the medical school and hospital. The Regents set tuition rates and fees, in accordance with what is allowed by state law, and hire the president of CU. They meet about 6 times per year, generally rotating on different campuses.

 

Jane Goff represents the 7^th CD and Angelika Schroeder represents the 2^nd CD on the SBE, which governs the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and public education in the state, preschool through 12^th grade, as well as teacher preparation programs in higher education. The SBE is in charge of the content standards and assessments, hiring the Commissioner of Education, libraries, accreditation of school districts, distribution of state and federal education funds, granting waivers of state laws for districts and charter schools, and educator licensure. The SBE is currently working on the implementation of “CAP4K,” the Preschool to Postsecondary Education Act. The SBE has established the definitions of “school readiness” and “postsecondary and workforce readiness.” They have also reviewed and reauthorized the 13 content standards, which include 21^st century skills. They are currently working on preparing the guidelines for the new statewide assessments (the new CSAPs).

 

Robin Johnson and Paula Noonan from the Jeffco School Board discussed the current issues that the board is dealing with. The main issue is the state budget cuts and how they are affecting Jeffco’s schools. This year the district is using about $30 million from its reserves and cutting about $20 million from the budget. The projection is for another $40 million at least to be cut from the budget. Because 85% of the budget pays for staff, the options in making cuts will have to include staff reductions, a delay of raises, or furloughs. The district continues to find efficiencies in operations, but many of the cuts affect services provided by staff, like repairs and maintenance. Nevertheless, the district has had its graduation rate go up, its dropout rate go down, and its achievement gap shrink. They hope this will continue despite future budget cuts.

 

My next Town Hall Meeting will be on the 3^rd Saturday, as usual – May 15, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. at theStandley Lake Library, 8485 Kipling Street. At this meeting we will have presentations about the changes that will be made to the King Soopers Shopping Center at 80^th and Wadsworth and about what is happening with FasTracks and the Gold Line. I will continue to have Town Hall meetings during the summer in June and July, and possibly in August.

 

Here are special updates on some of the bills I am sponsoring: