This past week was certainly one of the busiest for me since returning to the Senate. I had three significant bills heard in committee this week, and all three bills passed unanimously! Those bills included:

I am very proud of the these bills for a few reasons. First, they are all bipartisan co-sponsored. Second, all three passed unanimously out of committee. Lastly, all three bills were policy changes that came directly from the people who will be directly impacted the most--the disabled, the blind, and the most vulnerable. Each bill represents years of work on the part of dedicated stakeholders, and I find their passage enormously gratifying, especially considering they were all put on hold last year due to the pandemic. Next stop for each bill will be the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Simultaneously, while I was presenting my bills in the Senate, negotiations on one of my other bills was ramping up in the House. After careful consideration, and in cooperation with various stakeholder groups, the sponsors of HB21-1125 to Suspend CMAS Testing, decided to withdraw the bill. While we felt suspending CMAS in its entirety was in the best interest of students and families, we could not get agreement to move forward, especially in light of the federal guidance issued last week.

Instead, we submitted a compromise bill, HB21-1161, that will significantly reduce the number of tests and maximize federally approved flexibility measures. While this new proposal was not our first choice, we do believe it has the best chance of meeting the federal government's requirements while still providing some relief from testing this spring. The new bill was already introduced and debated in the House Education Committee, and it passed on an 8 - 1 vote. The bill now heads to the House floor for debate and we expect to see it in the Senate sometime this week.

In addition to the above bills making their way through committee, I had a host of new bills introduced and assigned to committee. Check out the bill list below for a full update!

The Statutory Revision Committee met for the first time two Fridays ago, and we got down to business quickly. The committee is made up of both House and Senate members, meets year round, and is generally known as the "clean up" committee. According to our mission, we make "an ongoing examination of the statutes of the state and current judicial decisions for the purpose of discovering defects and anachronisms in the law and recommending needed reforms. We generally do not take up any changes that could be construed as making substantive law.

Due to our late start this session we missed the Senate deadlines for new bill introductions, therefore all our bills will begin in the House this year. The bills are generally bipartisan, sponsored by both chambers, and designated as "committee bills" (meaning they do not count toward our five bill limit). Here are the bills that have been introduced thus far in which I am a prime sponsor:

SB21-017 Sexual Contact By An Educator: Concerning sexual contact between a student and an educator in violation of the public trust. The bill passed through the Senate unanimously and it now in the House and scheduled for House Judiciary on March 16.

SB21-038 Expansion of Complementary or Alternative Medicine: Concerning an expansion of the complementary or alternative medicine pilot program for a person with a primary condition resulting in the total inability for independent ambulation (spinal cord injury). The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Health & Human Services Committee and referred to Senate Appropriations.

SB21-039 Elimination Of Subminimum Wage Employment: Concerning the elimination of subminimum wage employment by providing supports to ensure successful transitions for individuals currently working in subminimum wage jobs. The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee and referred to Senate Appropriations.

SB21-053 Adjustments To School Funding Fiscal Year 2020-21: Concerning adjustments to school funding for the 2020-21 budget year, and, in connection therewith, making appropriations. Passed through the House and on its way to the Governor.

SB21-104 Sunset Special Education Fiscal Advisory Committee: Concerning the continuation of the special education fiscal advisory committee, and, in connection therewith, implementing the recommendations contained in the 2020 sunset report by the department of regulatory agencies. The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Education Committee and referred to Senate Appropriations.

SB21-110 Fund Safe Revitalization Of Main Streets: Concerning funding for the safe revitalization of Colorado's main streets. Passed through the House and on its way to the Governor.

SB21-115 Annual Funding For Talking Book Library Services: Concerning the use of money in the Colorado telephone users with disabilities fund to support talking book library services for certain persons with disabilities. The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Finance Committee and referred to Senate Appropriations.

SB21-135 Prohibit Certain Animals In Traveling Animal Act: Concerning a prohibition on the use of certain animals in a traveling animal act. The bill was introduced and assigned to the Senate Agriculture Committee and will be heard on March 18 at 1:30 pm.

HB21-1083 State Board Assessment Appeals Valuation Adjustment: Concerning the modification on appeal of property valuation set by the county board of equalization. Passed out of the House and sent to the Senate. The bill will be heard in the Senate Local Government Committee on March 16 at 2:00 pm.

HB21-1094 Foster Youth In Transition Program: Concerning the transition of youth in Colorado's foster care system to successful adulthood. Introduced and assigned to House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee on Tuesday, March 16 at 1:30 pm.

HB21-1099 Policies And Procedures To Identify Domestic Abuse: Concerning authorization to implement best practices for child welfare caseworkers to recognize domestic abuse, and, in connection therewith, addressing domestic abuse as a form of child abuse or neglect. Introduced and assigned to House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee on Tuesday, March 16 at 1:30 pm.

HB21-1125 Suspend State Assessments In 2020-21 School Year: Concerning suspending the administration of state assessments for the 2020-21 school year. Postponed indefinitely.

HB21-1144 Bingo-Raffle Licenses & New Equipment: Concerning the conduct of charitable gaming activity, and, in connection therewith, requiring additional disclosures from license applicants and modernizing the "Bingo and Raffles Law" to accommodate the use of improved electronic aids and devices in the conduct of games of chance. The bill has been assigned to House Business Affairs and Labor on March 24.

HB21-1146 Auricular Acudetox Professional Practice: Concerning the practice of auricular acudetox by a professional, and, in connection therewith clarifying that in order to perform auricular acudetox, a person does not need to be licensed, certified, or registered as a mental health professional.

HB21-1152 Repeal Obsolete Capitol Dome Restoration Fund: Concerning the repeal of statutes related to the obsolete capitol dome restoration fund.

HB21-1155 Sales Tax Statute Modifications to Address Defects: Concerning modifications to the sales and use tax statutes in order to address certain defects and anachronisms.

HB21-1156 Fix Defects Related to Severance Withholdings: Concerning the correction of statutory defects related to severance tax withholdings from a disbursement to an oil and gas interest owner.

HB21-1161 Suspend Statewide Assessments for Select Grades: Concerning suspending required statewide assessments for selected grade levels for the 2021-21 school year. This new bill passed out of the Housed Education Committee 8 - 1 and now heads to the House floor for debate.

HB21-1164 Total Program Mill Levy Tax Credit: Concerning reductions in the property tax credits that apply to school districts' total program mill levies for purposes of funding the "Public School Finance Act of 1994". The bill was introduced and assigned to the House Education Committee.

HB21-1178 Correcting Errors in the CO Marijuana Code: Concerning correcting nonsubstantive errors in the Colorado marijuana code.

HB21-1196 Update Senate Bill 19-263 Effective Date: Concerning the updating of the effective date clause of Senate Bill 19-263.

On Monday... I met with a group called Illuminate to discuss SB17... I presented SB38 on expanding the SCI waiver in Senate Health & Human Services Committee... I was interviewed by the Arvada Press... On Tuesday... I was featured in the weekly Senate Democratic Press Avail... I presented SB115 on funding for the Talking Book Library in Senate Finance... I attended the Transportation & Energy Committee meeting... I met with Arvada Police Chief Strate to discuss legislative bills... On Wednesday... I attended the weekly local government call regarding COVID-19... I presented SB39 on eliminating the subminimum wage to the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee... I met with stakeholders to discuss HB1083... I was interviewed by the Denver Post... On Thursday... I attended the SIPA Board Meeting... I chaired the Senate Education Committee... On Friday... I attended the CCHE work session and business meeting... I was interviewed by the Jeffco Transcript... I was interviewed by Chalkbeat Colorado... We observed a moment of silence to remember the one year anniversary of COVID-19 in our state.

March 7, 2021 Denver Business Journal: Weeks into legislative session, here's the status of Polis' big transportation stimulus plan

March 7, 2021 Colorado Springs Gazette: Legislative Focus on Colorado Springs, March 5 | Early wins for Carver

March 6, 2021 Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: Civics bill advances in Colorado Senate

March 5, 2021 Colorado Politics: Lawmakers approve bill to put off certain statewide standardized tests for 2021

March 5, 2021 The Denver Post: Colorado schools won’t lose funding this school year — and 3 other education bills to watch

March 5, 2021 Durango Telegraph: Getting put to the test

March 5, 2021 Summit Daily News: Opinion | Susan Knopf: Suspend state testing

March 5, 2021 The Durango Herald: Rep. Barbara McLachlan: Playing “Mother, May I?” and “High Hurdles”

March 5, 2021 Colorado Public Radio: Lawmakers Move To Expand Program That Helped Restaurants And Pedestrians Take Over Colorado’s Main Streets In The Pandemic

March 5, 2021 Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: Colorado lawmakers advance bill that would boost school funding

March 5, 2021 EIN News: Zenzinger Defends Coloradans With Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities

March 4, 2021 The Denver Post: The Spot: Counting the days until spring — and this week’s eye-catching political numbers

March 3, 2021 The Colorado Sun: Colorado districts prepare for CMAS testing amid uncertainty about federal waiver

March 3, 2021 State of Reform: Colorado Legislature considers bill to expand complementary at-home services to disabled

March 3, 2021 The Chronicle News: Colorado lawmakers advance bill that would boost school funding

March 3, 2021 Pagosa Daily Post: Colorado Schools Uncertain About Waivers for Standardized Testing

March 1, 2021 The Coloradoan: Colorado parents face multiple choice question on standardized tests: Data vs. stress

Mark your calendar for our next virtual town hall meeting! We will be hosting a member of the Joint Budget Committee to discuss the upcoming state budget.