The first few weeks of a new session tend to be rather slow. The bills that have been introduced so far won't surface in committees for hearings until after the Committees of Reference conduct their annual SMART Act hearings. The "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent Government Act" (SMART Act), requires executive agencies to annually present specific inforamtion to the joint legislative committees during the first two weeks of the legislative session.

Last week, I attended two such SMART Act Hearings, beginning with the energy component of the Transportation and Energy Committee. The Office of the State Auditor presented the results of a performance audit of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) and Severance Tax. We also heard presentations from the Colorado Energy Office, the Public Utilities Commission, and the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Each presentation included the department's Wildly Important Goals (WIGs), as well as information on how the various departments utilized federal stimulus funds. The T&E Committee will meet with the Department of Transportation this coming Tuesday to discuss the other half of the committee's work.

The other SMART Act hearing I attended was with Education Committee. After a briefing with the Joint Budget Committee on the proposed budget for Education, we heard from a number of education departments. The first presentation addressed early childhood education, specifically the Department of Early Childhood Transition Plan and the Colorado Universal Preschool Recommendations. While the transition team is making good progress toward implementing the new department, there are many more steps that must take place between now and the proposed completion date in July.

Next, we heard from the Department of Education. Commissioner Katy Anthes walked the committee through a number of topics including the impact of COVID on student learning, key conclusions on student achievement in Spring 2021, the ESSER initiatives, an update on the READ Act, and district workforce needs. The CDE presentation was very comprehensive and contained a number of key updates on legislation that I sponsored last year, namely SB21-185 on Supporting Educator Workforce. The Future Colorado Educator resources page, one of the items created in SB21-185 to assist with educator recruitment, has received over 56,000 hits since its creation last fall!

We also heard from the Department of Higher Education's Executive Director, Angie Paccione, on the department's three main "Wildly Important Goals": Implement the Affordability Roadmap, implement the goals of the Report on Educational Equity: Creating a Colorado for All, and strategies for increasing workforce development opportunities. She also discussed the impacts of COVID, the results of the Financial Aid Application Working Group, and a few of their successes last year. She also reported out on the success of three programs created through legislation I sponsored last year including: The Student Success and Workforce Revitalization Task Force Report, the COSI: Finish What You Started funds, and the COSI: Back to Work funds.

While these hearings were quite lengthy and covered an enormous amount of information, I enjoyed the opportunity to dialogue with the departments about their past performance and opportunities for future success. If you are interested in other legislative topics, you can find links to their SMART Act hearings on each committee's webpage.

Free At-home COVID tests available now: Did you know you can get four free COVID-19 test kits delivered to your home? The federal governement will ship your order via the USPS and the kits should arrive in 7 - 12 days. To learn more on how to obtain your free test kits, click HERE or on the image to the right. The whole process takes less than a minute!

Free KN95 masks available now: In support of the State's ongoing efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and assist in the mitigation of virus spread, the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) will offer KN95 masks for free and public libraries and other community sites across Colorado. For a list of participating locations, click HERE.

Welcome to The Westy: The City of Westminster has created a new way to keep you connected to what is happening in our community. The Westy is a new monthly newsletter that will share timely updates from the City, as well as other helpful information and interesting stories about the city. To subscribe to the newsletter, click HERE.

Arvada Chamber names awardees: The Arvada Chamber of Commerce announced their 2021 Business of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, and Non-Profit of the Year winners. Respectively, the recipients include: Barber-Nichols, Mike Huggins and Lenka Juchelkova of the Arvada Tavern, and Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of Colorado. They will be honored at the Chamber's 97th Annual Dinner on February 18. Congratulations to these amazing awardees! For more information, click HERE.

At the Legislative Town Hall Meeting this past Saturday, I gave a preview of the legislation that I am sponsoring so far this session. You can find a running list of sponsored the bills with their short titles and descriptions below, or on my website. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions!

SB22-008 Higher Education Support For Foster Youth: Concerning postsecondary education support for certain students who have been in out-of-home placement.

SB22-011 America 250 - Colorado 150 Commission: Concerning the establishment of the America 250 - Colorado 150 commission.

SB22-017 Fluid Milk Products Not Divisible Load: Concerning the determination that a load of fluid milk products hauled by a vehicle is not a divisible load under the vehicle weight limits permitted by law.

SB22-054 Recommend Community School For Turnaround Plan: Concerning the addition of a recommendation that a district public school be converted to a community school if the district public school fails to make substantial progress under its turnaround plan.

SB22-064 Neighborhood Youth Organizations: Concerning requirements for neighborhood youth organizations that provide services designed for the development of youth.

HB22-1009 Continue Workforce Diploma Pilot Program: Concerning continuing the workforce diploma pilot program as the workforce diploma program.

HB22-1031 Consumer Right To Repair Powered Wheelchairs: Concerning a requirement that a powered wheelchair manufacturer facilitate the repair of its powered wheelchairs by providing certain other persons with the resources needed to repair the manufacturer's powered wheelchairs.

HB22-1051 Mod Affordable Housing Tax Credit: Concerning modification of the Colorado affordable housing tax credit, and, in connection therewith, extending the time during which the credit may be claimed and increasing the yearly amount of credits that can be allocated.

HB22-1057 Public Employees' Retirement Association Employment After Teacher Retirement: Concerning public employees' retirement association employment after retirement limitations.

HB22-1099 Online Marketplaces And Third-party Sellers: Concerning mandatory disclosures of third-party sellers selling through online marketplaces.

HB22-1101 Public Employees' Retirement Association Service Retiree Employment In Rural Schools: Concerning the expansion of a program that allows a public employees' retirement association service retiree to work full-time without any reduction in the service retiree's retirement benefits for a rural school district that has a critical shortage of qualified individuals with specific experience, skills, or qualifications that the service retiree has.

How a Bill Becomes a Law in Colorado: At our Legislative Town Hall this past weekend, we attempted to share the following video on the the process in which a bill becomes a law. We experienced some technical difficulties with the showing the video on the Zoom webinar, so I am including the video here instead. Enjoy!

In my capacity as your State Senator, I participate in a number of meetings,conversations, and events. The following list reflects some of the activities that have occured over the past week:

We were pleased to see over 50 people attend our first Legislative Town Hall of 2022. Mark your calendar for the next one on February 19 at 10:30 am. We will likely be virtual once more. For more information, including the Zoom link, click HERE.