The First Regular Session of the Seventy-second General Assembly kicked off on Friday, January 4 with the usual pomp and circumstance. After certifying the election results, the newly elected Senators were sworn into office and then we elected Senator Leroy Garcia of Pueblo as our Senate President.
My desk on Opening Day of the Legislative Session
In the President's
opening day remarks, he noted the historic diversity of our caucus, with a majority of women and the
most demographically and geographically diversity in recent history. He also stressed the importance of hard work and a spirit of collaboration that we must bring back to the Capitol.
President Garcia also emphasized that, "Coloradans did not elect us to engage in gamesmanship. They elected us to work, to reach across the aisle, and to have an open and working government that finds solutions to help them live their American Dream." And that is exactly what I hope to continue doing at the Capitol!
I was extremely pleased that my bill to address the educator shortage in Colorado (SB19-003) was listed among the top five bills, indicating that education will be a priority this session. To read more about opening day, click HERE. And, if you are interested in learning more about my legislative agenda, please plan to join me next weekend for a preview.
Education issues surface as a top priority
I was honored to appear as a guest panelist again this year for
Chalkbeat Colorado. Each year they host a bipartisan and bicameral group of legislators prior to the opening day to discuss education issues that may come up during the session.
With Sen. Nancy Todd, Senate Education Chair,
on Opening Day of the new legislative session
I was pleased to be able to talk about
Senate Bill 19-003, an educator loan forgiveness program to address our teacher shortage. I am also the Senate sponsor of
House Bill 19-1002, which is a school leadership pilot program to provide professional development for principals. Click
HERE to read more about our panel discussion.
In addition to the educator shortage, we discussed funding for free, full day kindergarten. While I agree that this needs to be a priority, it will not be an easy program to fund. Early estimates suggest it will cost approximately $250 million on an ongoing basis. That will be difficult with the budget stabilization factor (formerly known as the negative factor) hovering around $600 million.
In addition to funding kindergarten, I am interested in tackling some other funding issues as well. As the
Colorado Independent notes in their article, the
school officials I've spoken to are interested in more state support for special education. "Colorado doesn't provide enough money to meet even its own requirements for funding students with disabilities, falling short by more than $77 million for the 2017-18 school year."
Lastly, as you may have read today on the cover of the Denver Post, we need to overhaul "a system that critics say disproportionately sends state money to wealthy school districts while schools in poorer areas struggle." Tackling the fiscal knot created by a combination of TABOR and the Gallagher Amendment, will be challenging, but I believe it is important to address the inequities in our education system.
Upon Adjournment - Hearing for the Department of Public Safety (Division of Criminal Justice)
1:30 - 4:30 Hearing for the Department of Corrections
4:30 - 5:00 Hearing for the Parole Board
Wednesday, January 9
1:30 - 5:00 Hearing for the Department of Higher Education Part 1 of 3: Colorado Department of Higher Education and Colorado Commission on Higher Education, Community Colleges, Local District Colleges, and Area Technical Colleges
Thursday, January 10
1:30 - 4:00 Hearing for the Department of Higher Education Part 2 of 3: Adams State University, Western State Colorado University, Fort Lewis College, and History Colorado
Friday, January 11
1:30 - 5:00 Hearing for the Department of Higher Education Part 3 of 3: University Of Colorado System, Colorado State University System, Colorado School of Mines, University of Northern Colorado, and Metropolitan State University of Denver, and Colorado Mesa University
Rachel Zenzinger
Rachel Zenzinger won election to the Colorado State Senate, representing District 19, in November 2016. She also served as Senator for SD19 in 2014. Sen. Zenzinger is a member of the Joint Budget Committee, the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, a member of the Statutory Revision Committee, a member of the Interim School Finance Committee, and a board member of the Statewide Internet Portal Authority.
Coffee With Constituents returns; new location
Please join us this coming
Friday, January 11 from 7 - 8 am for our first "Coffee" event of the year. We had to find a new location, so we will be moving to Two Rivers Coffee, 7745 Wadsworth Blvd., Unit C, Arvada (next to Great Harvest & Vitamin Cottage). The owner of the shop spoke at my Kiwanis meeting and he emphasized how they are dedicated to serving their community, so we thought this would be a great new location to explore. The first cup of coffee is on me!
"What's Brewing?" event at
Kokopelli Beer Company
Special legislative preview
Please join Rep. Brianna Titone and myself for a preview of the legislative session on Saturday, January 12, from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm. The gathering will take place at the Standley Lake Library, 8485 Kipling St, Arvada, CO 80005. (Please note the later start time than our usual town hall meeting series.)
I was pleased to receive the Rural Schools Champion award
Monthly town hall meeting will focus on RTD
If you are not planning to attend the Women's March in Denver, please think about joining Rep. Kraft-Tharp for our monthly town hall meeting on Saturday, January 19, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm at the Standley Lake Library. The topic this month will be an update from RTD about the G-Line.
With Sen. Don Coram of Montrose
on Opening Day
Tracking your Senator
In December, I met with
Attorney General Elect, Phil Weiser, to discuss campaign finance reform... I also met with
Jack Arrowsmith, executive director of the
Statewide Internet Portal Authority... I also met with
Phil Robinson, the legislative liaison for the
Colorado Department of Human Services to discuss the
Division of Youth Services... We heard a briefing from the
Office of State Planning and Budgeting about the December Forecast... I also me with the
Charter School Institute executive director,
Terry Lewis... I met
Mollie Steinemann and Amber Valdez about housing issues... We had our first
"What's Brewing at the Capitol" event at
Kokopelli Beer Company... In January, I met with
Chris Henderson, the executive director for the
Office of the Child's Representative to discuss the Guardian Ad Litem program... I met with
Michael Honn of the Colorado Department of Public Safety... I had a phone meeting with
Cynthia Simmer of PACE Senior Care in Montrose to discuss provider rates... I met with the
Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners to discuss the statewide crisis hotline... I was a guest speaker for the
Chalkbeat Education Legislative Preview... I attended the
Transportation SMART Act hearing... I attended the
SIPA Board Meeting... I attended the
New Era Opening Day reception... I attended a speaking engagement with the
Arvadans for Progressive Action.
Constituent Dan Fishbein after the Behavioral Health budget hearing
If there is an event you think I should attend, please notify me!
Donations to
Rachel For Colorado
Can you help us by making a contribution? While the campaign activity has concluded, we still need your help so that we may continue keeping in touch with constituents. Your contribution helps pay for events, direct mail, the website, newsletter, and other tools that make voters aware of what is happening down at the State Capitol. THANK YOU!
