Greetings!
As the 2019 General Assembly has come to a close.
It’s been a wild one at times. I am focusing here on two things in particular: first, gratitude for our team of volunteer citizen lobbyists who contributed their extensive talents and experience to inform and persuade, sometimes late into the evenings. Their unselfish dedication to advocating for Colorado’s older adults at the Capitol is remarkable as they heartily threw their time and energy into the cause.
Often, a short conversation with a legislator or an ally organization at a critical time can make a huge difference. It can actually be exciting; the Capitol kind of hums with the energy of diverse interests and activities from the beginning of the session to the end. Politics is a “contact sport” – building relationships is critical.
Secondly, I also thank them for the results of their efforts. Many important bills were advanced thanks to both their individual and collaborative work with other organizations. It is an extremely rare situation where one person, from one organization, actually moves the needle. It takes a team, and typically that team is working with other teams (and that includes of course the legislators) to get things done.
Every advocacy organization, no matter their cause, can only do their best to inform and persuade, working with other teams of people; it’s up to our elected officials to actually create new legislation. Fortunately, there are many legislators who are willing to work with various groups, like CSL, to refine bills until they are workable -
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