On August 2, ninety days after the last day of the session, 207 bills went into effect. This represents 44% of the bills signed into law. There were 598 bills introduced in the 2019 session (fewer than in 2018 where 721 bills were introduced) and of those bills, 460 passed. Many of these bills didn't make the headlines, but they are now "on the books" nonetheless.
CDOT Transportation Town Hall with Director Shoshanna Lew, Rep. Titone and Rep. Kraft-Tharp
Many of you have asked, "Why so many bills?" Well, there are number of reasons so many bills pass each session, some of which are for mundane, practical reasons. Recently, Marianne Goodland of Colorado Politics wrote an article on: Bills in the background: A look at the hundreds of measures you never heard about. Since you must have a subscription to read the article, I'll summarize for those who don't:
Many bills introduced during the legislative session are important to the continued function of state government;
A handful of bills deal with repealing out-of-date or redundant statutes (as the chair of the Statutory Revision Committee, I carried a number of these type of bills);
Others renew the authority of state agencies or programs that are reviewed periodically (these are also known as sunset bills);
In addition to the 2019-20 state budget, there were 17 bills that adjusted the 2018-19 state budget for state agencies and for school finance (this includes supplemental budget requests);
Another seven bills (all sponsored by those of us on the Joint Budget Committee) enacted transfers or other mechanisms that help to balance the 2019-20 budget;
There are also dozens of bills every year that come out of interim committees; and lastly,
Most legislators run bills without any hope of media attention, but those measures are important to constituents or state agencies.
I had the privilege of sponsoring 40 bills, of which 38 passed (representing 8.2% of all bills passed this session). As mentioned above, being a member of the JBC, the Statutory Revision Committee, and a number of interim committees, all contributed to this high percentage. The bills I am most proud of, however, are the ones that come from you. If you have ideas for the next legislative session, please reach out!
Upcoming Interim Committee dates
Women in Banking Panel with Melanie Layton and Rep. Shannon Bird
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, Chair of the Statutory Revision Committee, a member of the Interim School Finance Committee, and a board member of the Statewide Internet Portal Authority.
Back-t0-School Town Hall
Please join Reps. Tracy Kraft -Tharp, Brianna Titone, and myself for our next monthly Town Hall Meeting this coming Saturday, August 17 from 10:30 - 12:00 pm at the Standley Lake Library. We are pleased to welcome Jeffco Public Schools Superintendent, Jason Glass, and Executive Director of the Jeffco-DeAngelis Center for Community Safety, Kevin Carroll, to discuss issues pertinent to school safety and other back-to-school topics. We are also collecting school supplies for the Jeffco Action Center. We hope to see you there!
Jeffco Security Director John McDonald, Dr. Michael Nicoletti, Frank DeAngelis, and Rep. Beckman at the Frank DeAngelis Community Safety Center
Tracking your Senator
On July 15, I met with representatives of the
Colorado Medical Society... I also met with
Landon Gates to discuss funding for a victim notification system... I also met with constituent
Karen Kalavity to discuss environmental policy and ideas for bills...
On July 16, I met with officials from
Gov. Polis' office to discuss a potential special session...
On July 17, I hosted a
Transportation Town Hall with
CDOT Director Shoshana Lew...
On July 18, I attended the
Full Day Kindergarten celebration with education advocates and stakeholders...
On July 19, I attended the
Arvada Chamber of Commerce Community Impact Breakfast...
On July 20, we hosted our monthly
Town Hall meeting where we hosted the
County Commissioners...
On July 22, I attended the
Making Higher Education Attainable Interim Committee meeting...
On July 23, I met with
Chris Lynn, Executive Director of the Seniors' Resource Center...
On July 24, I met with constituent
Lindsey Melville to discuss vaccinations and 5G... I also met with officials from
North Suburban Hospital and took a tour of their Emergency Department... On July 26, the JBC interviewed candidates for the
JBC Executive Director position... On
July 29, I met with the
Jeffco County Commissioners...
On July 30, I met with officials from
OnDeck, an online small business lending organization...I also attended the Retirement Party for
Arvada City Attorney Chris Daly...
On July 31, I met with constituent
David Bolin to discuss Community First Choice legislation... I also met with
Matthew Samelson of the
Donnell-Kay Foundation to discuss special education funding... I also had a
Stakeholder Meeting to discuss Motorcycle safety legislation including constituents
Travis Boyd and Craig Flanick... I also met with officials from
Children's Hospital to discuss the cost of medications for rare diseases...
On August 1, I joined the
School Safety Interim Committee on a tour of the
DeAngelis Community Safety Center...
On August 2, I spoke to a group of seniors at
Covenant Living of Colorado...
On August 5, I met with
Brett Ridgeway, Superintendent of District 49 to discuss school finance... I also met with the
Governor's team to discuss digital communications...
On August 8, I attended the
HD29 BBQ...
On August 9, I was a guest panelist for the
Colorado Association of Bankers "Women in Banking" conference...
On August 11, I met with
Boy Scout Finn Ceyssens to discuss his Citizenship badge... and on
August 12, I attended a mental health stakeholder meeting organized by
Rep. Brianna Titone.
With Vice President Michael Hanson and Melissa Osse at the North Suburban Medical Center
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!
