While I made progress on a number of important bills last week (see the bill list below), the most significant piece of legislation I sponsored last week was the 2021-22 Public School Finance Act. Senate Bill 21-268 was introduced last Tuesday, passed unanimously out of the Education Committee on Thursday, and again received unanimous support from the Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday. The bill was then called up on special orders late Friday afternoon for Second Reading, and received approval from the full Senate.

From a high level, what's most important to know is that we restored many of the major cuts made to education funding last year due to the pandemic. We also included some additional assistance to our most vulnerable students, those with special needs, living in poverty, or learning English as a second language. And while we were not able to make-up over a decade's worth of cuts in one year, we were able to reverse course in a significant way.

A few weeks ago, the Joint Budget Committee set aside $7.8 billion in spending for K-12 education in the state budget. This represents an 8.7% increase from the 2020-21 school year. That means we began with a base amount of $7,225 per student, or a 2% increase over this year. However, the average per-pupil spending will be closer to $8,857, or a 9.7% increase, due to an additional $77 million we set aside for at-risk students. We also restored funding for a number of education grant programs that were cut last year, and we increased funding for several key programs, such as the Counselor Corps Grant Program.

Due to pandemic-related disruption and massive amounts of stress our public schools faced this past year, we chose not to make any major changes to the school finance formula. While we know there are flaws within our existing formula, we heard valuable feedback from our districts and schools of the need for stability and predictability in this year's budget. We also heard from our local school boards the importance of returning the Budget Stabilization Factor (think of this as a reduction in funding that gets applied at the end of the process) back to the 2019 level.

The bill will receive one more hearing before the full Senate tomorrow, before heading over to the House for their consideration. The School Finance Act must be finalized by May 26.

Jeffco moves to Level Clear beginning May 16: Beginning May 16, Jefferson County will move to Level Clear per JCPH’s Public Health Order 21-001. Under Level Clear, the county will enter a 90-day observation period during which businesses will be able to operate at 100 percent capacity with no additional restrictions, except for indoor mask requirements or other requirements implemented by the State of Colorado or CDPHE. For more information, go HERE.

Governor Polis announces new mask guidelines: Governor Polis issued new mask guidelines following the Center for Disease Control and Prevention announcement, stressing that people who are fully vaccinated can, for the most part, resume activities without a mask. The new mask Executive Order encourages any individual aged 11 and older, who is not fully vaccinated, to continue wearing a mask indoors. Fully vaccinated individuals can go without masks in most settings. For additional information on the guidance, you can read more HERE.

Jeffco Public Health issues statement regarding mask guidance: JCPH issued a statement on Friday in response to Governor Polis' announcement to align the state's plans with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention around masks. You can view that statement HERE. While the details are being hashed out, residents should follow whichever state or county guidelines are more restrictive.

Coloradans 12+ now eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine: The federal Food and Drug Administration gave authorization last week for 12-15 year olds to be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. For more information, here is a good recap on the situation by NPR.

Where to find the COVID-19 Vaccine: To learn more about where you can get vaccinated visit: https://covid19.colorado.gov/for-coloradans/vaccine/where-can-i-get-vaccinated. Call the vaccine hotline at 1-877- CO VAX CO (1-877-268-2926).

Below you will find a list of bills that were introduced or acted upon last week. Updates and new bills are highlighted in red text. You can find a full list of all my bills on my website HERE or the state's legislative website HERE.

SB21-268 Public School Finance: Concerning the financing of public schools, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. This bill was introduced on Tuesday, passed unanimously out of Senate Education Committee on Thursday and the Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday, and passed on Second Reading in the Senate. The bill will be heard on Third Reading on Monday.

SB21-265 Transfer From General Fund To State Highway Fund: Concerning a transfer from the general fund to the state highway fund. The bill passed unanimously out of Senate Appropriations on Wednesday and unanimously on Second Reading in the Senate.

SB21-263 Outdoor Advertising Act: Concerning the regulation of outdoor advertising. This bill will be heard in the Senate Local Government Committee on Tuesday, May 18 at 2:00 pm.

SB21-262 Special District Transparency: Concerning transparency for special districts. This bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Local Government Committee and will now head to the full Senate.

SB21-257 Special Mobile Machinery Registration Exemption: Concerning an exemption from motor vehicle registration requirements for certain special mobile machinery. This bill passed 6-1 out of the Senate Finance Committee and will head to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB21-254 Eliminate Obsolete Committee Child Care Licensing: Concerning the elimination of the obsolete advisory committee on the licensing of child care facilities. This bill passed unanimously out of the Senate and was sent to the House.

SB21-253 Women Veterans With Disabilities License Plate: Concerning license plates for veterans who have disabilities, and, in connection therewith, creating a license plate to honor women veterans with disabilities. This bill passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on a vote of 6-1 and will head to the full Senate.

SB21-239 2-1-1 Statewide Human Services Referral System: Concerning the statewide communication system for referral to behavioral health services, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. This bill passed out of the Senate unanimously and was referred to the House.

SB21-238 Create Front Range Passenger Rail District: Concerning the front range passenger rail district, and, in connection therewith, creating the district for the purpose of planning, designing, developing, financing, constructing, operating, and maintaining a passenger rail system and specifying the territory, governing structure, powers, and duties of the district. This bill passed out of the Senate on Thursday and was referred to the House.

SB21-135 Prohibit Certain Animals In Traveling Animal Act: Concerning a prohibition on the use of certain animals in a traveling animal act. This bill was signed by the Governor on Friday.

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. This bill passed out of the House and will now head to the Governor for his signature.

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. This bill passed out of the House and will now head to the Governor for his signature.

SB21-017 Sexual Contact By An Educator: Concerning sexual contact between a student and an educator in violation of the public trust. The Senate rejected the House amendments and formed a conference committee.

HB21-1274 Unused State-owned Real Property Beneficial Use: Concerning the beneficial use of unused state-owned real property, and, in connection therewith, directing the department of personnel to inventory such property and use such property to promote affordable housing and renewable energy development. This bill was assigned to the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee and will be heard on Tuesday, May 18 at 2:00 pm.

HB21-1021 Peer Support Professionals Behavioral Health: Concerning supporting the peer support professional workforce, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. This bill passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously and was referred to the Senate.

On Monday... I met with education stakeholders to discuss upcoming bills... I passed SB239 on 2-1-1 Funding unanimously... I met with constituents to discuss legislation on insurance... I met with Public School District D-11... I met with bill drafters to finalize the Public School Finance Act... On Tuesday... I passed SB254 on eliminating an obsolete child care licensing committee unanimously... I chaired the Committee of the Whole... I attended the Senate Transportation & Energy Committee... SB268 on Public School Finance was introduced... On Wednesday... I passed SB265 out of Senate Appropriations unanimously... I passed SB257 on Special Mobile Machinery on a vote of 6-1 out of Senate Finance Committee... I met with education stakeholders to discuss upcoming education legislation... I met with stakeholders regarding Metro District reform... On Thursday... I passed SB238 on Front Range Passenger Rail out of the Senate... I presented and passed SB262 on Special District Transparency... I presented and passed SB268 on Public School Finance unanimously out of the Education Committee... I attended the Senate Transportation & Energy Committee meeting.. I chaired the Senate Education Committee... I met with House Education Chair and Vice Chair to discuss upcoming legislation... On Friday... I passed SB253 on Women Veterans Disability License Plates out of Senate Appropriations... I passed HB1021 on Peer Support for Behavioral Health unanimously out of Senate Appropriations... I passed SB268 on Public School Finance unanimously out of Senate Appropriations and on Second Reading... The Governor signed SB135 on Traveling Circus Animals at a public signing ceremony... On Saturday... We hosted our monthly legislative Town Hall on Transportation.

Here are the latest press articles from this past week that touch on legislation I am sponsoring. Also, you can view the full list on my website by clicking HERE.

The Denver Post: Metro district transparency reform bill advances in Colorado Senate committee

Pagosa Daily Post: Colorado School Finance Bill Will Support Students in Poverty

Denver Business Journal: Front Range Passenger Rail plan zooms through Colorado Senate

Chalkbeat Colorado: Colorado school finance bill sends more money to students in poverty, English learners

EIN News: Bills to Support Colorado Veterans, Enhance Access to Mental Health Care Pass Senate!

The Denver Post: Editorial: Senate Bill 262 is a good start at reforming Colorado metropolitan districts

We hope you can join us at our next legislative town hall meeting--in person--on Saturday, June 19 at 10:30 am. While we have not secured a location yet, but we are hopeful that we can host our first in-person meeting of 2021! The topic will be a We will be providing a legislative wrap-up. Click here for details.