Governor's staff presents to JBC on COVID-19 response
Last week, members of the Joint Budget Committee and the Executive Committee met with the Governor's staff to receive an update on the state's response to COVID-19. This meeting was a result of HB20-1426 that requires the Executive Branch to engage with the legislature on the management of state operations and emergency spending during the interim.
Pens used to sign into law several new bills sponsored by Sen. Zenzinger
The meeting began with a summary of the emergency related executive orders to date, followed by a discussion with the department heads of Public Safety, CDPHE, OSPB, and Homeland Security. The discussion mostly centered on Colorado's response to the pandemic and the our current priorities for handling the virus. According to the Governor's staff, our main priority is to scale our virus response capacity so that we can live more sustainably. This means working on increasing testing, improving contract tracing, managing the hospital surges, acquiring more PPE, and implementing "new normal" policies.
Our situation in Colorado seems to be improving, but we are definitely not out of the woods. We are beginning to see our markets slowly normalize, but we are still experiencing a breakdown in supply chains. Thankfully, we have moved beyond crisis management and into more of a supportive phase. The federal relief funds have been critical to Colorado's recovery, but are still experiencing a high level of unemployment. Although Colorado is better than the national average for unemployment, we have the 7th highest rate of business closures in the United States.
Last session I sponsored 57 bipartisan bills that passed the legislature. Most were related to balancing the budget, COVID-19 relief, or education, and we had the pleasure of the Governor signing those bills into law at a special ceremony. But not all bills receive a ceremony, and I was pleased to pick up this week from the Capitol a few of the signing pens for some of those more "ordinary" bills.
Interior designer Kate explains how important HB20-1165 was to them
Those ordinary bills may not have the sex appeal of a business recovery loan program, but they were important bills to the affected parties nonetheless. Take, for example, House Bill 20-1165 concerning modifications to the interior design exemption in Architects Practice Act. We simply removed outdated and contradictory language within the act that allowed interior designers to accomplish their work more smoothly. There was some initial push back from local government, and we had to amend the bill in order to meet everyone's satisfaction, nevertheless we were able to make the changes sought by the interior designers. These were changes they have sought for years, and I'm pleased we were able to get it done this session.
If you have an idea for legislation, now is the time to start bringing those ideas forward so we can begin the bill writing process. It may seem a little early, but the first three of our five bill titles are due December 1, and now would be a good time to start doing the background research and meeting with stakeholders to get the bill idea ready to be written up.
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, and Vice Chair of the Statutory Revision Committee.
Governor extends mask mandate another month
Photo credit: KDVR Fox 31 Denver
Governor Jared Polis announced last week that he is extending the statewide mask mandate for another 30 days. Originally, the mask mandate was slated to end August 14, but the new date is now September 13.
Executive Order D 2020 138 is a mandatory statewide mask order that requires people in Colorado who are 11 years and older to wear a covering over their noses and mouths:
When entering or moving within any public indoor space.
While using or waiting to use public (buses, light-rail) or non-personal (taxis, car services, ride-shares) transportation services.
People who do not have to wear a mask include:
People who are 10 years old and younger.
People who cannot medically tolerate a face covering.
Children ages 2 and under should NOT wear masks or cloth face coverings.
For more information on these executive orders and how to prevent the spread of COVID-19, you can visit the CDPHE website!
Forum & Fundraiser "Colorado's Road Map to a Clean Energy Future"
Sen. Zenzinger on "Colorado Day" which was celebrated on August 1
Join us for an evening with Will Toor, Executive Director of the Colorado Energy Office, as we discuss Colorado's road map to a clean energy future. Director Toor will touch on Colorado's energy policy which focuses on growing jobs and spurring innovation, protecting Colorado's world-class environment, and encouraging collaboration.
When: August 20th at 6:00 pm
Where: Zoom! RSVP HERE and we will send the Zoom link no later than August 17th.
Who: Will Toor, Executive Director of the Colorado Energy Office and Senator Rachel Zenzinger
The forum and fundraiser is hosted by: Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, House Speaker KC Becker, Sen. Faith Winter, Commissioner Casey Tighe, Commissioner Elise Jones, Katie Belgard, Emily Gedeon, Suzanne Jones, Becky Long, Danny McCarthy, John Powers, and Jacob Smith.
