This week, it was my great honor to be sworn in for a second term as State Senator of District 19. I am grateful to the voters of Arvada and Westminster for entrusting me with this responsibility and I look forward to working for the betterment of Colorado over the next four years.

We did not kick-off the 2021 session like normal. Due to the pandemic, the ceremony was rather short and lacked the usual pageantry. We read into the record the official report of certified election results, and then the newly elected and re-elected senators took the oath of office. Then we elected our Senate Leadership, adopted several organizing resolutions, and took care of some business, such as introducing a few necessary bills.

After the required formalities wrapped up, we immediately got down to business. The Senate considered three bills aimed at addressing several timely policies, and the House considered four bills. You can read more about the legislation we passed below. Very similar to the special session we conducted last month, we wrapped up our legislative work in three days and temporarily recessed until February 16.

When we come back in mid-February, we will pick up where we left off, which will be the fourth day of our 120-day session. At that time we will follow as close to our normal course of action as the pandemic will allow. We will hear the Governor's State of the State Address, we will commence with our regular legislative agendas, and things should start to resemble a normal session. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or if I can be of assistance during this brief recess.

On Friday, the Colorado legislature concluded our initial three-day meeting. Throughout the three days, we passed a slate of necessary bills that made some minor fixes to legislation we passed last session and a few changes to existing law that will help accelerate the COVID-19 relief package we passed during the special session in December. Here is a list of all the bills we passed:

At this month's legislative town hall meeting, we had a wonderful discussion with Dr. Eric France, chief medical officer of CDPHE, about the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination plan in Colorado. If you were unable to join us and would like to watch the zoom, you may do so by clicking HERE.

As you are aware, this pandemic is unprecedented and distributing a COVID-19 vaccine will require a large-scale effort by state, local, and private sector partners. One of the resources Dr. France shared that appears to be particularly helpful is a website called Vaccine for Coloradans. Here you can find resources on the vaccine plan and more.

Also, if you are 70+ years old and want to know where and how you can get vaccinated, click HERE and you will find a list of locations, a vaccine provider list, and links to local public health department vaccine information. If you can't the information you are looking for on the website, however, you are also welcome to call the helpline below:

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