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April 2, 2023


Our next meeting is Monday, April 3, 2023. Our meeting is from 9:30AM to 11:00AM, but may go to 11:30AM.

We will be very busy at this meeting!

Monday is going to be very busy. We do not see how we will be able to do anything other than the top priority bills, those in committee next week, and the new bills. As a preview:

View our meeting agenda to see a list that prioritizes bills for discussion

at the Monday morning meeting - CLICK HERE


Our approach is to review the bills one week and then the following week our members vote on whether to monitor, support, strongly support, or oppose but as we enter the last half of the session, bills move more quickly; so we may consider and take a position on a bill at the same meeting. If we keep a bill in our Bill watch account, we need a member to step up as a point of contact. 


We ask that those who have volunteered to track a specific bill

be prepared to report to the group on its status.

Link to CCA Bill Tracker - CLICK HERE

News from CCA Capitol Gang

The past week we sent out emails to legislators, individuals testified on bills, other individuals were at the Capitol talking to legislators and advocating for older adults, and we researched bills. See details below:

  • SB23-144 Prescription Drugs For Chronic Pain - This bill was heard in committee this past week and was passed on to the Committee of the Whole (COW) with a 7-3 vote. Testimony was limited to 2 minutes and they cut you off exactly at that time (very frustrating). It was supposed to have been heard for 2nd reading in the house on Friday, March 31st, but it was not on the agenda. We expect it to go through and hope there won’t be any amendments. . Our CCA advocates for this outreach are Christina Johnson and Jeanette Hensley.
  • SB23-058 Job Application Fairness Act - Graduation Date Bill was removed from Wednesday’s committee hearing and should be heard on April 5th. An amendment was requested by the Governor's office and we responded with a few tweaks to it, but haven’t heard if they were approved by the Governor's office. Hopefully it will be heard next week. Our CCA advocates for this outreach are Rich Mauro, Jeanette Hensley, and Andrea Kuwik - Bell Policy Center.
  • SB23-213 Land Use - CCA Advocacy Committee leadership submitted amendment information on this bill. The bill was introduced in the Senate and assigned to Local Government & Housing. It will be heard on Thursday, April 6th. This may be an interesting hearing that you will want to listen to. Our CCA Advocacte for this bill is Rich Mauro.
  • HOA Bills - Sara Gagliardi will give us some updates on the HOA bills. We need another person to step in and help with following the HOA bills as Julie Evans has had to step down.
  1. HB23-1065 Local Government Independent Ethics Commissions - Support
  2. HB23-1090 Limit Metropolitan District Director Conflicts - CCA was Supporting this bill and it has been Postponed Indefinitely (PI’D)
  3. HB23-1105 Homeowners' Association And Metropolitan District Homeowners' - CCA is Supporting this bill and it is still in appropriations.
  4. HB 1131 Majority of Unit Owner’s Required For Home Owner’s Association Budgets - Postponed Indefinitely (PI’D) on 2-14-23
  5. SB23-110 Transparency For Metropolitan Districts - This bill is on the Governor’s Desk for signature.

Questions about CCA Advocacy Committee


Jeanette Hensley - email - 303-249-5598

Co-Chair of CCA Advocacy Committee


Rich Mauro - email - Direct: 303-480-6778

Co-Chair of CCA Advocacy Committee and Senior Policy and Legislative Analyst Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG)

Zoom Link for Monday's Meeting

Topic: CCA: Advocacy Committee Meeting

9:30AM - 11:00AM/11:30AM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8814815119?pwd=cXJGUFRVQ09kV1RzZ25QVG90RHBOQT09


Meeting ID: 881 481 5119

NEW Passcode: CCA2023#


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Meeting ID: 881 481 5119

Passcode: 01201897

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbZvU5bskJ

News & Highlights from CCA & our Network

April 13, 2023 - Thursday, 8:00AM - 9:00AM

Legislative Caucus on Aging - Attend in Person or via Zoom

Location: The Colorado Capitol - House Committee Room 112

Address: 200 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80203

Join us for a legislative Caucus on Aging meeting in-person at the Capitol or virtually via Zoom. The program will include legislators presenting bills that have a direct impact

on older Coloradans. You are encouraged to attend in person at the Capitol Building in House Committee Room 112. Please contact Lucy Carroll (Rep. Young's aide) at

aide.hd50@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link.

View Flyer - CLICK HERE

NextFifty Initiative and Changing the Narrative Unite

to Strengthen Work on Ending Ageism

"NextFifty Initiative announced that it is joining forces with Changing the Narrative to strengthen both organizations’ efforts to end ageism. Changing the Narrative is a leading U.S. based initiative that seeks to increase understanding of ageism and to change how people think, talk, and act about aging and ageism. The organization’s work involves evidence-based strategies, community education and organizing, strategic communications and innovative public-facing campaigns ... Starting in April, Changing the Narrative will operate as a campaign of NextFifty Initiative. Previously, NextFifty Initiative had funded Changing the Narrative’s work through multi-year grants ..."

- READ MORE

Source https://www.next50initiative.org/

Colorado Commission on Aging Meetings

The Public is welcome to attend

The Colorado Commission on Aging (CCOA) was established under the authority of the Older Coloradans Act Section 26-11-101, C.R.S. to serve as the primary advisory body on all matters affecting older persons. The CCOA is a Governor-appointed, citizen-led, multidisciplinary Commission, comprised of representatives from both the public and private sectors to coordinate and contribute to guiding state programs, services, projects, policies, procedures, and resources in the area of aging and coordinate and guide the implementation of the strategic action plan on aging (Master Plan on Aging). The CCA members interested in aging issues in Colorado are encouraged to attend the committee meetings. All meetings are virtual until further notice. The meetings are:


  • CCOA committee meets monthly every 3rd Thursday of the month
  • CCOA Executive Subcommittee meets first Tuesday of the month
  • CCOA Age-Friendly Subcommittee meets 4th Friday of the month
  • CCOA Public Policy Subcommittee 2nd Monday of the month


Find times and Zoom link for the meetings on the CCOA web page -

https://cdhs.colorado.gov/our-services/older-adult-services/state-unit-on-aging/colorado-commission-on-aging

CU Program for Low-Income Seniors: Senior Smiles

Patients who are currently participating in the CU Dental Team Care Clinics or those who are accepted through the CU School of Dental Medicine screening process and are age 60+, do not qualify for Medicaid or Old Age Pension Health and Medical Care Program, do not have private dental insurance, and their income is at or below 250% of the most current federal poverty guidelines based on family size, and are a Colorado Resident are eligible for Senior Smiles - LEARN MORE

Non-Medical Transportation (NMT) Experience Survey Open until April 7, 2023

HCPF is conducting a survey of those who currently provide and utilize Non-Medical Transportation (NMT) services within the state of Colorado. The survey results will be used to conduct a thorough review of the current system. Lack of transportation represents a significant barrier for people with disabilities, whether for employment, habilitation services, or helping individuals make meaningful connections in their community. In December of 2022, HCPF engaged CBIZ Optumas to review and research transportation structures and recommend final options for nonmedical transportation systems. If you currently provide or utilize NMT services, your input is important to this project. This survey will help Optumas understand and illustrate for HCPF the perceptions of current transportation providers and users of those services to determine: What is working well, What is not working well and What opportunities there may be for transforming the current system. The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. The survey will be open until Friday, April 7, 2023. Questions may be sent to ColoradoNMTsurvey@optumas.com.

Link to Survey - https://mslc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0eWRgBkCHpFit4G

Are you a caregiver for a person with dementia who is receiving home care?

If you are a caregiver living approximately 2 or more hours away from your care recipient, you may be eligible to participate in a new research study evaluating the administration of a non-drug intervention designed to help long-distance caregivers of persons with dementia. To learn more, contact the Project Director, Evan Chunga, at 

Richard.Chunga001@umb.edu or contact the Principal Investigator, Dr. 

Verena Cimarolli at vcimarolli@leadingage.org or 202-508-9411.

View Flyer - CLICK HERE

Have you experienced age discrimination when applying for a job?

If you have, and are open to sharing your experiences, the Older Worker Policy Collaborative would love to hear from you! By sharing your story, you'll be helping to support policy change to make Colorado's workplaces fairer for people of all ages. If you're interested in either learning more or speaking with someone, you can sign-up here, and we'll be in touch. Please know that your name, experience, and any identifying information will never be shared without your explicit consent.

Share your story - CLICK HERE

Articles

Colorado governor, Democrats unveil major effort to boost housing by directing local land-use policy. Here’s what it would do.

"The measure would prevent Colorado’s largest cities from limiting construction of accessory-dwelling units, duplexes and triplexes and require them to let multifamily units be built near transit centers. Fast-growing, housing-strapped Colorado communities would be barred from limiting construction of duplexes, triplexes and add-on housing units under a marquee measure unveiled Wednesday by Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic state lawmakers aimed at addressing the state’s housing crisis by increasing residential density ..." - READ MORE

Source https://coloradosun.com/

Read Bill Text SB23-213

Hearing is Thursday, April 6th - Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Local Government & Housing

Gov. Polis’ housing proposal would allow duplexes, townhomes, ADUs across many cities in Colorado

"The Polis administration has laid out a sweeping plan that would explicitly allow more dense housing across Colorado’s increasingly expensive metropolitan areas and resort communities, even if residents and local elected officials object to it. The 'More Housing Now' proposal, revealed Wednesday, would be a significant shift in how Colorado’s cities and towns grow ..." - READ MORE

Source https://www.cpr.org/

Read Bill Text SB23-213

Hearing is Thursday, April 6th - Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Local Government & Housing

Gov. Jared Polis thinks density is the magic bullet for

high housing costs. Is he right?

"In the nearly hour-long press conference unveiling his sweeping land-use reform bill, Gov. Jared Polis and other supporters used the word “affordable” more than three dozen times. Polis and others promised the bill would lower housing costs around the state by cutting local regulations and allowing developers to build more townhomes and multiplexes in areas currently restricted to single-family homes ... The claim that more building will lead to cheaper rents and lower for-sale prices is explicitly made throughout the 105-page bill as well ..." - READ MORE

Source https://www.cpr.org/

Roundtable on Rural Development Features Rep. Petterson, USDA Under Secretary Xochitl Torres Small, and USDA State Director Armando Valdez

"U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) recently joined U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Xochitl Torres Small and USDA State Director Armando Valdez for a roundtable discussion with community leaders and local officials at the Guidestone Education Center located at the Hutchinson Ranch in Salida, Colorado. The March 16 morning session centered around federal efforts to support and further develop rural communities, specifically by tackling workforce development, housing, utilities, and broadband challenges. The stated purpose of the USDA Rural Development (RD) program is to act as a catalyst for rural prosperity, through loans, grants, and partnerships ..." - READ MORE

Source https://arkvalleyvoice.com/

Colorado is expected to return $2.7 billion to taxpayers.

The legislature hasn’t determined how to refund the money.

Checks in the mail? An income tax cut? Property tax relief? 

"State government is expected this year to collect $2.7 billion in tax revenue above Colorado’s constitutional cap on government spending, according to the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting, money that the Democratic majority in the legislature will have to decide how to refund ..." - READ MORE

Source https://coloradosun.com/

Colorado bill would eliminate cities’ growth caps

"Local laws that limit the growth rate of cities like Boulder, Golden and Lakewood would be erased by a new proposal at the state legislature. The bill, titled HB23-1255, was recently introduced by Democrats at the statehouse. It’s part of a sweeping pro-growth agenda, including a new land use bill, that aims to increase housing construction by eliminating local restrictions on development ..." - READ MORE

Source https://www.cpr.org/

Births, deaths and migration: A look at what’s going on in

Southeastern Colorado counties

"New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday shows Colorado’s population is continuing to grow. The same is true for the southeastern part of the state. But there are nuances hidden in those metrics.With more than 740,000 residents as of last summer, El Paso County remains the most populous in the state. It’s one of just two counties in the southeast region where births outpaced deaths during the last couple of years. The other is much smaller Alamosa County, with a population of nearly 16,600. Additionally, both counties had more people moving there rather than leaving during that time frame, too ..." - READ MORE

Source https://www.cpr.org/

Meet the first couple to use Colorado’s new wheelchair ‘right to repair’ law

"After he got his new powered wheelchair last year, Bruce Goguen found he needed to make some adjustments. The tweaks were small - things like fine-tuning the travel speed in the device’s various modes and changing how quickly it responds to button presses. But getting them right was important, because Goguen’s chair is like an extension of his body. 'I just think of it as legs, just being my legs,' he explained in a recent interview at his house. It turned out those seemingly simple changes weren’t so simple to make. Each new tweak required a visit from an authorized technician. Because of manufacturers’ restrictive repair rules, some wheelchair users have had to wait weeks for fixes large and small ..." - READ MORE

Source https://www.cpr.org/

Want to get something done in Congress? Having the right caucus can help

"Bourbon? Missile Defense? Chicken? Textiles? Got something you care about, the odds are pretty good Congress has a caucus for that. Sure, the term 'caucus' is most often associated with the Democratic and Republican members in the Senate and the House, but there are hundreds of other groups - some big, some small, some ideological, some not - that bring lawmakers together to work on issues important to them. For Colorado’s members of Congress, these groups are avenues they can use to push legislation and highlight issues important to them and their constituents ..." - READ MORE

Source https://www.cpr.org/

Discovering and Developing Missing Middle Housing

"Benefits of Missing Middle Housing The word 'middle' as used in the term 'Missing Middle Housing' principally refers to the midsized housing types that exist between single family homes and large (often high-rise) apartment or condominium buildings. But 'middle' also relates to the home type’s level of affordability ..." - READ MORE

Source https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/housing/info-2022/missing-middle-housing.html

More Events

April is Stress Awareness Month

(And don't we feel it as the Colorado Legislative Session Winds Down!)

Stress can be debilitating, and it can cause and/or aggravate health problems. Every April, healthcare professionals from across the country join forces to increase public awareness about not only the causes, but also the treatments for the growing stress epidemic in our country.

Website https://www.chcw.org/april-is-stress-awareness-month/

New Library Services Available through Strong Library

Thanks to Denver voters, Freegal Music+, an ad-free, unlimited streaming platform, and Statista, an easy-to-use portal for integrating statistics and reports, are available to anybody with a DPL library card. These new services are made possible because of #StrongLibraryStrongDenver, supported by the DPL Fund. Learn more here:

https://www.denverlibrary.org/stronglibrary_strongdenver

CU Anschutz COAST-IT Program

Are you an older adult that would like to build a social connection with a CU Anschutz health professional student? The Multidisciplinary Center on Aging at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is actively reaching out to more older adults in the community for the COAST-IT (Connecting Older Adults and Students Through Inter-professional Telecare) program. Older adults will have the opportunity to engage with a student from either the CU Anschutz School of Medicine, School of Pharmacy, College of Nursing, or School of Dental Medicine programs to mentor the future generation of healthcare clinicians.

Contact Joanna Fitzgibbons at joanna.fitzgibbons@cuanschutz.edu for more information

April 3, 2023 - Monday, 9:30AM - 11:00AM

CCA Advocacy Committee Meeting via Zoom

There will be a CCA Advocacy Committee Meeting on Monday, April 3, 2023 from 9:30AM to 11:30AM. Newcomers and visitors are welcome - LEARN MORE

Website https://coloradocenterforaging.org/

April 10, 2023 - Monday, 9:30AM - 11:00AM

CCA Advocacy Committee Meeting via Zoom

There will be a CCA Advocacy Committee Meeting on Monday, April 10, 2023 from 9:30AM to 11:30AM. Newcomers and visitors are welcome - LEARN MORE

Website https://coloradocenterforaging.org/

April 13, 2023 - Thursday, 8:00AM - 9:00AM

Legislative Caucus on Aging - Attend in Person or via Zoom

Location: The Colorado Capitol - House Committee Room 112

Address: 200 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80203

Join us for a legislative Caucus on Aging meeting in-person at the Capitol or virtually via Zoom. The program will include legislators presenting bills that have a direct impact

on older Coloradans. You are encouraged to attend in person at the Capitol Building in House Committee Room 112. Please contact Lucy Carroll (Rep. Young's aide) at

aide.hd50@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link.

View Flyer - CLICK HERE

April 17, 2023 - Monday, 9:30AM - 11:00AM

CCA Advocacy Committee Meeting via Zoom

There will be a CCA Advocacy Committee Meeting on Monday, April 17, 2023 from 9:30AM to 11:30AM. Newcomers and visitors are welcome - LEARN MORE

Website https://coloradocenterforaging.org/

April 21, 2023 - Friday - 3:00PM - 5:00PM

Mobility Equipment Tune-Up

Location: PASCO

Address: 9197 W. 6th Ave Suite 1000, Lakewood, CO 80215

Join us at the PASCO office for a tune-up on your mobility equipment! Westpeak Mobility will be available to provide tune-ups and small repairs to your manual and power wheelchairs, gait and walking aids, and more. Need any repair needs beyond basic fixes? The Westpeak team will be able to provide referrals for in-depth repairs on the spot to make sure you get the fixes needed to make your equipment perfect for your unique needs. Crafts, activities, and refreshments will be provided.

RSVP Today - https://pascohh.com/events/mobility-equipment-tune-up/

April 24, 2023 - Monday, 9:30AM - 11:00AM

CCA Advocacy Committee Meeting via Zoom

There will be a CCA Advocacy Committee Meeting on Monday, April 24, 2023 from 9:30AM to 11:30AM. Newcomers and visitors are welcome - LEARN MORE

Website https://coloradocenterforaging.org/

May 11, 2023 - Thursday

6th Annual Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day - Virtual Meeting

Public health practitioners, professionals in the aging network, mental health providers, health care professionals, and anyone interested in ensuring the mental health of older adults should attend this free, virtual event on May 11, 2023. The symposium is brought to you by NCOA, the U.S. Administration for Community Living, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Register now to join us on May 11. When you register, you will be automatically signed up for all of the day’s sessions. Click the green Register button above to get started

https://connect.ncoa.org/products/6th-annual-older-adult-mental-health-awareness-day

Looking to Sharpen your tech Skills?

Cyber-Seniors provides FREE technology support and training for senior citizens

Founded in 2015 by the creators of the award-winning documentary film CYBER-SENIORS, this non-profit organization provides senior citizens with tech-training using an intergenerational, volunteer model.

Website https://cyberseniors.org/

Live Online Classes for Seniors from Senior Planet

If you’re a senior aged 60 and older, these live online classes are designed just for you! Learn about finance, wellness, fitness, computers and technology, and so much more. You will also find a real community of fellow life-long learners.

Website https://seniorplanet.org/classes/

CCA Advocacy Committee Meetings 2023

The first CCA Advocacy Committee will be meeting every Monday while the legislature is in session. Note that we may not have meetings on certain Federal and State holidays.

If you are not a member of Colorado Center for Aging - Join Today!

Not sure if you are a member? Send us an email - CLICK HERE

Join as an Individual - CLICK HERE
Join as a Supporting Organization - CLICK HERE
Donate to the Colorado Center for Aging - CLICK HERE

Colorado Center for Aging is a 501c3 non-profit organization,

born out of the roots of Colorado Senior Lobby (CSL) - LEARN MORE

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