Aurora Vote ’24: The race for Senate District 28

• Is it important to you to build rapport with voters from historically marginalized communities? If so, how would you do that?

This is supremely important to me, and it’s something I think about constantly, and have thought about since I first became a candidate for my present office, House District 36, in 2015.  In the immensity of the work at hand – studying issues; assisting constituents; understanding people – public service jobs are bigger than any one person can be.  This is especially true when we work to build bridges with others whose backgrounds are different than our own backgrounds.  I think it starts with coming from a place of humility about what you don’t know, or might not know, and trying actively to gain perspective.  That means listening.  It means putting yourself in places where you will hear things from people whose perspectives are different from yours.  Specifically in the legislative context, it means paying attention to what issues are being brought forward from colleagues who are themselves representatives of historically marginalized communities, especially when those issues are explicitly on behalf of marginalized communities, and trying to support those issues.  For example I have had colleagues in the Colorado House who are the first African immigrant representative in our state’s history; the first Muslim representative; the first transgender representative.  I have paid close attention to the issues these colleagues raise.  Specifically in the community context, it means, among other things, awareness about elements of history around the world that we may not think about much overall in the United States but that are deeply important to particular immigrant & refugee communities.  It means awareness of culturally significant holidays, such as Lunar New Year.  It means being available to people are naturally leaders in their respective communities within our broader community of Aurora.

The legislative sessions adjourned in May:

• What do you think are the two most important bills that were signed into law this year?

We did a lot of important work in the 2024 session, including bills to support working families through our code.  One of those was my bill HB24-1134 with Rep. Rutinel and Sens. Hinrichsen and Hansen to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit in a historic way.  But I think as important as those bills were, there were two others that were even bigger.  First, SB24-233, the bipartisan property tax bill.  This was a true compromise that will reduce property taxes by hundreds of millions a year in an ongoing way.  Critically, it attempts – and I believe will succeed – to preserve school funding and leave local governments like counties sufficient revenue to do what their constituents expect them to do.  I particularly appreciate the work of my colleagues Reps Chris deGruy Kennedy (D) and Lisa Frizell (R) who were the House lead sponsors on this bill.  Second, HB24-1448 to update our school finance funding law (the “School Finance Act”) for the first time in 30 years.  As it phases in over a few years, 1448 will mean millions more per year for high-need districts like APS.

• What two bills that failed do you think should have passed?

First, I think it’s too bad the governor vetoed HB24-1008, which was a bill to reduce wage theft.  Wage theft is simply people not being paid for work they have done, and it’s wrong.  This can be particularly prevalent in the construction industry, and I received a lot of letters from constituents in Aurora detailing their stories of having experienced wage theft and urging me to support 1008, which I did.  I hope the legislature can work again with the governor on this issue next year.

Second, I thought HB24-1005 was a smart idea.  This was to require insurance companies to treat all primary care as “in-network.”  Less than 10% of all healthcare spending is on primary care, according to what I’ve read, but it’s some of the most important because investment in primary care can avoid more expenses and more importantly can avoid human suffering later.  The in-network / out-of-network distinction in insurance can be confusing for people and a good place to start getting rid of that confusion is in primary care.

• What two bills that passed that you think should not have?

I wish HB24-1393 had not become law; I voted no on it.  This was a bill that capped the number of “ASCENT” concurrent enrollment slots (again).  Just two years ago, my colleague Rep. Jen Bacon (who has a background in education) and I had sponsored a bill to remove the cap and allow this higher education option for more students.  The budget committee felt they had to do this, but I wish the legislature had taken at least one more year to study the issue and see if there was a better way.

I also opposed HB24-1325 which was a bill for tax credits for the quantum industry.  I am all for using tax laws to support things we value.  I just think the quantum industry is going to continue to attract a lot of private investment and wasn’t as in need of state support as other types of businesses or working families trying to get by, e.g. with higher rents.

• The Legislative session moves fast. How will you communicate with and get feedback from constituents on specific legislation during the next legislative session?  The session does move fast and I have been dealing with this as one of Aurora’s’ representatives!  I do many different things and will continue to.  I send regular email updates during session.  I share updates on social media.  I hold town hall meetings either in person or on zoom and attend other meetings organized by different groups.  I respond to emails and phone calls (and sometimes post mail letters and social media direct messages too) as quickly as possible.

• If you could unilaterally sunset any Colorado law, which one would it be and why?

Of course I don’t think legislators should be able to unilaterally change the law!  But “sunsets” or time limits on some of our tax break laws are a good idea.  We’ve actually been doing this in recent years for newly passed tax laws, but there are some old ones on the books without sunsets.  The point being, what are we trying to do with the tax law, and if it’s not working – say it’s not actually helping create jobs as it was promised to do – then we should update it or get rid of (repeal) it.

• Finding and retaining teachers has become a difficult issue in public school. What should the Legislature do to help resolve this?

I think we took an important step this year in finally eliminating the so-called “budget stabilization factor” to invest hundreds of millions more into schools statewide.  This will help local school districts pay teachers more, and while the state doesn’t dictate to local schools what to do with every dollar, I hope they do that.  We are not done undoing decades of disinvestment in our schools though, and that disinvestment has meant among other things underpaying teachers.  I also hear repeatedly over the years that many teachers would like to be able to focus more on teaching and preparing their lesson plans and not have to spend as much time on administrative items like dealing with standardized tests and evaluations.

● State lawmakers recently passed a handful of measures addressing the problem of affordable housing. What more, if anything, can the state do to address what to many families in Aurora and the metroplex is a critical problem? 

I fundamentally look at this as two halves.  First, we have to get more homes built (for sale or for rent) that are priced affordably.  Second, we have to help people be able to pay those sale prices or rental rates.  In 2019 I passed a bill to eliminate a $45-50M/year sales tax loophole and instead invest that money into affordable housing.  That was the first time CO has had a durable source of funding like that for this purpose.  This year in particular the legislature expanded or created a variety of tax credits that will invest over $1.5 billion into affordable housing construction into the early 2030s.  Basically, when the state invests either through dollars or tax credits, homes can be built and sold for a lower price than they otherwise would be.  I have also supported other measures to incentivize building affordable homes, like the HB24-1152, the “accessory dwelling unit” bill.  1152 says that IF You want to build such a unit on your property, and you comply with building codes, the local government can’t get in your way.  So it’s both a housing bill and a property rights bill.  (And if you don’t want to build an ADU, you certainly don’t have to.)

On the other side, hundreds of thousands of people in our state are “housing cost burdened”.  That means they pay more than 30% of their earnings on housing.  Some people have to pay more than 50%.  This is a lot of why I have worked so hard on our tax laws over the years, to get rid of corporate loopholes and put dollars back into the pockets of working families through laws like the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, and tax credits for the costs of child care and to support senior citizens.

• Primarily Denver, but Aurora, too, has absorbed the biggest brunt of an influx of more than 30,000 immigrants over the past year, primarily from South America. Should the state step up its support of municipalities or counties to help care for these immigrants?

Our ability as a state is somewhat limited, but yes.  For example this year we passed, and I was a co-sponsor of, HB24-1280, which invested some funding into a grant program by which the state would work with non-profit partners.  In this kind of work we have to acknowledge that the state can be a bit slow sometimes and that sometimes non-profits that are grounded in our communities are able to move faster and get things done.

• Despite enactment of the Affordable Care Act and subsequent state legislation, health insurance premiums continue to grow as insurance benefits are reduced. What can state lawmakers do to improve benefits and reduce costs to consumers?

Years ago I participated in the creation of the state “re-insurance” program that has reduced rates on the individual market, especially in the rural areas of our state.  I also supported the “Colorado option” law which was a way to create competition and lower prices on the health insurance exchange.  Over the years we have also worked to pass laws to prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for, or setting exorbitant prices for, key procedures or medicines like IVF or insulin.  I have supported these kinds of measures in the past and remain very open to doing so again in the future.  As noted above with the bill about primary care, I think the rule that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is true here and the more we can get people good coverage in the first place, the better everyone’s health can be and the lower total healthcare costs can be in the longer term.

• State and local police departments continue to report a lack of resources needed to provide traffic patrol. Should the state mandate the use of speed-check cameras and tickets on state roads and highways to help curb speeding and weaving?

No.  Aurora voters said no to cameras a few years ago.

• State lawmakers lauded substantive changes to public school funding this year, but for many families, higher education, even community college is unaffordable. Should state lawmakers press for spending changes at state universities and colleges by imposing tuition caps along with funding cuts and regulations?

I do think the state needs to press our higher ed institutions to control their costs.  We have set tuition increase caps some years and I am always open to doing so in the future.  In addition, this year we passed, and I co-sponsored, a law, HB24-1340 to offer lower- & middle-income families tax credits to offset the costs of college tuition.  This is a new thing in Colorado and I am excited about it.  I also have ideas to expand on it next year.