A nearly 500-page bill released Friday fills in new details about the Department of Early Childhood as it launches and prepares to oversee Colorado’s expansion of preschool in fall 2023. The Democrat-backed bill reflects close to a year of planning among lawmakers, state agencies, the governor’s office, early childhood providers and advocates, and parents — […]
Janet Buckner
Posted inColoradans, Health, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers want to spell it out: It’s perfectly legal for kids to play outside or walk to school alone
Brinley Sheffield and her mom had run the route several times together and tracked the mileage — two trips around their neighborhood block made a mile. So when the 7-year-old who wanted to become a faster runner set off on her first solo run, her parents had no concern that she would get lost. Besides, […]
Posted inNews
Democrats pursued a no-policy-left-behind mantra for Colorado’s 2021 legislative session
Colorado Democrats’ massive bill to drive down health care costs suddenly appeared to be in real trouble. It was late May in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and three of the four Democrats on the panel were raising concerns about the policy in House Bill 1232. “I believe we have a lot more […]
Posted inColoradans, Health, News, Politics and Government
Death rates for pregnant Colorado women have doubled since 2008. Here’s how the state is trying to fix it.
Nelia Borden started to scream when she realized her doctor was preparing to make an incision and use a suction tool to help her give birth. “I screamed ‘No!’ multiple times,” Borden recalled as she testified before a state Capitol committee. “I squirmed and tried to close my legs but I’d had an epidural. I […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Colorado effort to significantly reduce student tickets and arrests is withdrawn by sponsors
By Melanie Asmar and Jason Gonzales, Chalkbeat Colorado Thousands of Colorado students are referred to law enforcement each year by principals, teachers, and other school staff, and even more students are ticketed or arrested by police. A bill introduced in the state legislature last month would have dramatically decreased those types of interactions between students and police, […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Education, Health, News, Politics and Government
10 major issues being decided in the final hours of Colorado’s 2020 legislative session
Spirited debates about tax increases and school-required vaccinations, and policies to end police brutality have dominated the final days of Colorado’s coronavirus legislative session, expected to soon reach its last gavel. But lawmakers also decided on dozens of other proposals that will affect everything from their own salaries to whether Coloradans can keep ordering to-go […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, Politics and Government
“It feels like my back is up against a wall”: Why a handful of Colorado lawmakers are afraid to come to the Capitol
As House Speaker KC Becker, a Boulder Democrat, called the roll on Tuesday for the first time since Colorado’s legislative session went into recess due to the coronavirus pandemic, Rep. Janet Buckner waited patiently to hear her name. A lawmaker since 2015 and the speaker pro tempore, she knew what to expect. Except instead of […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Should letting your kid play outside be illegal?
What does it take to get a Democrat and a Republican to co-sponsor a bill? A little joy and a little outrage. Joy at finding an issue we could work on together — we’ve been friends for years. Outrage at some of the stories we’ve heard from friends and constituents, moms and dads who simply […]