State Senator Janet Marchman (Senate District 15) and State Representative Judy Amabile (House District 49) held a joint town hall meeting Monday afternoon at the Estes Valley Library to highlight the 2024 legislative session for constituents.
Marchman (D), who serves as the vice chair of the Senate Education Committee and also sits on the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, attended her first meeting on July 2 of the Wildfire Matters Review Committee, a permanent interim committee as a forum through which the general assembly reviews state policies and resources addressing wildfire prevention and mitigation.
She also is the vice chair of the Colorado Youth Advisory Council (COYAC), a council of 40 youth members representing each senate district in the state in addition representatives from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, and three additional non-voting members selected to provide diversity on the council, particularly from rural areas. The COYAC advises state legislators on policy issues relevant to Colorado youth and develops policy recommendations for consideration. The COYAC selects several issues to bring forth as bills for consideration. Marchman said one of the issues selected by the youth council addresses promoting health literacy.
Marchman said she would like to serve on the Senate’s budget committee, “I was an engineer and numbers are really my love language. Data is my love language.” One of the criticisms Marchman has with the budgeting process is that much of the state’s budget is determined by the governor’s office and only about 15 percent is determined by the legislature. She would like the legislature to have more say in determining state spending.
Amabile (D), provided some additional perspective on the budgeting process, explaining that the governor prepares his budget in the fall and the legislature convenes in January to begin the process of lawmaking. By the time the legislature is able to address appropriations, much of the state funds have already been allocated for commitments previously made.
Amabile chairs the Business and labor Committee and has served on the Judiciary Committee, and the Public Behavioral Health Committee, including an interim committee that addresses how people with behavioral health disorders are treated in the criminal justice system and an oversight committee on jail standards.
“Colorado has 63 jails that are all run by the county sheriff. Everybody does it their own way. There are no rules about that. There are no standards for jails,” said Amabile. “A few years ago we set out to make standards for jails. And we passed a bill and the legislative oversight committee met a week ago to appoint some members to an advisory group that will be doing jail visits and help set up standards.
Amabile also serves on the committee that will vote on the language for the Blue Book, the ballot initiative information book which is sent to registered voters that provides information about each initiated or referred constitutional amendment, law, or question on the ballot.
The Blue Book is intended to offer voters an impartial summary of each measure with arguments both for and against, and a fiscal assessment of what a yes or no vote would mean. Legislative language can be tricky, as one man who attend the form said. He accidentally voted for a TABOR (Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights) ballot questions when he wanted to vote against it.
Before Marchman was elected to the state legislature, she had worked as a teacher. She talked about what it was like to deal with students during active student shooter drills. She has brought this experience into her work as a legislator in writing a bill (SB 24-225) that would address trauma informed lockdown drills.
“We are raising a group of kids and young adults who are both apathic and also super anxious about gun violence,” said Marchman.
If passed the bill would require schools to provide advance notice in writing five days before a safety drill to the parents, guardians, or custodians of students.
Asked about how the cut in federal funds for domestic violence programs – as much as $700 million or 37% of the national Crime Victims Fund – would affect services in Colorado, including local services provided by the Estes Valley Crisis Advocates, Amabile said one ballot initiative voters will be asked to decide on this fall will be a new 6.5% state excise tax on guns and ammunition (HB24-1349).
The revenue generated from the Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax, an estimated $39 million in the first fiscal year, would be spent on mental health services, including for military veterans and at-risk youth, school safety and gun violence prevention, and support services for victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes,
The lawmakers also answered questions about the new Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan signed into law by Governor Jared Polis last year. Amabile explained that the act (HB23-1288), designed to provide property insurance coverage for homeowners and businesses when coverage is unavailable through traditional means, is a last resort and is very expensive. Coverage will be available beginning in January 2025 and will provide homeowners with maximum combined coverage amount of $750,000 and maximum commercial coverage will be $5,000,000 for combined property and contents per location.
Marchman was elected to the Colorado State Senate in November 2022 and will not stand for election again until 2026. Amabile has served in the Colorado House of Representatives since Amabile being elected in 2020 to serve House District 13. Due to redistricting in 2021, Amabile ran and won the House seat for House District 49 in 2022. This fall, she will be running unopposed for the State Senate in Senate District 18. The candidates for Senate District 49 are Leslie Smith (D) and Steve Ferrante (R).