Colorado Legislature Back in Session Today

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

With the rap of the gavel by the House Speaker, the Colorado General Assembly reconvenes today to start the second regular session of the 71^st general assembly. According to the Chief Clerk of the House, after the national anthem is sung and Pledge of Allegiance read, roll call will be taken and notifications sent to the Governor and Senate that the House is now officially in session.

Depending on where you live in Longmont, we are represented in the House of Representatives by either Jonathon Singer (Democrat, District 11) or Mike Foote (Democrat, District 12). In the Senate, we are represented by Matt Jones (Democrat, District 17).

The first scheduled hearing will be at 2 p.m. for the joint budget committee where the committee will consider potential legislation or supplemental budget requests for the departments of agriculture, state, transportation, and treasury. A likely topic to come up is to how to proceed with the fix for the marijuana tax that was not resolved during the 2017 special session.

“My focus this year is going to be ensuring that the average, hard-working Coloradoan is getting a fair shot”, said Representative Singer. “What that means is passing a balanced budget that makes the right kind of investments in K-12 education, stopping higher education tuition increases, and finding bipartisan fixes to our roads and bridges. On a more personal note, I am dedicated to protecting our local communities from oil and gas development and creating new solutions to our opioid crisis.”

Representative Singer plans to introduce several bills this year related to the opioid crisis based on recommendations from a bipartisan committee that will focus on counseling, wrap-around services, housing, and other issues faced by those with an opioid addiction that are not addressed in the criminal justice system.

“By creating that ounce of prevention, we will do better for those in need and do better for our taxpayers as well,” added Singer.

The legislative session lasts approximately 4 months. Look for additional articles in the coming weeks and months on legislative actions that affect Longmont or send us a news tip if there’s a particular bill you would like to know more about.