Issues

Protecting our Military Families

The 17th District is home to a large number of dedicated and patriotic members of the United States Armed Services. As your representative in the State Capitol, it is one of my most solemn duties to fight for the best interests of our uniformed officers and their families. Likewise, the thousands of Colorado veterans who bravely served their country deserve just as much attention and respect from the government in the future as they recieved in the past.

I believe that the State of Colorado forms a sacred contract with any individual whom makes the honored committment to serve in our Nation's military. In return for their service, Government must do everything in its power to provide an adequate degree of financial security, quality and affordable health care, access to educational opportunities, and support services for military family members. It is with this belief that I introduced legislation to allow military spouses and children to take a brief leave from work or school to visit with a family member pending deployment or returning home for a brief visit.

I am also a champion of aiding retired servicemen and newly minted veterans in finding economic stablility as they transition from active duty to the private sector. As such, I will be fighting to strengthen the services available to veterans by working to expand job training programs and educational opportunities for our military personnel.
Building a Clean Energy Economy

I am committed to fighting for continued investment into our new energy economy and other high tech industries that are bringing new companies and green collar jobs to Colorado. Our recent creation of 22,000 new high-paying energy jobs is a trend that is paying off right now and needs to continue into the future. I look forward to hearing the innovative new approaches that our scientific community proposes to help exapand the role of clean energy in Colorado homes, schools, and businesses.
Assisting Struggling Families

I will continue to assist Coloradans who are most suffering from the nationwide economic slowdow. I am supporting legislation to offer Coloradans facing foreclosure a "temporary timeout" to give them an extra window of time to work with their lenders and save their homes.

My colleagues and I will also work to introduce an ambitious plan to signficantly reduce poverty over the next decade by creating an economic framework that will expand opportunity and render more services to help those Coloradans who are struggling to make ends meet.

To attract companies that wil be profitable tomorrow to locate in Colorado today, we must train a workforce with the skills they need to compete for high paying jobs. To accomplish this, we will expand our job training prgroams at Colorado's community colleges and encourage educators to place a special emphasis on preparing our labor force for green collar jobs.
Quality and Affordable Health Care

Soaring health care costs are squeezing middle class families and banktrupting thousands of uninsured residents. I will work with my fellow legislatures to help control health care costs while simultaneously improving the system's efficiency and quality. To do this, we need to start focusing on preventive care and screening so that doctors can catch health problems early on and deal with them swiftly. This approach will save lives and medical costs in the long-run while also increasing the efficiency of our health care system.
Strengthening Colorado's Economy

Improving the dire state of the economy is one of the biggest challenges facing the legislature this session. We are working to exapnd the circle of opportunity by bringing good jobs to Colorado, helping struggling families, and building a world-class education system.

The legislature will work to secure federal funding that will aid Colorado in its ability to attract new jobs by fixing our crumbling roads and bridges. Over $1.2 billion in shovel-ready road projects are ready to begin construction, and now the legislature needs to step up and deliver the funds. The Committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth will also pursue a long term sustainable transportation funding solution that will continute to create jobs year in and year out.
Creating New Jobs

Creating new jobs for Coloradans is priority number one. The bi-partisan Committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth is crafting real solutions to create new jobs and help improve the health of our economic infrastructure to ensure that employment will be here to stay.

My fellow members and I plan to introduce legislation to provide a Colorado Jobs Tax Credit to companies that bring new jobs and economic output to our state. This incentive will help Colorado better compete against other states to attract good paying jobs. Additionally, we will help small businesses gain access to capital and credit to give them the necessary tools they need to grow. To accomplish this, we plan to revive the Colorado Credit Reserve Program, which will encourage lenders to loan as much as $50 million to Colorado small businesses.
Expanding Education

Colorado needs to expand educational opportunity and improve school efficiency and quality - without wasting needless funds. Most importantly, we need to contintue to ensure that every child in Colorado has access to a free and effective public education. I plan to support legislation that will create an Office of Dropout Prevention and Student Re-engagement to make sure that students complete their high school studies and become ready to take the crucial next step towards College.

I will also be working across partly lines to make it easier for high school students to have access to college and the vital technical training needed to secure a good, high-paying job.

Engaging students requires a consistent and high degree of parental involvement. I am committed to passing legislation that allows parents to take a limited amount of unpaid leave to attend school meetings and events without worrying about losing their jobs.