Editor’s note: Each week during the legislative session, Denver Post political reporters will sit down with Capitol newsmakers. This Q&A was edited for length. Read the full version at:
Much of Evie Hudak’s adult life was centered on education, from teaching to serving on the PTA to the state Board of Education. Her main issue at the Capitol is education.
Hudak, 58, and her husband, Ed, have a daughter, Genevieve, a valedictorian in Arvada High School’s Class of 2000.
Q: You were (with) the Colorado Education Network when it designed and promoted Amendment 23 (approved by voters in 2000 to boost education funding). Any regrets?
A: I have no regrets. It preserved education funding at the rate of growth plus inflation so it wouldn’t go down. And the additional 1 percent for education was to make up for 10 years of not keeping up with inflation. . . . We would have made huge, huge cuts to education if we hadn’t had this in place. I realize it puts a lot of strain on the budget, but one of the biggest responsibilities of state government is to pay for education.
Q: You taught for 20 years, mostly English and grammar. Do you mentally correct what you read?
A: I’m a real stickler for correct grammar and punctuation. . . . The most common mistakes everybody makes are apostrophes, the difficulty differentiating between a plural and a possessive and then commas.
Q: You served on the state Board of Education for eight years. What was it like?
A: I loved it. I had been the PTA lobbyist, a volunteer lobbyist, so I was following what went on here at the Capitol and there on the board. Many times I would testify, and I wanted to be able to vote. It makes me a much better legislator having served there.
Q: Tell me about Senate District 19.
A: I represent the entire Jefferson County portion of Westminster, and most of Arvada, the east and north part. My district varies. We have the highest level of homelessness in Jeffco, and then we have very affluent areas. We have very conservative to ultra-liberal. I could take any position, either liberal or conservative and say, “I’m representing my district.”
Interviewed by Denver Post staff writer Lynn Bartels
