What are your top three priorities for the next legislative session?
My top policy priorities are focused on environmental issues around climate change, affordable and accessible healthcare, and increasing sensible gun violence prevention policies. I hope to be involved in legislation that serves to mitigate the effects of climate change using innovative agricultural practices as part of the solution as chair of the House Agriculture, Livestock and Water committee and advance opportunities for increasing access to mental health care and decreasing cost of care as a member of the Health and Insurance committee.
The chamber may see split Democrat-Republican control next year. On what issues do you see common ground with the opposite party?
One thing many people do not get to see is how collaborative our General Assembly is. The majority of our bills are bi-partisan and we work together to get things done. As chair of the Agriculture, Livestock and Water committee we pass a large majority of our bills in a bi-partisan way. Issues surrounding agriculture and water especially are areas where we all have common ground. We work together to find solutions that work for Colorado. The future of water in our state has reached emergency levels of attention and we must and will work together to protect water for Colorado. I am committed to bi-partisan efforts and encourage reaching across the aisle whenever possible to ensure all Coloradans feel represented by their State Legislature.
What perspective or background would you bring to the chamber that is currently missing?
I believe that I bring a fresh perspective as someone who was not involved in politics directly before 2018. I saw the issues that my community was facing and decided that my life experiences of being a veterinarian, small business owner, daughter of a career naval aviator, and mom would be a useful perspective for policy decisions in the legislature. Many of my colleagues are also from non-political backgrounds, I feel this is important as we bring many different perspectives and ideas to the team. Having a citizen legislature with term limits gives our state the opportunity to continually add new voices to the General Assembly and I see this as a positive.
What more can the state legislature do to ease housing costs across Colorado?
Affordable housing is an important issue to me and my constituents. Boulder County is faced with a housing crisis for working families. It is important that we invest, research, and develop innovative solutions to ease housing costs. The state legislature can do more along the lines of what we passed last year with grants for local affordable housing programs, a revolving loan fund to invest in affordable housing, incentivizing innovative ideas in affordable housing, and helping local residents purchase their mobile home parks as examples.
Do you support the current law on fentanyl possession and resources for treatment?
The bill that was passed last year was not perfect and there will need to be adjustments to the law as we see the effects of its implementation. I do not want to criminalize the end user as those people need help more than anything. The harm reduction resources that are in that bill I was supportive of since it will help save lives and get people the help that they need. We need to have the technology to better identify drug chemistries so that we aren’t scooping up people that really aren’t best served through the criminal justice system.
What are your top three priorities for the next legislative session?
I will ensure our communities are safe with the goal of getting drugs off our streets and ensuring hardened criminals are fully prosecuted while seeking solutions to address root causes of rising crime, such as mental health and addiction.
I will help keep costs low for citizens, their families, and local small businesses. I will work to ensure homeowners and renters don’t get pushed out of their communities due to regulations and high taxes.
I will support legislation for school choice, homeschool protections, parental rights, and more transparency in Colorado’s state education curriculum.
The chamber may see split Democrat-Republican control next year. On what issues do you see common ground with the opposite party?
I think both parties have common ground when it comes to the safety of our communities, parental involvement in our children’s education, and being able to afford to stay in our homes. We need get back to the basics on these issues and come together to unite our communities and stop the divisive rhetoric.
What perspective or background would you bring to the chamber that is currently missing?
Our current government only legislates to party narratives and not to the people. I plan to bring back the voices of the people of Colorado who have not been heard these last two years. We are supposed to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people; and these last several years we have gotten away from that. My job as representative is to serve you, not a party or agenda, and it’s time we see more of that from our public servants.
What more can the state legislature do to ease housing costs across Colorado?
We can cut back on unnecessary regulations that make building costly such as land use. We can encourage the use of grant money that was outlined in HB21-1271 that incentivizes the development of affordable housing. We also need to cap the property tax burden for those with fixed incomes. We should also look at how the “Construction Defect Action Reform Act” has impacted the building industry in Colorado.
Do you support the current law on fentanyl possession and resources for treatment?
I do not support the current law on fentanyl possession. The current law allows for this horrendously lethal drug to continue to flow through the streets in our communities. We need to focus on getting drugs off our streets if we want to make any dent in the addiction treatment process or even begin to see fentanyl deaths slow down. By continuing to allow any amount of fentanyl we only perpetuate the overdose crisis.
