What are your top three priorities for the next legislative session?
Colorado leads the nation with an inflation rate of more than 14%. The increasing cost of transportation, utilities and groceries has impacted all of Colorado. The legislature can address this by reducing regulation and fees placed on citizens and businesses. Colorado unfortunately, leads the nation in auto thefts as well as leading the nation in hard drug use such as cocaine and heroin. The legislature needs to empower law enforcement with laws that allow them to put and keep criminals behind bars. Funding education and encouraging collaboration between educators and parents needs to be at the forefront of the legislature’s priorities.
The chamber may see split Democrat-Republican control next year. On what issues do you see common ground with the opposite party?
I will continue to work across the aisle with lawmakers of the opposing party with common sense legislation that benefits my constituents. I am especially proud of three pieces of legislation that I passed in the 2022 legislative session dealing with tax credits for alternative transportation, support for our law enforcement officers and incentives for funding education.
What perspective or background would you bring to the chamber that is currently missing?
As I speak with voters on their doorsteps, they are talking about real-life issues such as the cost of living and the sharp increase of criminal activity in our state and in local communities. I bring the perspective of a small business owner working to make payroll each week. I am a father putting food on the table and driving to numerous sporting events. I feel the strain of increasing prices at the pump and the grocery store just like the folks I talk to in their neighborhoods.
What more can the state legislature do to ease housing costs across Colorado?
We need to resolve the condominium construction defects issue so that builders can once again build start up housing which will allow our kids and grandkids to stay in Colorado after they graduate high school and college. We also need to limit the unnecessary regulation that we have seen such as mandated building materials on houses/buildings which increases the costs for builders who in turn raise their prices for buyers. Coloradans should have options on what types of energy sources they use in their homes and should not be forced to purchase items that don’t fit their needs when constructing a new home.
Do you support the current law on fentanyl possession and resources for treatment?
I voted against HH22-1326 on final reading. This law fell short of making ANY possession of fentanyl a felony. HB22-1326 allows misdemeanor possession of fentanyl up to one gram. One gram of fentanyl has the ability to kill 500 Coloradans. The legislature failed law enforcement by taking away tools needed to put drug dealers in jail when they passed HB-1263 in 2019. The legislature failed Colorado in 2022 by not fully correcting the disastrous mistake they made previously. I will work to make any possession of fentanyl a felony.
What are your top three priorities for the next legislative session?
Stabilizing the housing market, expanded regional transportation services, protecting voting rights and civil liberties
The chamber may see split Democrat-Republican control next year. On what issues do you see common ground with the opposite party?
I’d like to think we can find common ground on all of the above issues.
What perspective or background would you bring to the chamber that is currently missing?
I don’t have a long history of partisan politics. As a career military officer, I’m trained to think pragmatically about achievable solutions to real-world problems with the resources you have on hand. And as a strategic planner, I know how to ask the right questions about long-term and second- and third-order impacts of decisions to ensure we’re doing our best to put policies in place that will do what they say they’ll do with few unintended consequences. I’m not afraid to say yes and I’m not afraid to say no, if it means being realistic about what we can achieve with what we have.
What more can the state legislature do to ease housing costs across Colorado?
It has to be a multi-pronged approach and there are many potential tools in our toolbox. Grants and tax incentives to ensure we have diverse housing options in our communities; giving municipalities more power to stabilize rental markets and provide public housing options; ensuring that HOAs, metro districts and mobile home lot fees don’t force residents out of their homes; making local and regional transportation services more accessible and reliable; changing rules around home-sharing and incentivizing home-share arrangements… these are just a few of the many areas we should be looking at at the state, county and municipal level.
Do you support the current law on fentanyl possession and resources for treatment?
I don’t believe in criminalizing drug users. The ties between addiction and our mental health crisis are well documented. If we are serious about ending the opioid crisis, then we have to go to the root of the problem: too many families are struggling in a system that fails to provide access to safe, affordable and quality housing, healthcare and education–even when they’re fully employed. Until we can ensure that families have access to the resources they need to raise their children in safe and supportive environments, I believe we will continue to face increasing issues related to both mental health and addiction, particularly among our young people.
Joe Johnson has not returned the questionnaire.
How candidate order was determined: A lot drawing was held at the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office on Aug. 3 to determine the general election ballot order for major and minor party candidates. Colorado law (1-5-404, C.R.S.) requires that candidates are ordered on the ballot in three tiers: major party candidates followed by minor party candidates followed by unaffiliated candidates. Within each tier, the candidates are ordered by a lot drawing with the exception of the office of Governor and Lt. Governor, which are ordered by the last name of the gubernatorial candidate.
