What are your top three priorities for the next legislative session?
The chamber may see split Democrat-Republican control next year. On what issues do you see common ground with the opposite party?
Sound public policy need not be partisan at all. People who work in good faith can always find common ground; I work in good faith, as do most Colorado legislators.
As an organizer, legal advocate, and policy expert I’ve been finding and forging common ground with folks on all points of the political spectrum and building coalitions to pass critical bipartisan legislation for years. This collaborative work will continue in 2023 and beyond.
The list of important legislation that will see bipartisan support is likely to include cannabis regulation, wildfire mitigation, water policy, public safety, judicial transparency, and more.
What perspective or background would you bring to the chamber that is currently missing?
As Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) reminds us: the people closest to the pain should be closest to the power. A legislature that has more members who have experienced challenges such as poverty, housing instability, food insecurity, lack of access to healthcare, incarceration, and injustice will be a legislature best suited to finally make real progress towards solving these problems and more.
What more can the state legislature do to ease housing costs across Colorado?
Housing is a human right. While all Coloradans are facing rising housing costs, the solutions to alleviate this pain cannot be one size fits all. Municipalities should have latitude to implement policies best suited to their respective communities. What works for Denver may not be what works best in other regions. Accordingly, the statewide prohibition against rent stabilization must be repealed. This, in conjunction with expanding housing first policies, encouraging social housing, and increasing the supply of homes that working folks can actually buy, will go far to ease housing costs.
Do you support the current law on fentanyl possession and resources for treatment?
HB22-1326 was a well-intended but misguided bill; I would have voted No.
Today, five Coloradans will die of a preventable drug overdose; the drug supply is tainted and toxic. Substance misuse is a public health crisis and must be treated with a public health approach. The provisions in 1326 dedicated to resources and treatment are important, but do not outweigh the most dangerous part of this pernicious bill: refelonizing simple drug possession.
I support data-driven policy, so I join the physicians, addiction medicine specialists, harm reductionists, and public health workers who opposed the fentanyl bill because we support saving lives.
Donald D. Howell has not returned the questionnaire.
