Dear Friend,
There was a lot of election news this past week! You probably read about it already, but the unofficial election results and related data from the June 30th primary can be found for Eagle County at: results.enr.clarityelections.com/CO/Eagle and, for Colorado as a whole, at: www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/resultsData.html.
Official results will be available after a post-election audit is completed.
A big THANK YOU goes out to our Eagle County Clerk and Recorder’s office and to all the election judges for working hard throughout election season and for keeping voting accessible and easy for all in our county.
There’s Another Election This Week
The Town of Gypsum holds an election TODAY – Tuesday, July 7 (postponed from April 7).
In this election, voters will elect three Town Council members and will vote on ballot measures regarding a potential donation of $80,000 to the Sweetwater Lake open space campaign and five potential changes to the Home Rule Charter. More information can be found here: townofgypsum.com/town-hall/town-clerk/2020-municipal-election.
Colorado Prevails at the Supreme Court!
Today the Supreme Court decided for Colorado in the “faithless electors” case. This unanimous decision is a win for Colorado, for future presidential elections and for our constitutional democracy. Thanks to this decision everyone’s vote should be counted and represented in the Electoral College. For a summary of the decision see: https://coloradosun.com/2020/07/06/colorado-faithless-electors-decision-supreme-court/.
Colorado 2020 Legislative Session – Short but Mighty
We thought now would be a good time to highlight the results of the 2020 Colorado Legislature. As a reminder, our local State Representative is Dylan Roberts and he will be on the ballot again in November. Our State Senator is Kerry Donovan, and she was elected to a four year term in 2018.
The 2020 Legislative session was significantly shortened due to Covid-19, but lots still happened. The following list of highlights from the 2020 session were provided by Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg:
- We passed a sweeping police accountability reform bill with broad bipartisan support in both chambers.
- We passed a bill to guarantee paid sick leave for all Colorado workers, making Colorado the leader on paid sick leave policies across the country.
- We passed the “Clean Up Colorado’s Air Act,” which creates an office dedicated to state-of-the-art air monitoring and unbiased scientific research.
- We finally repealed the death penalty in Colorado.
- We abolished Columbus Day as a state holiday in Colorado.
- We passed bipartisan legislation to protect our drinking water from toxic PFAs, or “forever chemicals.”
- We provided increased protections for those who live in mobile home parks and give residents the right to purchase their parks.
- For the first time ever, we gave state employees the ability to form a union and collectively bargain.
- We increased notification requirements and penalty fines for when air and water toxics are emitted into communities.
- We created a $250 million small business loan fund and a $20 million grant fund for small businesses who are suffering from COVID-19.
- We created new authority to crack down on price gouging, especially during a public health crisis.
- We are preventing further housing insecurity for both renters and homeowners, by providing $20 million in direct rental and mortgage assistance.
- We expanded health benefits to cover infertility diagnosis and its treatment, such as IVF services.
- We expanded the definition of those who qualify for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.
- We referred a measure (which repeals the Gallagher Amendment) to the ballot to freeze the property tax assessment rates, which will direct funding towards K-12 schools and local fire districts.
- We adopted increased protections against predatory debt collection during a public health emergency.
- We passed HB20-1412, which allocates $5 million to assist low-income Coloradans to pay their utility bills.
- We now require every public school in Colorado to teach Holocaust and genocide studies, which will provide students with opportunities to recognize signs of hate.
- We passed a bill allowing students to receive college credit for work experience.
- We expanded the educator loan forgiveness program.
- We created the first official, statewide Imagination Library Program, where all kids will receive free books in the mail until they turn five.
- We allocated millions to critical mental health programs and substance abuse treatment within the Colorado Department of Human Services and the Department of Public Health and Environment.
- We referred a measure to the ballot which, if successful, would create a new nicotine tax that would generate revenue for health care, early childhood education, housing relief, and smoking prevention programs.
- We expanded telehealth access and made sure insurance policies cover this critical service.
CFI’s Virtual Bars and Graphs
If you are interested in hearing even more about the results from this session, the Colorado Fiscal Institute (“CFI”) is holding a “wrappy” hour TODAY, Tuesday, July 7, from 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm, where you can get the scoop on everything that happened during the historic 2020 session. RSVP and get the Zoom information at https://www.coloradofiscal.org/2020/06/barsandgraphs/.
We welcome your questions or thoughts – email us at vailvalleyvotes@gmail.com.
Vail Valley Votes
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