The Swipe Fee Fairness and Consumer Safeguards Act aims to reduce the "swipe" fees paid by Colorado businesses to credit card networks < Back March 19, 2025 House Passes Bipartisan Bill to Save Colorado Small Businesses Money DENVER, CO — The House today passed legislation to save small businesses money by cracking down on excessive card transaction fees that inflate prices for Coloradans. The Swipe Fee Fairness and Consumer Safeguards Act prohibits payment card networks from fixing fees with credit card issuers, bans fees on taxes and tips and creates new accountability measures. HB25-1282 passed the House by a vote of 43-21. “Every time you swipe your card at a local restaurant or business, major credit card companies are skimming off the top and passing the cost down to small businesses – our bill establishes reasonable swipe fee guidelines that protect consumers and small businesses,” said Rep. William Lindstedt, D-Broomfield. “This bill supports Colorado’s small businesses and restaurants by prohibiting fixed swipe fees, banning swipe fees on taxes and tips and establishing measures designed to level the playing field between card companies and small businesses. Major credit card companies are price matching swipe fees – resulting in Coloradans paying $2 billion in swipe fees each year. This bill is a big step forward to saving our small businesses and restaurants money on credit card transactions.” HB25-1282 , The Swipe Fee Fairness and Consumer Safeguards Act , is also sponsored by Representative Max Brooks, R-Castle Rock. The bill would reduce the "swipe" fees paid by Colorado businesses to credit card networks, also known as interchange fees. This bill would: Prohibit Fixing Fees: Payment card networks would not be allowed to fix or conspire to fix interchange fees with credit card issuers. Ban Fees on Taxes and Tips: Interchange fees could not be applied to the portions of a transaction attributable to sales tax or gratuity. This would end the practice of banks unfairly profiting from merchants collecting and remitting taxes to the state. Protect Consumers: Fees related to disputed transactions would not be charged until disputes are resolved. Cap Fees on Charitable Donation: Would limit interchange fees on charitable contributions to 0.2-percent for debit cards and 0.3-percent for credit cards. Crack Down on Bad Actors: Merchants, consumers, or affected entities could sue payment card networks for damages, including treble damages for bad faith conduct. HB25-1282 aims to support Colorado small businesses by lowering transaction fees and expanding opportunities to negotiate with card companies. Fairer fee practices also means consumers benefit from reduced costs on each transaction and card companies cannot charge disputing fees until the dispute is resolved and consumers are notified in writing. Coloradans pay $2 billion annually in swipe fees with no market competition to drive down costs. Additionally, Visa and Mastercard control more than 80-percent of the market for credit cards and debit cards. Price matching or fixed swipe fee rates between major card companies means merchants and consumers are paying more for tax and tip on card transactions. This bill would eliminate swipe fees on taxes and tips, cap swipe fees on charitable contributions, prohibit price fixing by card networks, and deliver much-needed relief to small businesses struggling under excessive fees. Colorado is one of more than seventeen states that are pursuing similar legislation to protect small businesses and fight back against inflated prices. Previous Next

< Back June 22, 2021 DELIVERED! BILL TO EXTEND TO-GO ALCOHOL SIGNED DENVER, CO– Governor Polis today signed Representative Dylan Roberts’ bipartisan bill to extend the period of time during which restaurants and bars can offer takeout and delivery of alcoholic beverages. “Many of our state’s restaurants and bars relied on the extra revenue from to-go and delivery alcohol to keep their doors open and employees working,” said Rep. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon, sponsor of HB21-1027 and Chair of the House Business Affairs & Labor Committee . “This COVID-era rule worked well and we know that the recovery for restaurants will take longer than temporary rules so making this innovation legal for years to come was a legislative priority and we got it done. Today we delivered a win for this critical, job-creating industry that has been through so much in the past year. Not only will this new law allow bars and restaurants to sell alcohol to-go for many more years to come, but it will give towns the option to create communal consumption areas that will boost local economies and help Colorado forge a lasting recovery.” Under a current law also sponsored by Rep. Dylan Roberts, certain liquor licensees like bars, restaurants, and brewpubs may sell alcohol as part of takeout and delivery orders through July 1, 2021. HB21-1027 , which is also sponsored by Representative Colin Larson, allows these establishments to continue using this critical tool for an additional four years and also allows them to apply for a license to establish a communal consumption area, extending a tool many communities have already embraced to remain afloat throughout the pandemic. Previous Next

< Back March 7, 2019 HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES PAIR OF BIPARTISAN DURAN BILLS Wheat Ridge Rep. settling in well at state capitol (Mar 6) – The House Business Affairs and Labor committee approved a bill today sponsored by Rep. Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, that requires most plumbers to meet continuing education requirements before their license can be renewed by the state. This will improve overall workplace safety and the quality of Colorado’s plumbers work. “This important bill would ensure public safety, provide licensing for skilled workers, and ensure Coloradans are being served by a stellar professional workforce,” said Rep. Duran. “This is about giving hardworking families and individuals peace of mind when it comes to who is servicing their homes and helping workers at the same time.” HB19-1086 puts in place reasonable continuing education requirements for most plumbers across the state of Colorado while also providing for timely and sufficient reviews of workplaces to ensure safety and quality of work. Plumbers are one of the last professionally licensed skilled tradespersons in Colorado without a continuing education requirement, which means many plumbers may not have ever upgraded their skills to meet the needs of new technologies and new types of systems such as gray water and reclaimed water. Herb Atchison, Mayor of the city of Westminster, came to testify in support of HB19-1086. The bill passed out of committee with a vote of 7-4 and now heads to the House floor. Rep. Duran also sponsored the Remote Notaries bill which passed the House Finance committee by a bipartisan vote of 6-5 and now heads to the Appropriations committee. HB19-1167 will move the state toward embracing emerging remote notary technologies, expanding access to the services for people across the state. The bill will also help protect Coloradans’ nonpublic personal information when they use remote notary services by implementing data privacy protections, filling a gap in current law. Previous Next

< Back May 24, 2021 HOUSE PASSES BILLS TO BOOST SMALL BUSINESSES DENVER, CO– The House today passed HB21-1302 and HB21-1288 , which create a grant program and startup loan program to boost small businesses. The bills are part of the $800 million Colorado Comeback state stimulus plan to help Colorado recover faster and build back stronger. “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and will be the key to ensuring that our recovery creates an economy that leaves no one behind,” said Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver. “By investing in rural, minority-owned, veteran-owned and women-owned businesses across the state, the Energize Gap Fund will provide robust, targeted economic relief where it’s needed most.” “As the summer draws near, our vaccination program continues its successful course and necessary public health protections are relaxed, Colorado’s small businesses are due for a comeback,” said Rep. Lindsey Daugherty, D-Arvada. “This is the perfect time to provide the Energize Gap Fund with a second influx of state stimulus dollars, which will ensure Colorado’s small business community builds back stronger than ever.” HB21-1302 passed by a vote of 41-23 and is sponsored by Representatives Leslie Herod and Lindsey Daugherty. The bill would provide $15 million to the successful Energize Gap Fund. Colorado established the fund to support as many Colorado businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as possible, but it specifically prioritized rural businesses and those that are majority owned by veterans, women and minorities. HB21-1302 makes modifications to the program to also prioritize businesses that missed out on the initial cycle of funding, businesses in economically distressed areas and for-profit sole proprietorships. Additionally, if the Energize fund is to receive more funds in the future, preference will be given to businesses that rent or have a mortgage payment for the business premises or where the business resides at the same address at the business premises. HB21-1288 passed by a vote of 40-24 and is sponsored by Representatives Jennifer Bacon and Monica Duran. Business closures have impacted communities across our state, often in different ways, leaving gaps in services and the availability of basic goods. To help fill the need created by COVID-19 related business closures, HB21-1288 provides $30 million in ongoing lending capital to entrepreneurs who face barriers to accessing traditional sources of capital and businesses wishing to restart or reorganize after facing pandemic related financial challenges. People of color have historically faced barriers to accessing the capital necessary to start a new business and have also faced a higher rate of business closures. “Colorado can build back stronger by creating more options for entrepreneurs to seek and secure the capital they need to start or maintain their business,” said Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver. “Through this fund, small businesses will be able to access financial products such as small business loans. The pandemic has impacted businesses in so many different ways, and by creating a flexible loan fund, we can help entrepreneurs and business owners who need access to capital to start, restructure or grow their businesses.” “The Colorado Comeback State Stimulus plan is focused on helping Colorado recover faster and build back stronger, and that’s what the startup loan fund will do by boosting support for entrepreneurs looking to create or expand their business,” said Rep. Monica Duran, D- Wheat Ridge. “Black and Brown communities have faced a disproportionate impact from the pandemic, and so this bill prioritizes entrepreneurs who have faced historic and systemic barriers to accessing the tools they need to kick off their business.” Previous Next

< Back February 6, 2023 Dems Defeat Dangerous GOP Gun Bills Similar legislation in Missouri criticized for hampering law enforcement investigations DENVER, CO - The House State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee today defeated two Republican bills that would have interfered with critical law enforcement actions and investigations and made Coloradans less safe. “As Colorado Democrats work to reduce gun violence and protect our communities, Republicans in the legislature are sponsoring bills that would disrupt critical public safety efforts, hamper law enforcement investigations and make us less safe,” said State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Steven Woodrow, D-Denver. “The dangerous legislation we defeated today would have prevented local law enforcement from partnering with federal departments to solve firearm-related crimes, risked compromising ongoing investigations, and jeopardized security at our airports. But that is only half the problem. I must admit I’m disappointed in my GOP colleagues who antagonized several of the student witnesses who came to share their concerns that this legislation would lead to even more violence. We should be encouraging young people to participate in the process, not grilling them on ideological grounds.” “Across the country, sheriffs, prosecutors, and police chiefs have raised concerns that this type of legislation will make it harder for them to protect their communities,” said Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, a member of the State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. “As a responsible gun owner, I know there’s more we can do to prevent gun violence, and House Democrats are committed to this goal. That’s why we took decisive action today to defeat legislation that would have far-reaching and dangerous consequences for the safety of our communities.” HB23-1044, sponsored by Representative Ken deGraaf, would have prohibited the state of Colorado or any political subdivision from enforcing or attempting to enforce any federal laws or regulations on the possession, ownership, use, or transfer of a firearm, firearm accessory or ammunition. It would have prevented law enforcement from seeking federal assistance for firearms tracing and other support for solving crimes– efforts that are especially critical for solving violent crimes. The bill would have prevented local law enforcement from cooperating with FBI or Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms investigations or enforcement of federal prohibitions on bump stocks or ghost guns. The bill would have also prohibited local police departments from working with federal prosecutors to bring weapons possession charges for violations of federal law, such as possession of a weapon by a prior offender for a drug-related offense. In Missouri, where a similar law passed in 2021 , sheriffs, prosecutors, and police chiefs have decried the law’s impact on their ability to partner with federal agencies to hold people who break the law accountable. By opening up local law enforcement departments to lawsuits, HB23-1044 could have had a chilling effect on police and sheriffs’ willingness to work with federal agencies to solve firearm-related crimes. Under the bill, any state employee, including those who operate Colorado’s airports and other secure facilities, would have been prohibited from offering any material support, including the use of facilities or communications equipment, to federal personnel who enforce federal firearm restrictions, including at those secure facilities that regulate the use of firearms at those locations. In the Department of Justice lawsuit against HB85, Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act, the department noted how the bill would nullify firearm restrictions at airports. HB23-1050, sponsored by Representative Ty Winter, would create a Colorado Shoot First law for business owners. Research repeatedly shows that these laws increase homicides and accidental firearm deaths while doing nothing to reduce crime. In states with Shoot First laws, homicides where the victim is Black and the shooter is white are deemed justified five times more frequently than when the shooter is Black and the victim is white. Previous Next

Letter urges Speaker Mike Johnson to reject the rideshare liability provision in upcoming transportation bill < Back June 15, 2026 NO FREE RIDES FOR ACCOUNTABILITY: Willford Leads 275+ State Lawmakers Calling on Congress to Protect Victims of Rideshare Sexual Assault DENVER, CO – Colorado State Representative Jenny Willford today organized a letter to U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson demanding that Congress strike an amendment from the BUILD America 250 Act that would undermine recently enacted rideshare accountability and safety laws. Willford, who survived a rideshare sexual assault and sponsored Colorado’s landmark rideshare safety law, signed on to the letter with more than 275 women state legislators from 42 states and one territory that outlines the harm of a narrowly adopted amendment. In the letter, the lawmakers warn that the amendment “...would make it far harder and, in the cases that matter most, effectively impossible to hold multibillion-dollar rideshare corporations accountable in court when a passenger or a driver is sexually assaulted on its platform.” If adopted, the amendment would also preempt the state safety laws enacted this year, including Colorado’s HB26-1424 and Virginia’s HB-1273 and HB-1469, which strengthened driver verification and cracked down on impersonation following documented assaults. “Two years ago, a rideshare driver sexually assaulted me within view of my own home. I know exactly what is at stake when a corporation sells you safety and then walks away,” said Colorado State Representative Jenny Willford, who wrote and passed Colorado’s landmark rideshare safety law this year and organized the letter. “Survivors fought for our day in court, and we are winning, but Congress wants to change the rules. This amendment is a permission slip for rideshare companies to continue their limited accountability and safety measures that place riders and drivers in dangerous situations. Our coalition is vast, but one thing we all can agree on is that no corporation gets a free ride from accountability. Speaker Johnson must strike Amendment 041.” “In Virginia, we did the work. We held the hearings, we listened to survivors, and we passed real protections and the Governor signed them,” said Virginia Delegate Jackie Glass , who passed rideshare safety legislation in the Commonwealth this year. “Now, a single amendment, slipped into a highway bill at two in the morning, would override what our states just built. State legislatures must keep the power to see a danger in our communities and act on it. Congress should be raising the bar on safety - not cutting the floor out from under us.” The lawmakers wrote that if the amendment remains, it “would extend the vicarious-liability shield of the Graves Amendment to app-based rideshare and delivery companies…” . This essentially eliminates all opportunities for survivors to seek justice. In addition to this letter, on June 10th, 128 members of Congress, led by the Democratic Women’s Caucus, sent Speaker Johnson their own letter calling for the provision’s removal. State and federal lawmakers are urging the House to strike Amendment 041 before the BUILD America 250 Act reaches the floor. The letter is below and attached. The list of signatories is available here . “ June 15, 2026 The Honorable Mike Johnson Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives H-232, The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 Re: Strike Amendment 041 (the Fong Amendment) from H.R. 8870, the BUILD America 250 Act Dear Speaker Johnson: We write as women who serve in state legislatures across the country to urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to strike Amendment 041, the Fong Amendment, before the BUILD America 250 Act (H.R. 8870) is brought to the House Floor. The amendment, adopted in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by a narrow 35–30 vote, would extend the vicarious-liability shield of the Graves Amendment to app-based rideshare and delivery companies. In plain terms, it would make it far harder and, in the cases that matter most, effectively impossible to hold multibillion-dollar rideshare corporations accountable in court when a passenger or a driver is sexually assaulted on its platform. We hold different views on many things. On this we do not differ: under no circumstances should any corporation be shielded from liability for sexual assault. The scale of the harm is not speculative. In August 2025, a New York Times investigation by Emily Steel, drawing on sealed court records, reported that from 2017 through 2022 some 400,181 Uber trips in the United States generated reports of sexual assault or sexual misconduct, an average of roughly one report every eight minutes. That figure dwarfs the 12,522 incidents the company had publicly disclosed for the same period. The reporting also documented that the company developed safety tools its own experts believed could reduce assaults, and declined to fully deploy them. The courts are now reckoning with that record. More than 3,000 passengers from roughly states have brought claims consolidated in In re: Uber Technologies, Inc., Passenger Sexual Assault Litigation (MDL No. 3084) in the Northern District of California. In February 2026, the first bellwether jury awarded a survivor $8.5 million, finding the driver was acting as the company’s apparent agent. That same month, a federal panel consolidated sexual-assault cases against Lyft into a multidistrict litigation before the same court. State and federal officials have opened their own inquiries, including the New Jersey Attorney General and a U.S. House oversight subcommittee. These numbers represent real people across the country: a passenger in New York fell asleep after a night out and woke to her driver in the back seat, with a hospital later confirming a sexual assault; a rider in Texas whose roughly twenty-minute trip became a multi-hour ordeal ending in rape; women in Utah and California subjected to unwanted touching and worse; and, in Denver, a man kidnapped a dozen women and sexually assaulted two before his conviction on thirty counts. The danger runs in both directions: investigators and survivors’ advocates emphasize that this crisis harms passengers and drivers alike. Drivers, too, have been assaulted by strangers an algorithm placed in their cars with little to no safety restrictions. Proponents describe Amendment 041 as a narrow fix for "abusive litigation" and insurance costs. There is nothing narrow about the amendment, as it will serve to essentially eliminate Uber and Lyft's accountability for sexual assault. We urge you to look past the framing to the mechanics. The amendment imports the Graves Amendment model (49 U.S.C. § 30106) which strips vicarious liability from rental car companies. There is a critical qualitative difference between rental car companies and rideshare companies. Vicarious liability and common-carrier duty are precisely the theories on which survivors hold companies answerable, because with rideshare companies it is the company, not the individual driver, that controls the platform, runs the background check, dispatches the ride, and sets the safety rules. Stripping those theories away does not trim a frivolous claim; it forecloses the meritorious ones. An Arizona jury that held Uber accountable did so on exactly the agency theory this amendment is designed to extinguish. We would ask the provision’s defenders a simple question: can they name any other industry in America that Congress has granted immunity from liability for sexual assault committed through its service? We are aware of none. The Graves Amendment itself expressly preserves liability for an owner’s own negligence or criminal wrongdoing, and it concerns vehicle crashes, not sexual violence. Common carriers such as airlines, buses, and taxis have long owed their passengers a heightened duty of care, not a shield from their own responsibility. Carving out a singular exception for the most powerful platforms in the mobility economy would be without precedent. This amendment would also run directly against Congress’s own recent and bipartisan actions. Just four years ago, in the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2022, the first substantive amendment to the Federal Arbitration Act in roughly a century, Congress decided that survivors of sexual assault must be free to bring their claims in open court, rather than be forced into private arbitration. Amendment 041 would take back with one hand what that law extended with the other. It allows survivors to reach the courthouse, only to bar the door once they are inside. Congress should not, in the space of a single, unrelated transportation bill, reverse a protection it so recently and deliberately enacted. The amendment would also override the considered work of state legislatures responding to documented harms in our own communities. This year alone, Virginia enacted HB 1273 and HB 1469, signed by Governor Spanberger, tightening driver background checks and identity verification and requiring in-app recording options. And in Colorado, after a multiyear effort led by a legislator who was sexually assaulted by a Lyft driver, the General Assembly passed HB26-1424, with the Governor expected to sign it into law. That measure cracks down on driver impersonation and account-sharing, and strengthens the state’s ability to hold companies accountable. A federal vicarious-liability shield would preempt precisely the accountability these laws were written to secure. State legislatures must retain the ability to identify a problem in their communities and to enact meaningful, responsive policy. That is the constitutional design, and it is a practical one: these harms look different in Denver than in Norfolk, and the people closest to them are best positioned to respond. It is telling and deeply troubling that when Uber and Lyft could not prevail in state legislatures, city councils, or in the courtroom, they turned to Congress to change the rules for everyone at once. This matters all the more because of what these companies have spent years, and billions of dollars, telling the public about themselves. Uber markets itself as a safe ride home and has built campaigns around the image of friends out for the night and the responsible choice not to drive. It has partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, with Feeding America, and with the American Red Cross, and Lyft has done the same. Companies that sell safety and positive community impacts as their products, that control the platform, take payment for the ride, pay the driver, and shape the marketing, cannot credibly disclaim responsibility when that promise fails catastrophically. It is unacceptable to sell a promise of safety and then turn away when the stakes are highest. Uber tells the world that its first value is to “Do the right thing. Period.” We want to take the company at its word. Doing the right thing here is straightforward: it means not seeking, and not quietly accepting, a federal shield from accountability for sexual assault. To our knowledge, since Amendment 041 was adopted, neither Uber nor Lyft has publicly asked Congress to remove it. Their silence prompts the only question that matters: do the right thing for whom? We respectfully and urgently ask you to strike Amendment 041 from H.R. 8870 before the bill reaches the House Floor. Survivors deserve their day in court. States deserve the authority to protect their residents. And no corporation, however large, should be permitted to write itself out of responsibility for the gravest harms committed on the platform it controls. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.” Previous Next

< Back December 16, 2020 AUDIT COMMITTEE DEMS JOINT STATEMENT ON ELECTION HEARING DENVER, CO – The four Democratic members of the Legislative Audit Committee today released the following joint statement: “Today we heard testimony from election experts, county clerks, and other bipartisan witnesses attesting to the safety and security of our elections in Colorado. We are proud to have our state’s reputation as the gold standard of election transparency and security upheld, and grateful to all the Coloradans who worked tirelessly to administer our elections in the midst of a global pandemic. Their integrity and patriotism is exemplary. What was also apparent from the start of the hearing is that, despite unsubstantiated claims, there is no evidence to justify any allegations of election fraud. Republicans gave witnesses a platform to propagate false, dangerous, and discredited conspiracies. However, we are confident in our state’s robust post-election audit process and look forward to continuing to support county clerks in their efforts to administer the most secure elections possible. Protecting our fundamental, constitutional right to vote is paramount, and we are committed to ensuring that our elections remain accessible, safe, and transparent, regardless of attempts to undermine it. ” Previous Next

< Back May 15, 2020 REPS. EXUM, SNYDER, PRAISE U.S. SPACE COMMAND ANNOUNCEMENT Representatives welcome the announcement that Space Force will call Colorado Home for the foreseeable future DENVER, CO– Representatives Tony Exum, Sr. and Marc Snyder celebrated an announcement today that Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs will be the provisional headquarters of the U.S. Space Command for the next six years. “Colorado Springs has always attracted talented men and women from around the country looking to serve their country,” said Rep. Exum, D-Colorado Springs . “It just makes sense that the fine servicemen and women in the U.S. Space Command will call the Springs home too. I welcome this news and look forward to doing what I can to make sure that Peterson Air Force Base becomes the permanent home of this next generation program.” “Colorado has the industry, the talent, and the dedication to service that is required to host the U.S. Space Command,” said Rep. Snyder, D-Manitou Springs. “I hope and expect that the Space Command will set down roots in Colorado and continue its operations from our state for years to come.” Previous Next

Senate Assistant Majority Leader Lisa Cutter, D-Jefferson County, and Representative Tammy Story, D-Conifer, today released the following statements on the shooting at Evergreen High School: < Back September 10, 2025 Statements from Sen. Cutter and Rep. Story on Shooting at Evergreen High School DENVER, CO – Senate Assistant Majority Leader Lisa Cutter, D-Jefferson County, and Representative Tammy Story, D-Conifer, today released the following statements on the shooting at Evergreen High School: Statement from Representative Tammy Story, D-Conifer: “I am horrified by the shooting at Evergreen High School, and my heart breaks for the students, educators, families and school personnel whose start to the school year has now been marked by inexplicable violence and harm. I am hoping for the swift recovery of the victims, and my thoughts are with them and their families. I am incredibly grateful to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, along with first responders and law enforcement from across the Metro area, for their quick action to protect our community and save lives. “No student should ever fear going to school or face danger like this, and parents should never have to worry when their child is at school. Shootings at schools are far too frequent in our country, and I am sickened that this has happened again in Jefferson County. Our community is strong, and I know we will come together to support the Evergreen High School community in this very difficult time. I am closely monitoring the situation, and I will do everything I can to support our community.” Statement from Senate Assistant Majority Leader Lisa Cutter, D-Jefferson County: “I am heartbroken by the news of the shooting at Evergreen High School and angered at another senseless act of gun violence in our state. Schools need to be safe places, and this tragedy is yet another reminder that we must do better to protect our kids. I am grateful for the rapid response by first responders, medical teams, school staff, and the students of Evergreen High School. My prayers are with the victims, their friends and families, and the entire Evergreen community. I am hopeful for a quick and full recovery for all those injured.” Previous Next

< Back March 22, 2021 HOUSE PASSES BILL TO HELP VICTIMS OF STRANGULATION Bill will open Colorado Crime Victim Compensation Act to victims of strangulation DENVER, CO– The House today passed legislation sponsored by Representatives Monica Duran and Terri Carver to open the Colorado Crime Victim Compensation Act to victims of strangulation. The vote was 64-0. “The cost of forensic medical examinations is often a barrier for victims of strangulation, and can prevent them from helping law enforcement investigate the crime,” said Rep. Monica Duran, D- Wheat Ridge. “This bill takes an important step forward to advance justice. With this bill, victims of strangulation will be eligible for compensation for cooperating with law enforcement by undergoing a forensic medical examination for this heinous crime.” The Colorado Crime Victim Compensation Act allows crime victims to receive compensation for cooperating with law enforcement officials. Under HB21-1165 , victims of strangulation would also be eligible for compensation to help cover the costs of forensic examinations to aid in law enforcement investigations. Costs can be a significant barrier to obtaining a forensic medical examination, and sometimes the physical effects don’t appear for several days after the crime was committed. Previous Next

< Back January 20, 2021 GARNETT, ESGAR STATEMENTS ON BIDEN INAUGURATION DENVER, CO — Speaker Alec Garnett, D-Denver, and House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo today released the following statements on the inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala D. Harris. “Today, America turned a page and put a dark chapter of our history behind us,” said House Speaker Alec Garnett, D-Denver . “I’m confident that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the right people to lead our country at this crucial time, and I’m hopeful that together we’ll be able to craft a strong economic recovery that leaves no person behind. It’s time to put aside the vitriol that has characterized the last four years and instead work together to build back our country even stronger than it was before. President Biden has said on many occasions that he hopes to be a President for all Americans, whether they voted for him or not. As Speaker of the House here in Colorado, I strive to lead in the same way.” “Congratulations to President Biden and Vice President Harris-we finally have the first woman vice president, and I couldn’t be more excited!” said House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo. “I look forward to working alongside the new administration to help Colorado recover from this pandemic as quickly as we can and build back stronger. Hope is on the horizon. In the legislature, we’re always working to make our state a better place to live for Colorado families. It’s exciting for us to have a ture partner now in the Biden Administration that is also focused on creating jobs, improving access to affordable health care, and protecting our planet and Colorado way of life for future generations. Previous Next

This marks the first time the Pueblo flag has flown at the State Capitol < Back March 22, 2024 Governor Polis, Legislators Celebrate Inaugural Pueblo Flag Day, Fly Pueblo Flag at the State Capitol DENVER - Today Governor Polis and Pueblo area legislators joined together to fly the Pueblo flag at the Colorado State Capitol to celebrate the inaugural Pueblo Flag Day and recognize Pueblo’s significant impact on Colorado’s culture and economy. “Home to Colorado’s world-famous state fair, the superior Pueblo Chile, and an important part of Colorado's history and future, we recognize Pueblo’s many important contributions to our state. Today, as the Pueblo flag flies over the State Capitol for the first time we are celebrating all things Pueblo,” said Governor Jared Polis. This is the first time the Pueblo flag has flown at the Colorado State Capitol. Since 1872 Pueblo has been home to the Colorado State Fair , hosting a range of community activities unique to Colorado, featuring the famous Pueblo Chile, and events celebrating Pueblo’s agricultural history. “I’m proud to represent Pueblo as the Puelo flag flies over the Capitol for the first time,” said Senator Nick Hinrichsen, D-Pueblo. “From our strong workforce to diverse communities to the iconic Pueblo chile, our city is filled with rich culture and history. Today, we honor and highlight the immense contributions of Pueblo.” To celebrate Pueblo Flag Day, the City of Pueblo is also raising the flag. This day was initiated by the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce Leadership Pueblo Class of 2023, and is meant to encourage people and businesses to show their Pueblo and Colorado pride by flying the flag. "It's a great day to celebrate our city at the Colorado State Capitol, " said Rep. Tisha Mauro, D-Pueblo. "From the Colorado State Fair to the world-famous Pueblo Chile, our city's rich history serves as a reminder of all things Colorado. Today is the day to celebrate the statewide contributions of our great city and to highlight all the extraordinary things to come from Pueblo." "We're celebrating Pueblo at the State Capitol today with the city flag flying high," said Rep. Matthew Martinez, D-Monte Vista. "Pueblo, known for its rich history, cultural influence and agricultural roots, plays an important role in our state's growing economy. The Pueblo city flag serves as a reminder of the Home of Heroes and all unique things this city contributes to Colorado." Previous Next