The Elections Modernization bill passed out of Senate State
Affairs on Wednesday on a 3-2 vote. This is an extremely bi-partisan piece of legislation. The
Committee heard from both Ds and Rs who have worked on this bill and Ds and Rs
who support it. The majority of the County Clerks eagerly await 1303 to be
passed - most of whom, are Republicans. I remember
reading a March 28th communication from the Chair of the Colorado
Republican Party where he encouraged folks to contact the Governor and
legislators to defend the responsible and secure options we need to vote. I’m
thrilled to report that this bill meets all of those expectations. The bill will be heard on by the whole Senate in the upcoming week.
Olympic Medalist Missy Franklin stopped by the Capitol on Friday where she received a joint tribute from the House and Senate. I love that she brought one of the five medals she won at the London Olympics last summer. She generously allowed folks to hold the gold medal and take pictures with her. I learned that this high school senior has won many awards including USA Swimming's 2012 Swimmer of the Year and the Sullivan Award for top amateur athlete. I was glad we took a bit of time to honor her and I enjoyed meeting her.
On Saturday, I took a trip to Ft. Lyon with a couple of Senate colleagues and folks from the Governor's office. We're making some decisions about re-purposing the complex which started out as a veteran's hospital and more recently, was a correctional facility. The buildings they'll be using as a transitional residential community for the homeless are in great shape. The program will provide substance abuse supportive services, medical care, job training, and skill development for residents. I appreciate the growing Senate support to put the Ft. Lyon facility to good use and help mitigate some of the double-digit unemployment in Bent County.
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| A mock-up of what rooms will look like in the re-purposed facility. |
I'm gonna try and spend this afternoon resting up - I'm sick with some kind of flu and super sore throat. We've got a week and half of this session left and still tons of work to do!!!
