Below, please find a letter from House Majority Leader Alice Madden:

2005 Legislative Mid-Year Review:
Delivering on the Colorado Comeback

Our Pledge To You

When Democrats took control of the House and Senate last year, we pledged to work on three main issues - restoring Colorado's leadership in job growth, creating a top-notch education system, and lowering the cost of health care for individuals and businesses.        

Here's a look at some of the bills we ran to address those key issues:

Jobs and the Economy

House Bills 1194, 1333 and 1350: These are the centerpieces of the Colorado Economic Recovery Act, which will be referred to voters this November as Referendums C and D.  

Ref. C will balance the state budget and strengthen Colorado's economy by earmarking revenues to K-12 education, higher education, and health care.

Ref. D is a companion bonding measure that will finance the following critical state needs: 
*$1.7 billion in financing for state roads and bridges 
*$147 million in financing to repair and replace deteriorating public school facilities 
*$50 million in financing to repair and upgrade university and community college facilities 
*$175 million in financing to address shortfalls in police and firefighter retirement plans

Health Care

Senate Bill 102: Allows the state to join into a bulk purchasing pool with other states to help drive down the costs of prescription drugs, immediately saving the state $3M in just the first two years.

House Bill 1152:  Allows middleclass citizens to purchase their prescription drugs at the new discounted rate created through bulk purchasing.

House Bill 1262:  Implements a tobacco tax increase passed by voters last November; earmarks those revenues to expand access to Medicaid especially for children, the disabled, and the elderly.

Senate Bill 87: Creates a registry to help parents keep track of which immunizations their children have received. Colorado currently ranks dead last in childhood immunization rates and this measure is expected to have huge impacts on our children's' health.

Education

Senate Bill 200: The new School Finance Act funds 737,359 students at a per-pupil average of $6,146. This represents an increase from last year of 7,943 new students and $90 more per student. The act also restores full day kindergarten in unsatisfactory schools and increases the number of children participating in the Colorado Preschool Program from 9,050 to 12,360.

House Bill 1036: Allows school districts to get tough on sexual predators who contact children over the Internet. Encourages districts to adopt an Internet safety plan that teaches kids how to recognize sexual predators.

House Bill 1024: Allows schools to access grant funds for before and after school programs for students enrolled in grades 6 through 12. This bill was designed to address the state's lackluster dropout rates.

House Bill 1027: Requires each school district to give parents information on what their kids need to graduate high school. In particular, school districts will be required to inform parents of the need for additional college prep courses based on their 11th grade ACT scores and provide the courses needed for those students prior to education.

Trust us, we're with the Government

Senate Bills 198 and 206:  Finally!  We passed a voter verifiable paper trail that will insure that no vote cast on an electronic machine is lost in cyber space.  Also allows provisional ballots to be counted for all statewide races and ballot measures (in 2004, only presidential votes were counted).

Do the Right Thing

Senate Bill 28:  Added sexual orientation to our non-discrimination in the workplace statutes.  We also created a "hate crime" for an assault based on sexual orientation.

The Golden Rule:  It didn't draw any headlines but we changed a number of procedural rules that were designed to unfairly benefit the majority party and minimize the power of the minority party.

In the past, the majority party would set up "kill" committees to ensure the quick death of bills they didn't like. The majority also controlled who served on committees created to work out differences between House and Senate bills.

We've ended both of those practices to help level the playing field and give both sides an equal chance.

"A little less conversation and a little more action."  - Elvis

I am proud not only of what we accomplished but how we did it.  This has been one of the most efficiently run sessions in recent memory.

The House introduced 353 bills this year, roughly 100 fewer than last year and the fewest in over a decade. As a result, we dusted off our hands and wrapped up our work two days early-saving the state $30,000!

It's the first time we've finished ahead of schedule since the legislature implemented a 120-day session in the late 1980s.  In short, we ran a tight ship.        

Thank you for your continued trust and support!

All the best,
 
Alice Madden
House Majority Leader
RepMaddenHD10@earthlink.net