Harvey ParkImprovement Association

By the time you read this, we will have reached a compromise decision and passed next year’s budget, but as I write this, we are gearing up for the big debate which will occupy most of the week of April 11-15.

There is a lot at stake, and many perspectives to consider. We have to decide what to do about programs that provide breast and cervical cancer screening services. We have to look at a variety of tax credits to see which are helping our economic recovery and which are not. We need to figure out how to fund our K-12 education system.

In March, the House and Senate Democrats went on a statewide “budget listening tour.” We heard many views on how to balance the budget, and we heard about programs that our constituents want—everything from preserving mental health programs to reforming our prison system, from increasing funding for roads and bridges to improving early childhood education, from demanding further sacrifices from public employees to asking our top income earners to pay their fare share. But most of all, we heard the people of Colorado say that they wanted us to protect our K-12 education system.

Coloradoans understand that a quality education system is vital to our success in a 21st century economy, and they want all children to have every opportunity to be successful and happy. Coloradoans understand that an educated workforce can attract businesses to Colorado and create good jobs. They understand the importance of investing in our people for our future.

We’ve got a lot of work to do in the coming weeks, but I am confident we will work together and find the compromises that are needed. I encourage you to stay involved, and if you have ideas about the services you value the most, please share them with me. You can email me at jeanne.labuda.house@state.co.us or call me at 303-866-2966. Thanks.

Our 2011 session is now at the halfway point. I am allowed to introduce five bills; two of them were killed in committee, and three passed the House and the Senate.

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On January 20th, the three Republican members of the state Joint Budget Committee voted against subsidizing the Start Smart Nutrition Program. This would mean that, after March, low-income students who do not qualify for free breakfasts would have to pay thirty cents a day to eat breakfast at school.

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Drug users have been using library restrooms to shoot up, making it possible for our children to be introduced to drugs this way. Some parolees trying to go straight are being approached by drug dealers when the parolees report to their counselors at halfway houses.

Because of incidents such as these that I have heard about, I am introducing a bill to allow libraries and halfway houses to put up drug-free zones around their buildings. Since the law was passed to allow schools to become drug-free zones, I have heard of no instance of drug-dealing around schools, and my hope is that libraries and halfway houses will become free of drugs the same way.

I am serving again on the Finance Committee, and on the Committee on Legal Services.

My legislative aide this year is Christopher Kennedy, and I am blessed with two interns: Katherine Goodman, who will help me with education issues, and Dennis Kemper, who will help me with all types of research.

I am honored to be serving House District 1 again, and I hope to see you at the homeowners’ association meetings.

I get a lot of questions about the ongoing construction on US 285. Here is the October update from CDOT on the safety improvement project between Federal Boulevard and Kipling Street, specifically the bridge work: Read more »