We’re already about a third of the way into the 2015 legislative session. Bills are being heard in committees, and, if approved, move to the Senate floor for debate and possible passage there.
As chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I spend additional time planning the committee’s schedule and working with bill sponsors. Starting this session, with advance planning, citizens can testify on bills heard in committee using the option of remote testimony, live-streamed over the Internet from Colorado Mesa University’s campus in Grand Junction rather than having to drive to Denver. This recently was tested out on a couple of bills in my Judiciary Committee, and things went well. This remote testimony option is hoped to be expanded in the future to other sites.
My bill regarding water conservation education for land-use planners has passed the hurdle of the appropriations committee with bipartisan support from Front Range legislators. With each committee, I have an opportunity to discuss the importance of making sure Colorado’s water resources are used wisely, now and in the future.
Another bill I’m sponsoring passed the Senate, allowing citizens in sparsely populated areas without a formal fire district to organize a volunteer fire department as a nonprofit organization. This would enable them to apply for state grants and equipment to fight fires. Unfortunately, with the lack of moisture this winter so far, wildfire season already is arriving all too soon.
Two other bills of mine passed last week, one that streamlines state and federal banking laws applying to consumer lending, and another requesting the federal government fulfill its responsibility to provide regular and adequate funding for fire suppression and federal firefighting air tankers.
Amid the committee work and presenting my own bills, we’re spending an increasing amount of time on the Senate floor for debate. One controversial bill recently debated is the Parents’ Bill of Rights. While characterized differently depending on who’s looking at the bill language, I support the bill because of its focus on strengthening the parental safety net under each child.
The bill calls for greater transparency and more decision-making left to parents in raising their children. It provides for increased engagement between parents and teachers, as well as between parents and a child’s health care provider. For years, teachers have told me that parental connection needs strengthening and, simultaneously, parents have decried a sense of increasing powerlessness over their child’s life. Many of my constituents feel that governmental decision-making has overtaken their parental responsibilities.
Reality today is that many parents spend far fewer waking hours with their kids than other adults in the children’s lives. This may be due to economic necessity or job requirements.Yet, many of the challenges we face at the Legislature related to children and their education and care remind me that, despite time limitations, parental responsibility, engagement and support are crucial for any child to succeed in school and later as an adult.
I believe strongly that the best role for government in these circumstances is to provide the parents with the most complete information and tools necessary to provide the primary foundation for each child. Transparency and access to their child’s information are key and, barring real rather than conjectured endangerment, so is allowing parental choice to take the lead in a child’s life.
Ellen Roberts represents Senate District 6 in Colorado’s General Assembly. The district encompasses Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, San Juan and San Miguel counties. Contact Sen. Roberts by phone at (303) 866-4884, or by email at ellen.roberts.senate@state.co.us.
