With the 2026 legislative session a little over three months away, my work preparing new bills for next session is ramping up. I’d like to give an overview of what I’m building right now, but please keep in mind that bills change frequently during the drafting process.
With homeownership out of reach for so many in Southwest Colorado, I’m currently exploring ways to improve the process for distributing affordable housing funds. Prop 123, which voters approved in 2022, created the State Affordable Housing Fund, and it is the Colorado Department of Local Affairs’ job to set the specific requirements for using that money. I am working with DOLA and our county commissioners on how we can improve the benchmarks to better fit the needs of rural and mountain resort communities, like Durango and Pagosa Springs, so that young families and essential service workers can afford to buy their first home.
On the education front, education collaboratives have been an important part of K-12 schools in rural areas, especially for organizing Career and Technical Education programs. They have played a huge role in stretching our funding further and in building programs that prepare our kids for jobs and apprenticeships after high school. I am working with the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Southwest Colorado Education Collaborative, and other organizations to build legislation that will make it easier for groups to share resources across programs to improve student outcomes.
One of the biggest issues in the coming legislative session is funding for health care. Federal cuts and new requirements are going to put enormous strain on our system. My colleagues and I are having statewide conversations about how we can shore up Colorado’s hospital systems, and several smaller measures focused on the Southwest. This includes digging in on how we can better leverage telehealth to raise the level of specialty care available in rural areas, while improving the working conditions for our health care providers. I am also talking with local fire and EMS about ways we can improve billing, so that insurance companies properly reimburse our emergency response departments for their hard work keeping us safe.
One good piece of news is that Planned Parenthood is planning on reopening its clinic in Durango twice a week. Since its closing, reproductive health care has been increasingly limited in the area, and the increase in patients has stressed the La Plata County Public Health office. This will help restore health care access to the more than 1,400 people it served before its closing, many of whom received primary care, cancer screenings and vaccinations at the clinic in addition to reproductive and sexual health services. During the state house’s special session in August, we voted to shore up funding for reproductive health care organizations after federal cuts singled out Planned Parenthood, whose clinics were forced to mass cancel appointments this summer. I’m glad to see that this bill has helped Planned Parenthood restore services to our area because they are an essential health care provider.
On the federal side, as I am writing this, the government is still shut down. Without an extension of the Enhanced Premium Tax Credit, we are staring down a 150% to 200% increase in premiums for many low and middle-income families in HD59, and a 38% increase overall across the Western Slope. These increases would cost lives and livelihoods, as they’ll restrict access to care and plunge families into medical debt. Please reach out to our federal representatives today to share how health insurance costs impact you. I know this shutdown is painful for our many federal employees, and it needs to be resolved as soon as possible, but whatever deal gets struck should not leave Coloradans bearing these costs.
Katie Stewart represents House District 59 in the Colorado State House, which encompasses Archuleta, La Plata and San Juan counties and most of Montezuma County. Reach her at katie.stewart.house@coleg.gov.
