Kudos to The Durango Herald for bringing coverage of the Colorado legislative session to the people of our community through a local lens.
Democrats, who gained control of both chambers of the Legislature, have pushed through a broad agenda. Two bills caught my attention: Senate Bill 181, Protect Public Welfare Oil and Gas Operations, and SB-001, Expand Medication-assisted Treatment Pilot Program. These, combined with moves by the Joint Budget Committee, leave me wondering if we have any representation left in state government.
The oil and gas bill, one of the most sweeping pieces of energy legislation ever, was introduced on a Friday with the first hearing the following Tuesday. Never in my career have legislators introduced such a measure and provided one business day for review.
Boulder politicians, who preside over the House, Senate and governor’s office, are trying to regulate oil and natural gas out of their communities. Boulder has not had an oil or gas permit in six years. There was no consideration of impacts outside of the Front Range’s DJ Basin, like our San Juan Basin, the Paradox Basin in southern Colorado and the Piceance Basin in the northwest. The hydrocarbons produced , market prices they fetch, operators and equipment are all different. It would have been better to engage stakeholders outside the Denver area to draft a bill that accounts for those differences and impacts to development in La Plata, Montezuma, Dolores and Archuleta counties.
Senate Bill 182, to abolish the death penalty, is also on a fast pace. It’s another massive policy decision that seems to exclude some of the most important stakeholders including victims and their families.
While these measures march toward passage without regard for those they impact most, lawmakers also seem intent on cutting funds for important projects in our communities. The Senate approved SB-001 to fund two facilities to address the growing epidemic in overdose deaths in Colorado from prescription opioids, heroin, methamphetamines and cocaine. This bill is allocating $2.5 million to the cause, which sounds like a lot of money, but is actually only half of the $5 million that was budgeted. Even more heartbreaking is that Montezuma County, which has one of the highest rates of overdose deaths, was not selected to receive any of this funding. The highest rates of overdose deaths are in mostly rural counties, yet the money flows elsewhere.
We’re being ignored. The six-member Joint Budget Committee astonishingly snubbed Fort Lewis College’s expansion of Whalen Gymnasium, thwarting its effort to increase enrollment in its popular health and exercise sciences program. The JBC also denied Colorado Mesa University’s health sciences center. But if a college or university is close enough to Denver, like University of Colorado Denver, Front Range Community College or Colorado State University, don’t fret, $178 million is on its way.
Elected officials bear the responsibility of representing their constituents but also making sure that all parts of the state are treated fairly. Ignoring rural Colorado is mismanaging power. It could make this crop of legislators nothing but shills for the majority party agenda.
Christi Zeller is the executive director of the Energy Council. She lives in Durango.
