We’re heading into the midway point of the 2015 legislative session, which gives me a moment to pause and reflect on how things are going. With the divided Legislature, as predicted, it appears that the governor will have fewer bills to consider signing, but that’s not for a lack of interesting and wide-ranging topics.
The debates in the committees that I sit on, as well as those on the Republican-controlled Senate floor, have been better-rounded than in past years as issues that were squelched in their first committee hearing are making it past that hurdle. At the same time, often strikingly different political views reflected in bills advance from the Democrat-controlled House and head to the Senate.
That the controversial bills may die soon after arriving in the opposite chamber doesn’t take away the fact that a greater diversity of views on deeply held beliefs are being more fully heard, if not by the public and media, then at least by the legislators exposed to those topics. To me, although I recognize it is not the view of all of my constituents, that’s a good thing.
Representative democracy works best in a Legislature that allows deliberation of sometimes diametrically opposing ideas. Is this year’s divided legislative process neat and tidy? Is it comfortable? No, it’s neither of these things.
But, in a district with such different political views among my constituents, differences that often mirror Coloradans’ perspectives statewide, I value the more robust discussion. Questions about the appropriate role, complexity and cost of government and whether there is, or should be, a limit to state government’s intervention in private lives and businesses are fair to ask — and different responses are to be expected.
As those differences have been expressed in the Senate this session, I’ve been told by colleagues from across the aisle how impressed they are with the civil and robust discourse on even the most contentious of issues that we’re grappling with. This is no small victory, given today’s political climate.
When I hear a fellow senator say sincerely and with some wonderment, “I’ve never thought about it like that,” I believe we’re doing the work we were sent to Denver to do. Rubber-stamping others’ ideas without closely examining them ourselves is unhealthy if we’re to maintain an increasingly diverse and functional society.
As to my own bills, I’m very pleased that my bill promoting water conservation education for local land use planners was passed out of the Senate last week with very strong bipartisan support. I don’t expect this bill to solve Colorado’s water supply challenges, but I believe it’s a significant beginning of addressing the unavoidable tie between our state’s rapid population growth, especially on the Front Range, and the competing demands on our limited water resources.
I’m also excited to be working on a new bill that will support advancement of young veterans in the areas of wildfire mitigation and wildland firefighting. This bill idea came from the great work I’ve seen accomplished by the Southwest Conservation Corps here in my district. If passed, this bill will support existing veteran corps and open doors to similar efforts across Colorado. We’ll provide expanded job opportunities for returning veterans and increase our communities’ public safety with the help of this very capable and dedicated workforce.
Ellen Roberts represents Senate District 6 in Colorado’s General Assembly. The district encompasses Montezuma, Dolores, La Plata, Archuleta, Montrose, San Miguel, San Juan and Ouray counties. Contact Sen. Roberts by phone at (303) 866-4884, or by e-mail at ellen.roberts.senate@state.co.us.
