The Dolores Public Library was a political hot spot Saturday when state Sen. Ellen Roberts and Rep. Don Coram addressed a crowd of about 30 people hosted by the League of Women Voters.
The legislators addressed the crowd of about 30 on current issues at the capitol.
Roberts promised to work on wildfire mitigation and water issues.
“I got here a little early and drove around and looked at McPhee,” she said. “The conditions are quite severe. We need heavy-duty moisture or it’s going to be another dry and scary wildfire season.”
Roberts, R-Durango, touted new technology at www.leg.state.co.us that allows constituents to listen to legislative discussions.
Roberts also sounded an alarm.
“We are not supporting the infrastructure in the state the way we need to,” she said.
That infrastructure included school funding.
Roberts also discussed taking money from K-12 education.
During the recession, the legislature took money form other places because of expanding Medicaid costs.
“We took an awful lot of money from K-12 and called it a negative factor and pretended it was OK,” she said. “We have not been true to what we should have been doing. We can’t keep adding or expanding programs.”
But Roberts admitted that having a divided legislature won’t make it easy to get things done this year.
Coram, R-Montrose, told the crowd that he was going to work on rising insurance costs.
“It doesn’t make sense that a family in Montrose pays $150 more for insurance that a family in Denver,” he said. “That is one of the unfair things we are working on.”
Coram also said he is working on water bills.
“Water is the key. If you are not at the table, you will be on the menu,” he said. “The lower basin states have continued to overdraft their accounts.”
Coram said he will continue working on bills that will battle tamarisk, a water thirsty plant that can consume as much as 200 gallons of water a day, while the average person only uses about 170 gallons a day.
One audience members called for an end to TABOR, but he was told that because that came through with a vote of the people, that it will have to go away with a vote of the people.
Others, such as Dolores School District Superintendent Scott Cooper, called for an end to the negative factor, which took money from school funding.
Others mentioned that the state assessment on students was getting out of hand, costing the state over $30 per student.
“That adds up really fast,” teacher Meg Neeley told the legislators.
Roberts agreed.
“This year there will be some plan to address assessments,” Roberts said.
Coram agreed.
“You as a teacher know a lot more on how to spend that money,” he said. “We need to stop these mandates and give schools more local control.”
Roberts closed by telling the group that rural Colorado now represents 11 percent of the population in Colorado. Eighty-nine percent of the Colorado population is on the front range. She also called for grassroots efforts to improve school funding.
