What an incredible week under the Gold Dome! Another one of our priority bills hit the legislature as House Bill 23-1186: Remote Participation in Eviction Proceedings was introduced and assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. This bill would remove barriers for Colorado families by allowing them to attend their eviction hearings via telephone or videoconference – building upon a practice that had positive results during the pandemic. Along with Enterprise Community Partners and numerous housing advocates, we are supporting this bill to keep that practice going and make attending eviction hearings more accessible and equitable for Colorado families. Thank you to Reps. Lindsay and Jodeh for sponsoring the bill!
The Children’s Campaign was at the State Capitol throughout the week to support several other policies that would benefit Colorado kids and families. Our Director of Family Economic Prosperity Initiatives, Sarah Barnes, testified in support of House Bill 23-1078, which would provide critical income support to families with children when they are searching for work and need to access unemployment benefits. Our Sr. Director of Policy and Government Affairs, Riley Kitts, also testified in support of Senate Bill 23-004, which would allow more mental health professionals to provide services to youth in our public schools. Both bills passed out of their first committee hearings. We are very glad to see such strong policies for kids and families get approval this early in the session.
Our dedicated policy and advocacy team tracks hundreds of bills that impact Colorado kids and families every legislative session. To view the bills we are tracking so far in this legislative session, click here.
Here are this week’s Capitol Highlights:
HB23-1171 (Mabrey & Gonzales Gutierrez/Gonzales) Just Cause Requirement Eviction of Residential Tenant
The Children’s Campaign supports this bill because evictions have significant negative impacts on the health, well-being, and financial security of children and families. Due to a history of policies and practices that have disadvantaged families of color, Black and Latinx renters are more likely to face eviction, as are families with children. To learn more about this bill and its journey through the legislature, visit our Capitol Updates page.
SB23-004 (Marchman & Lewis) Employment of School Mental Health Professionals
The Children’s Campaign supports this bill as it works to alleviate existing challenges our state faces in maintaining a sufficient school behavioral health workforce by removing barriers to employment for already licensed professionals. Youth mental health continues to be a top priority for our organization. To learn more about this bill and its journey through the legislature, visit our Capitol Updates page.
