When more than than 40 residents gathered Saturday in Cortez for a legislative update from state Rep. Katie Stewart and Sen. Cleave Simpson, discussion quickly turned to concerns about Medicaid and mining.
The update session, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Montezuma County, was held in the county annex building.
Simpson, a Republican from District 6, said that while the overarching challenge of the session was the $1.2 billion budget shortfall, he highlighted bills that he and Stewart, a Democrat from District 59, worked to pass together. It was one of 733 bills and resolutions that legislators considered. They postponed 155 of them.
One of them, House Bill 25-1163, provides free entry to all 43 Colorado state parks for enrolled members of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. HB25-1014 streamlines processes for well construction permitting and groundwater use, and Senate Bill 25-054 helps the expedited cleanup of abandoned mine waste piles and streamlines permitting for small mine reclamation operations.
He also touted HB25-1247, a bill allowing county commissioners to raise lodging tax rate from 2% to a capped rate of 6%, subject to voter approval. The legislature refrained from changing the property tax in this session, deferring the issue to local governments.
Simpson also helped to modify the terms of a fellowship program that aims to attract attorneys to work as prosecutors in rural Colorado. SB25-067 aims to attract more attorneys into the program by loosening the requirements and opening the program to a broader pool of applicants beyond the newly graduated.
Stewart, newly sworn into office this session, spoke about her accomplishments including “learning to legislate.” She serves on the Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resources and the Health and Human Services Committees.
She worked on eight bills including the state park access bill.
The first bill that she passed was HB25-1016, which allows occupational therapists to prescribe medical equipment, expanding access to equipment for patients who may not have a primary care physician. She also passed SB25-296, requiring insurance to cover imaging for patients who need more than one screening for breast cancer prevention, and requiring insurance to cover up to three maternal care visits without cost sharing.
She also touted the legislature fully funding public schools and also increasing the budget for schools. She said that Montezuma-Cortez should receive an increase of around $400,000 for the upcoming school year.
Stewart emphasized that she did break with the Democratic Party to vote against bills like SB25-3, which prohibits the production, distribution, sale, and purchase of specified semiautomatic firearms. She said that after hearing feedback from many constituents and conversations with law enforcement, that she concluded that this bill, “was not right for southwest Colorado.”
Both Simpson and Stewart said the looming revenue shortfall looming in the next legislative session will be harder to manage.
After their remarks, they opened the floor to questions from the public.
Jim Law of Mancos expressed concerns about potential federal cuts to Medicaid and asked what state lawmakers plan to do to protect Colorado hospitals if the cuts materialized.
Stewart said that if the cuts go through that “it would decimate our hospitals across the state.” She predicts that Polis would call the legislature into a special session to address the situation if it arose. Simpson spoke to Congress’ stated effort to keep necessary Medicaid benefits intact while eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse by doing things like more frequently evaluating Medicaid eligibility.
Law also asked about the proposed Metallic Minerals Corp. mining project on the border on the eastern line of Montezuma County and how it might affect the water supply. Saying “there’s no future of mining in Colorado,” Simpson emphasized that the mine was in the exploratory stage, and its economic viability has not been proved. He said it was a decision for local officials, but that the efforts to “reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and electrification of the grid means huge investments in copper mining.”
Jennifer Singer of 4Corners Broadband Great Old Broads for Wilderness asked about federal fast tracking of uranium mining in Utah and advocated for the Colorado Green Amendment, a proposal to protect clean air, clean water, and healthy lands. Simpson warned of the ramifications of amendments and expressed concern about how standards for clean air and water would be set if it passed. His perception is that Colorado already does a good job of protecting our natural resources.
The meeting closed with an invitation from Stewart to reach out to her about issues and to testify to the legislature to help advance bills. Simpson added that the addition of remote testimony helps give voice to voters in the southwestern corner of the state.
The League of Women Voters offers training for their Legislative Action Committee to help residents become more involved in the legislative process and in providing testimony.
