Senator Zenzinger Passes Several Priority Bills This Week

Denver, CO – Senator Rachel Zenzinger (D-Arvada) had an incredibly busy and productive week at the Colorado State Capitol, passing several major bills either in committee or on the Senate floor. Those bills include:

SB19-102, Innovation School Operating As A Community School, a bill that would allow a public school to include operation as a community school in its innovation plan, making it eligible for billions of dollars in federal funding. The bill passed the Senate on March 19th and heads to Governor Polis for signature. Read more here.

SB19-003, Educator Loan Forgiveness Program, passed on second reading on March 21st with bipartisan support, is a creative solution to address our educator shortage in Colorado. The bill will offer educators that agree to teach in a shortage area and/or content area up to $5,000 in student loan forgiveness. This is a creative solution that districts with shortages can use to help recruit educators to these critical shortage areas. Read more here.

HB19-1007, Contribution Limits For County Offices, which passed on second reading on March 21st, will require campaign contribution limits for county candidates. This bill will help level the playing field for candidates for county office. Contribution limits are important for preserving the integrity of our electoral process, they keep candidates accountable, and they help prevent the appearance of impropriety. Read more here.

HB19-1166, Name-based Criminal History Record Checks, a bill that will add require a person to submit a name-based criminal history record check when the fingerprint-based check reveals a record of arrest but does not show a disposition in the case. The bill passed on Second Reading and is scheduled for a Third Reading in the coming days. Read more here.

SB19-144, Motorcyclists And Malfunctioning Traffic Signals, a bill that would allow motorcycles to proceed through a red light if a sensor isn’t working or if the light is malfunctioning. The bill unanimously passed the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee on March 19th and now heads to the Committee of the Whole with a recommendation that it be placed on the consent calendar. Read more here.

SB19-194, National Guard Tuition Assistance Colorado State University Global, a bill that would add Colorado State University – Global Campus to the list of designated institutions of higher education for purposes of tuition assistance for members of the National Guard. Read more here.

The Joint Budget Committee recently completed negotiations on the budget recently and approved the “Long Bill” package for introduction. Read morehere.

The Senate Appropriations Committee, which Senator Zenzinger chairs, also recently passed several priority bills for the Colorado Senate Democrats. Read more here.

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