My bill to provide scholarships to veterans studying to become math and science teachers passed through the House on a unanimous vote this morning.
Senate Bill 09-062 makes the Teach Colorado grant, established by a bill I carried last year, available to those who have served our country in the military and now wish to go into the teaching profession. By providing financial incentives and professional development for our troops to become teachers, this legislation will strengthen our economy as well as our education system.
It will put prospective teachers into the classroom, especially in rural and high-needs areas, and we can do it without any fiscal impact to the state’s budget.
The bill will now head to Governor Ritter’s desk.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog at 4:19 PM UTC []
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You’re invited to attend an event hosted by the League of Women Voters to meet your state legislators. I hope to see you there!
WHO:
- Senate Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer
- House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann
- Representative Claire Levy
- Representative Dianne Primavera
- Representative Dickey Lee Hullinghorst
- Representative Jack Pommer
WHAT:
Q&A with the Boulder County Delegation
WHEN:
Saturday, March 28
10:30am – noon
WHERE:
Louisville Public Library
951 Spruce Street
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog at 10:38 AM UTC []
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As we move into the 11th week of the legislative session, we will begin our conversation of the state budget and School Finance Act. Education is one of my top priorities, and the challenges we face are daunting when you consider the world economy in which our kids will participate.
For an interesting perspective on this issue, I invite you to view a video entitled “Shift Happens.”
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts about this video and education-related issues in general.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog, Education, Feel Good Friday at 2:28 PM UTC []
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An American family goes bankrupt every 30 seconds due to medical expenses. Autistic people face an even higher risk of financial ruin—incurring costs for treatment and therapy that soar as high as $5 million throughout their lives. To alleviate the tremendous financial burden placed on people with autism spectrum disorders, I sponsored SB 09-244, which will direct health benefit plans to provide coverage for assessment and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.
The bill will require coverage for:
- evaluation and assessment services
- behavior management and training
- occupational therapy
- physical therapy
- speech therapy
- medication
- psychiatric and psychological care
The passage of this bill is a triumph for the most vulnerable among us, those who we as a society have a responsibility to protect. It’s time for insurance companies to shoulder their share of that responsibility. Autism is treatable, but these families should not face this alone. This bill will finally make healthcare manageable for autistic people and their families.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed the bill on a 5-3 vote today. The full Senate will consider the bill next week.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog at 5:04 PM UTC []
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Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki has decided to establish a veterans hospital at the Anschutz medical campus at Fitzsimons in Aurora. This facility will help Colorado give back to veterans for their sacrifice and service to our nation by providing them with high quality health care and treatment.
I applaud all of those who have worked to make this vision a reality, and I salute the veterans who will be able to receive services at the new hospital.
This morning the Senate unanimously approved HJR 09-1012 endorsing Secretary Shinseki’s decision. To read a copy of the legislation, click here.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog at 12:23 PM UTC []
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Ok, so we’re not exactly seeing green—our budget is short by approximately $1 billion—but we did pass an important piece of legislation through the Senate today that will help us solve our fiscal crisis.
Senate Bill 228 passed its final vote in the Senate and now heads to the House. When enacted, it will eliminate the decades-old provision that handcuffs us with an arbitrary allocation formula called Arvescough-Bird. (Click here for some background.)
The passage of this bill will let us:
- maximize the federal stimulus dollars
- determine budget priorities according to our needs
- be accountable to the citizens by funding services instead of formulas, without raising taxes
- position us for a full recovery from the economic downturn
The Senate has done its part to eliminate what Senator Morse calls “the tyranny of the formula.” The bill now moves to the House. Stay tuned!
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog, Economy at 3:02 PM UTC []
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“When our children’s safety is at stake, it’s not the time to be pinching pennies and praying disaster will never strike.”
Today, the Longmont Times-Call printed an editorial in favor of my bill that will require seatbelts on school buses. They make a good case and help explain why I’m carrying the bill. See full article below.
Change state law to put seatbelts on school buses
Longmont Times-Call
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Three elementary school students suffered minor injuries last week when the school bus they were riding in was involved in a head-on crash in Erie that sent the bus into a ditch.
Would everyone have been OK if all of the kids had been wearing seatbelts? That’s impossible to say, but it goes to the heart of a debate in Colorado over Senate Bill 29, which would require seatbelts in all new school buses beginning next year.
Proponents say it’s a simple matter of safety: Seatbelts save lives and the extra money to outfit new buses with the safety devices is worth every penny if it saves even one child’s life.
Opponents point to the face that it’s been 20 years since a child died in a school bus accident in Colorado. In a time of tight budgets, they say, it’s not wise to force school districts to spend extra money on something that isn’t necessary.
The fact that only one school bus death has been recorded in Colorado since 1989 is not sufficient justification for opposing this worthy idea. And it’s not evidence that school buses are safer than any other motor vehicle. Chances are, we have simply been lucky here in Colorado.
This is a chance for our Legislature to be proactive, to see the potential for a deadly situation and act now to avert it before it occurs.
If a school bus were to veer off the road and start rolling down a long embankment, students would be thrown from their seats like rag dolls. We have seen enough casino bus crashes to know how deadly this situation can be. Seatbelts would most certainly improve their chances to escape death or serious injury.
And there’s also the mixed message we are sending our children.
Every time kids climb into a car, we are required by law to strap them in.
Yet every day, thousands and thousands of children head off to Colorado schools in buses without seatbelts. Given that, how can we expect them to do the right thing when they are old enough to start climbing into vehicles without parental supervision?
We encourage the Legislature to pass Senate Bill 29. When our children’s safety is at stake, it’s not the time to be pinching pennies and praying disaster will never strike.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog, Colorado Kids, Transportation at 2:10 PM UTC []
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On my way back from lunch today, I saw dozens of horses surrounding the Capitol. In celebration of our western heritage, several legislators took a trail ride from the Capitol, through downtown, to the National Western Complex.
Unfortunately, I had a meeting to discuss my autism bill at the same time as the trail ride, but I did get to see all the horses and feel a quiver of the magic of the Old West. It was almost surreal to see the Capitol surrounded by horses and think back to the days, more than a hundred years ago, when this magnificent building was erected, and most people got around town on horseback.
Here are some photos of senators and staff saddled-up and ready to ride.
- Senator Gail Schwartz
- Senator Lois Tochtrop
- Senate Chief of Staff Khadija Haynes
And here are a couple of historical photos from the time when it was normal to see the Capitol surrounded by horses, courtesy of the Denver Public Library.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog, Feel Good Friday at 4:58 PM UTC []
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This November, RTD will approach voters for a .4% tax increase in order to fast track FasTracks. Supporters of the tax increase believe that it is the best, if not the only, way to meet the shortfalls of FasTrack’s budget. They fear that, without the increase, much of projects that were promised to the people of Colorado will either face partial completion or get erased off the “to-do” list completely. Please write back with your comments on whether or not you think the tax increase is needed. Click here to read more information in a Denver Post article.
The Boulder County Department of Transportation is holding a public forum TONIGHT to discuss the future of Boulder County’s public transportation. There will be an open house starting at 5pm, and a group discussion starts at 6:15pm. Click here for more information. If you hurry, you can make it!
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog, Transportation at 4:56 PM UTC []
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Today marks the halfway point through the session. We have worked harder and faster this session than in any of the prior years since I’ve been in the legislature. We have had a sense of urgency for economic recovery and have worked tirelessly to create and protect thousands of Colorado jobs.
There is a deeper reason for wanting to create jobs. It’s because we care about the people of Colorado.
This concern for people guides all of our choices and shines most clearly through our budgeting process. Our budget truly is a moral document—the place where our priorities show loud and clear.
When we worked on balancing the 08-09 budget with a $600 million shortfall, we kept you in mind. The initial set of recommendations for budget cuts included decreases across the board, such as:
- Veterans Trust Fund
- Supplemental Old Age Pension Health and Medical Care Fund
- Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment
- Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment of Disease
- Short Term Innovative Health Care Grants
- Livestock Brand Inspection
These cuts would have had direct negative impacts on the people of our state, and we said NO. We preserved the services that help people, and we protected our safety nets. We will continue to make budgeting decisions based on our priorities and values as we look forward to the 09-10 budget.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog, Economy at 3:55 PM UTC []
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