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State Representative Joe Miklosi's 2009 Legislative Agenda
As you know, the Colorado State Legislature adjourned its four-month legislative session on May 6th. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your State Representative from District 9 in southeast Denver. Despite the budget challenges of cutting $1.5 billion dollars over two fiscal years, we succeeded in what we set out to do at the beginning of the legislative session in January: expanding the circle of opportunity for all Coloradans and balancing the state's $19 billion dollar budget. As promised, we focused on saving and creating good jobs, providing support for struggling families, and creating a world class education system. And even with a tight budget (the worst in 50 years), the legislature was able to do more with less. Below are some of the major accomplishments during the four-month legislative session: Saving and Creating Good Jobs SB 108 – (FASTER) Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation & Economic Recovery Jobs The FASTER jobs bill saves 5,000 - 8,000 jobs and potentially creates thousands of new jobs rebuilding our most dangerous bridges and repairing our rutted roads. HB 1001 – Colorado Jobs Tax Credit Provides a Jobs Tax Credit to companies that bring new, high-paying jobs to our state. SB 67 – Colorado Credit Reserve Program Leverages $50 million to provide loans for Colorado’s small businesses so they can grow and thrive despite these tough times. SB 171 – “Green Collar” Job Training Expands job training programs at our community colleges to prepare Coloradans for the good, green jobs of tomorrow. SB 31 – Clean Tech Discovery Grant Creates the Clean Technology Discover Grant Program to advance research and the development of clean technology. HB 1105 – Angel Investors Stimulates the creation of new businesses and high-paying jobs in Colorado by offering a tax credit for so-called “angel investors” who provide funding for early-stage tech companies.
Support for Struggling Families HB 1276 – Foreclosure Time-Out Responsible but struggling homeowners may qualify for a 3-month “time-out” to work with their lenders, restructure their loan, and stay out of foreclosure and in their home. HB 1293 – Colorado Healthcare Affordability Act Saves money for the insured by reducing the hidden cost of caring for the uninsured in ERs, and provides more than 100,000 struggling Coloradans affordable healthcare without general fund dollars or new taxes. HB 1064 – Economic Opportunity Poverty Task Force Creates the poverty reduction task force to significantly reduce poverty over ten years. HB 1213 – Affordable Housing Creates more low-cost homes and apartments for struggling families and offers foreclosure prevention activities via a new Housing Development Grant Fund. SB 33 – Free Lunches for Low-Income Pre-Schoolers Provides over 1,100 low-income 3- and 4-year-olds free nutritious lunches, without using any state funds. SB 247 – Expanding Unemployment Benefits Helps the growing number of Coloradans who are between jobs, and lets more people stay on unemployment for a bit longer. Brings in over $125 million in federal funds to help those who are unable to find work and provides greater benefits to anyone getting training for high demand jobs. HB 1349 – Continued Health Care After Employment Allows Coloradans who are laid off from small companies after 9/08 to receive assistance in extending their group health care coverage under Colorado’s version of “COBRA”, giving them a second chance to elect COBRA coverage and take advantage of this program. HB 1312 – Renewables for Schools The Renewables for Schools low-interest loan program helps schools afford solar panels, super-efficient school buses, even wind turbines. By producing energy on-site, schools can reduce their utility bills, create a buffer against future energy price spikes, and put more money toward educating kids. SB 1149 – Solar Ready Homes New home buyers can choose to have their home pre-wired for solar energy or have solar panels installed and include that in their mortgage, providing significant up-front savings. SB 51 – Renewable Energy Finance Act Helps homeowners finance renewable energy upgrades for their homes and businesses, saving people money, increasing energy independence, and creating jobs. Also brings in millions of dollars in investment by attracting investment capital and new energy firms. HB 1331 – Innovative Autos Act Modernizes the current alternate fuels tax credit to encourage Coloradans to purchase cars that reduce gas consumption and are environmentally friendly, and removes tax credits for low fuel efficiency hybrids. HB 1345 – Coordinating a Statewide Transmission Plan Moves us closer to connecting power generated from Colorado’s wind and solar resources with major population centers here and in other states via a coordinated statewide transmission plan, allowing Colorado to effectively participate in the development of a regional market for new energy. Building a World-Class Public Education System SB 256 – School Finance Act Makes important advances towards school reform, and gives school districts the tools they need to meet the needs of 21st century learners. SB 62 – Troops to Teachers Like a modern-day GI Bill, this provides financial incentives and professional development for our returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to become teachers. HB 1039 – GI Opportunity Act Provides in-state tuition rates for honorably discharged military veterans at the 30 higher education institutions in Colorado so they can afford to earn a college degree. HB 1057 – Parental Involvement Act Allows parents to take a limited amount of unpaid leave to step away from work to be more involved with their children’s education, without worrying about losing their jobs. HB 1243 – Dropout Prevention To make sure that students complete their high school studies and increase Colorado’s graduation rate, creates an Office of Dropout Prevention and Student Reengagement. HB 1319 – Accelerating Students through Concurrent Enrollment (ASCENT) Establishes a statewide concurrent-enrollment plan that gives high school students an opportunity to earn a college degree while finishing high school. This gives kids a reason to stay in school and accelerates their progress toward degrees and the working world. SB 163 – School Accountability Reports Modernizes and aligns reporting on school accountability systems to help students throughout Colorado. Schools will now have better support and oversight for their improvement efforts. HB 1065 – Teacher Identifier Program Uses information about educators' training and experience to evaluate teacher performance, the effectiveness of teacher training programs and the distribution of high-performing teachers in different kinds of schools. Saving Taxpayer Money by Streamlining Government During the past year, the Governor and the state legislature saved over $325 million dollars by partnering more closely with state employees to discover and implement cost-saving and cost effective measures to make government operate more efficiently. Too often, the hard work of state employees plowing snow, protecting public safety on our roads, and performing countless other tasks, goes unnoticed. I’m grateful for the employees who worked so hard on these cost-saving initiatives. Taxpayers are grateful too! Difficult Budget Cuts During the legislative session, we dealt with the harsh realities of tough economic times and rising unemployment to 7%. Just as most families have been doing, we were forced to make some very difficult financial decisions. While nobody at the State Capitol is happy with all of the decisions that had to be made, we know that we did our best to produce a balanced budget, which at its core works to expand the circle of opportunity for every Coloradoan. In total, we cut approximately $1.5 billion dollars during two fiscal years. Colorado’s annual budget is approximately $19 billion dollars. Representative Miklosi’s Top Legislative Achievements
As you know, each legislator is allowed to be the original sponsor of five bills each session. I was able to pass three of my five original bills and pass two late bills as the prime House sponsor. Two of the five bills have already been signed by Governor Ritter and the other three bills will be signed by the Governor in June. My five bills that passed include: · Online Voter Registration – Colorado voters will now be able to register to vote, request a mail-in ballot, and update their contact information at the safe and secure, Colorado Secretary of State web site. This will help all legal Colorado voters, especially more young people, seniors, and disabled people, participate in democracy. Colorado is the third state in the country to accomplish this goal. · Teacher of the Year Act – With this bill, Colorado now has the best Teacher of the Year program in the country. The teacher of the year will be able to travel the state of Colorado and share their best practices by mentoring other teachers. The teacher of the year will receive a cash bonus and travel expenses and the teacher of the year’s school district will be financially compensated to hire a substitute teacher for the year. · State Employee Unpaid Leave Pool – Over 30,000 state employees in Colorado will now be able to pool their unpaid, earned leave to their fellow employees when an unforeseen tragic event, such as a natural disaster or prolonged cancer treatments, causes a state employee, to miss more days of work than their accrued number of sick and family leave days. · Child Welfare Staff and Training Academy – Last year, 13 children in the foster care system died to various reasons, such as neglect. As a state, we ask so much of child welfare workers who have to deal with complex family problems. My bill will create a statewide child welfare academy so more experienced social workers can mentor new social workers, which will improve services and reduce fatalities. · Legal Immigrant Health Care – In 1996, the federal government and the state of Colorado passed a bill to make pregnant women and children, who are legal immigrants, wait five years before they can receive medical care. This is ridiculous. My bill removed the five year waiting period for legal immigrants to receive medical services. For every dollar we invest in medical care for pregnant women and infants, we save seven dollars as a society. Representative Miklosi’s 2010 Legislative Goals I already have 16 bill ideas for my five bills for the 2010 legislative session. Next year, I will focus on: · Creating 3,000 renewable energy jobs and create financial incentives for homeowners to install solar, wind, geothermal or energy efficiency improvements; · Creating educational opportunities with un-subsidized, college tuition rates for undocumented students; · Provide incentives for more wind manufacturing companies to relocate to Colorado; and · Pass more civil liberty protections for defendants. By The Numbers § 206,000 – Daily drivers on the I-25 overpass bridge at Auraria Parkway who will be safer because of bridges fixed by the “FASTER” jobs bill. § 100,000 – Coloradans who will have access to the affordable health care they need thanks to the Colorado Health Care Affordability Act. § 8,000 – Jobs to be created by the investment to rebuild Colorado’s broken bridges and crumbling roads with the FASTER jobs bill. § 1,100 – Low-income 3- and 4-year-olds who will receive free, nutritious lunches every school day § 800 – Colorado National Guard soldiers who will now receive scholarship funds to further their education. § 500 – Loans averaging $100,000 available for small businesses so they can invest in growth during this difficult period. § 200 – Colorado families who will be able to stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure. § 150 – “Clean and green” technology-based Colorado companies that will receive tax credits to thrive, grow and create jobs. § 50% – Goal of reduction in the number of Coloradans living in poverty over ten years, thanks to the new Economic Opportunity Poverty Reduction Task Force. § 25% – High school students more likely to earn a diploma thanks to the new Office of Dropout Prevention. § $0 – Colorado’s budget deficit! Upcoming Events The first Senior Summit in March was so successful, I will be hosting the second Senior Summit in June to discuss how seniors can receive services and stay more involved in their communities. Stay tuned for date and location. Your Input Matters
At a recent town hall meeting, Jim, a constituent with 20 years of information technology experience, told me about how Colorado was not taking full advantage of the federal government, unemployment benefits under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. He was recently laid off and had time to extensively research this issue. Upon further research, he was right so I quickly sponsored an amendment to a bill in the state legislature that was allocating federal unemployment benefits. As a result, 13,000 Coloradoans will now receive an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits. During difficult economic times, this will help more families make mortgage payments, buy groceries, and stimulate the economy until we transition into a better economic climate. Thanks Jim!
Closing Thoughts Thank you again for the opportunity to serve you as your State Representative. Representing people has been the most humbling, enjoyable, and challenging job I’ve ever had and I wouldn’t give it up for the world. I would like to thank my wife, Jennifer, for her support. I would also like to thank my three tremendous aides – Jamie Sarche, John Wolfe, and Travis Grant – for their tireless service to me, to you, and to our state. Without them, I couldn’t serve you as ably.
Sincerely, 
Joe Miklosi
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