Tammy’s Priorities
PUBLIC EDUCATION
Having been involved in improving schools in Jefferson County for over 20 years, I have seen firsthand how vital a good education is in shaping a child’s life. From kindergarten through college, Colorado’s children deserve the best possible foundation for their future.
Sadly, an excellent education isn’t available to all kids in our state as some neighborhood schools remain severely under-resourced. I am dedicated to addressing these educational disparities and ensuring that our K-12 schools have the funding they need to give students the tools to thrive.
Beyond our K-12 schools, I am also committed to combating the skyrocketing costs of higher education. I believe that everyone should be able to go to college or trade school without having to incur mountains of debt. As your Senator, I am working to make college affordable for all, regardless of their socioeconomic background. Because future generations shouldn’t have to begin their life with crippling financial burdens.
Achievements in the Legislature
Sponsored HB21-1067: College Admission Use of National Test Score, a bill that breaks down barriers for students and brings greater equity to our college admissions process by removing that requirement that Colorado colleges and universities require national assessment test scores like the SAT and ACT as an eligibility criterion for admission.
Sponsored SB21-058: Approval of Alternative Principal Programs, a bill that helps meet the critical shortage of principals in Colorado, particularly in rural Colorado, by allowing for the continuation of Alternative Principal Licensure programs, in which districts can recruit a local teacher or community member to complete one of these licensure programs and become a principal.
Sponsored SB20-006: Amend Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative, a bill to strengthen the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative program by tying scholarships to the rising cost of attendance rather than tuition alone. COSI serves tens of thousands of Colorado students each year, and strengthening the program will allow more of our children to have access to an affordable college education”
Sponsored HB20-1002: College Credit for Work Experience, a bill that expands opportunities for students to earn college credit for learning acquired through work, including employment, apprenticeships, internships, or self-study.”
Sponsored HB20-1407: College Admission Use Of National Test Score, allowing Colorado public four-year institutions of higher education to waive national assessment score requirements for the high school graduating class of 2021, who had their SAT exam dates cancelled this past spring due to COVID-19.
Sponsored SB19-057: Student Loan Repayment Programs, a bill that requires an annual notice be sent to eligible recipients of the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. This will increase awareness of the program and allow public servants like teachers to receive student debt relief that will make it easier financially for them to remain in their important public service jobs.”
Sponsored SB19-204: Public School Local Accountability Systems, a bill which created a grant program to help schools develop, collect, and publish indicators of student success beyond those required by the State. This will provide the ability for schools to demonstrate student success in ways which may be unique to a school and not recognized by common measures of achievement.
Sponsored SB19-129: Regulation Of Online Schools, ensuring online schools are properly regulated in response to the Department of Education task force's recommendations. Required a multi-district online school (MDOS) that is on performance watch to keep that status if it moves to a new authorizer, and if a MDOS is closed as a result of actions related to being on performance watch, it must attain a new certification before opening with a new authorizer.
Sponsored HB19-1222: IB Exam Fee Grant, making funds available to high schools to reduce or eliminate the international baccalaureate exam fee for low-income students, similar to how advanced placement fees have been reduced or eliminated.
Sponsored SB19-097: Area Technical College Grant Program, enabling technical colleges to submit a grant request to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education for additional funding for a specified purpose, such as capital and equipment expenditures.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
33 years ago, my husband Mike and I moved to Colorado, and as soon as we experienced the breathtaking diversity of the state’s landscape, we knew we could never leave. But over the decades, I have seen increasingly hot temperatures, worsening air quality, and shrinking ecosystems threaten this beautiful place we all call home.
I know man-made climate change is the most serious and impending crisis we face. With devastating wildfires and floods on the rise, it is clear that unless we take real steps to become a more sustainable society, our children could face unrecoverable consequences.
I am fighting against companies who seek to pollute our air, buy up our land, and contaminate our water just to line their own pockets. Our natural resources are precious and must be protected from those who want to exploit them for personal gain. That’s why I support tighter regulations and higher fines for bad actors that endanger the health of our communities.
I am also fighting to create a green economy that stimulates high-paying jobs in the renewable energy sector. Because sustainability and economic growth are not at odds with one another, but rather inseparable partners if we hope for a prosperous future.
Achievements in the Legislature
Sponsored SB22-007: Increase Wildfire Risk Mitigation Outreach Efforts, This bill addresses the critical need to bolster wildfire risk education and outreach to the more than half of Coloradans who live in the Wildfire-Urban-Interface. It requires the Colorado state forest service to convene a working group to consider how best to conduct enhanced wildfire awareness month outreach campaigns in 2023 and 2024 and provides funds to conduct these campaigns.
Sponsored HB21-1326: 2020-21 General Fund Transfer Support Department Of Natural Resources Programs, a bill that invests $25 million towards improving Colorado’s state parks. It provides funding for new state park infrastructure and development, staffing and maintenance, implementation of a statewide wildlife action plan for conservation of native species, backcountry avalanche safety program support, search and rescue efforts support, and funding for the outdoor equity grant program.
Sponsored HB21-1223: Create Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, a bill that makes sure the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office is here to stay, by making it permanent in statute. The bill directs the Office to help cultivate, promote, and coordinate development of the outdoor recreation industry in Colorado, as well as to partner with the outdoor recreation industry to help conserve our public lands, water, air and climate.
Sponsored HB21-1149: Energy Sector Career Pathway in Higher Education, a bill that invests $5 million into job training and workforce development for the energy sector, helping Colorado build back stronger by making sure our workforce is prepared to take on the clean energy jobs of the future. Priority will be given to those who have lost jobs due to COVID-19 as well as communities of color and low-income communities who are disproportionately impacted by pollution and the effects of climate change.
Sponsored SB21-108: PUC Gas Utility Inspection Authority, a bill that improves gas pipeline safety in Colorado by strengthening regulatory oversight for gas pipelines and increasing frequency of pipeline inspections. This will better protect our communities against future catastrophes and provide greater protection of the environment and wildlife resources.
Sponsored SB21-229: Rural Jump-start Zone Grant Program, a bill that helps economically distressed communities – particularly rural communities and those that will be affected by the energy market’s transition away from coal to more renewable energy sources – attract new businesses and jobs. It does so by creating the Rural Jump-Start Zone Grant Program to issue grants to new businesses that establish operations in these communities.
Sponsored SB21-231: Energy Office Weatherization Assistance Grants, a bill that provides $3 million to boost the Weatherization Assistance Program, which offers free home weatherization and energy-efficiency support to low-income residents.
Sponsored SB20-055: Incentivize Development Recycling End Markets, a bill that seeks to attract new businesses to the state and make recycling more economically viable, ultimately improving recycling rates in Colorado.
Co-sponsored SB20-204: Additional Resources to Protect Air Quality, a bill that ensures enforcement of environmental regulations to protect our air from harmful chemical emissions.
Sponsored HB19-1003: Community Solar Gardens Modernization Act, a bill that reduces the limitations on solar power technology by expanding the scope and capacity of community solar gardens and makes solar energy a more viable environmentally friendly source of energy in Colorado.
HEALTH CARE
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, far too many Coloradans were facing unmanageable healthcare costs – leading people to face impossible choices between getting the care they need and providing for their families. So now, as many Coloradans lose their jobs and the health benefits that come with them, families are living in fear that one bad health incident could lead them to financial ruin.
I believe that Coloradans deserve access to quality affordable healthcare regardless of their employment status.
So as we all face this time of uncertainty together, I will fight to ensure that insurance is accessible, prescription drug prices are affordable, and that people with pre-existing conditions can not be denied coverage.
With new, innovative solutions that prioritize people over profits, we can provide quality care to all Coloradans without forcing them to choose between their own health and bankrupting their family. While COVID-19 has laid bare the structural inequalities in our healthcare system, I believe that now is the time to work toward a fairer, more just system that gives everyone access to necessary care.
Achievements in the Legislature
Co-sponsored SB21-123: Expand Canadian Rx Import Program, a bill that extends the Canadian Prescription Drug Importation Program to nations other than Canada, so that we can continue working to ensure that every Coloradan has access to life-saving prescription drugs.
Co-sponsored SB20-215: Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise, a bill that will make health insurance more accessible to Coloradans who need it by establishing a funding structure for Colorado’s reinsurance program.
Co-sponsored SB20-212: Reimbursement For Telehealth Services, a bill that extended Coloradans ability to receive tele-healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. As many people rightfully worry about receiving care in person, this bill ensures that their ability to receive care remotely continues as we work our way through this deadly pandemic.
Co-sponsored HB19-1168: State Innovation Waiver Reinsurance Program, a bill that established a reinsurance program, significantly lowering health care costs for Coloradans on the individual health care market.
Co-sponsored HB19-1287: Treatment For Opioids And Substance Use Disorders, a bill that expands substance use treatment in rural parts of Colorado and areas that don't have enough access to treatment facilities.
EQUALITY
The unjust killings of George Floyd, Elijah McClain, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black Americans at the hands of police, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to systemic racism in this country. For centuries, the abuse of Black and Brown communities has been cultivated, protected, and at the same time, denied – making it dangerously difficult to achieve change.
As a white woman, I know that I will never fully understand what it’s like to be Black or Brown in America, but I am committed to listening, learning, and standing in solidarity with community leaders fighting for racial justice.
One of the most immediate ways I believe we can create a safer, more equitable society is to end racially-motivated police violence. So, during the 2020 Legislative Session, I co-sponsored SB20-217, the Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity Act, which holds police accountable when they use excessive force and combats abusive trends in law enforcement by permanently removing bad actors from the force.
While SB20-217 is an important first step, I realize that there is still mountains of work to do in eliminating institutionalized racism that has oppressed people of color for generations. As your Senator I will continue to address the ways in which Black and Brown folks have been mistreated by removing barriers to political participation, expanding economic opportunity, and exposing the implicit biases present in structures of power.
CHILD CARE
Child care is critical to the well-being and success of Colorado families and children. However, it is often in a child’s earliest years that families have the least support and face the most hurdles to accessing care. Meanwhile, the pandemic has further exacerbated child care challenges by causing instability in staffing and enrollment, even forcing some programs to close altogether.
I believe we should increase accessibility and affordability of early childhood care, making sure every Colorado family has the opportunity to benefit from these critical services. With innovative thinking and creative solutions, we can deliver quality early childhood care that meets the needs of working families and provides the experiences that lay the foundation for children’s long-term success.
Achievements in the Legislature
Sponsored HB22-1369: Children’s Mental Health Programs, The bill directs the department of early childhood to contract with a Colorado-based nonprofit entity to provide children's mental health programs.
Sponsored SB21-236: Increase Capacity Early Childhood Care & Education, a bill that invests in programs to increase capacity in early childhood; incentivize high-quality child care at or near parents’ places of work; and improve recruitment, retention, compensation, and mental wellness support for early childhood educators.
Sponsored SB20-016: Allow Home Child Care In Homeowners' Association Community, a bill that addressed Colorado’s urgent need to increase child care services by prohibiting Home Owner Associations from banning home-based child care programs.
Sponsored HB20-1053: Supports For Early Childhood Educator Workforce, a bill that made it easier on early child care providers to attract and retain teachers, supported providers in responding to the behavioral health challenges young children experienced as a result of the crisis, and helped providers access the coaching and quality improvement funds needed to provide early care and education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sponsored SB19-063: Infant And Family Child Care Action Plan, a bill that created a strategic action plan to address the declining availability of child care options in Colorado.