Expanding Healthcare affordability and access

 

We have passed two bills out of the house that will ensure that being a woman is no longer treated as a pre-existing condition in the individual and small group insurance market.  The first says that insurance premiums may not be gender rated, i.e. you can no longer be charged higher premiums just for being a woman.  The second puts maternity and contraceptive coverage back in insurance policies for the individual market.

 

There are three bills that work together to cut administrative overhead in the medical insurance industry and provide much more readable policies and contracts for consumers and providers.

 

Finally, from the Senate, sponsored by Senator Betty Boyd, we will be seeing a bill focused on Medicaid efficiency and collecting funds fraudulently claimed by pharmaceutical companies and large insurance companies.

 

Creating opportunity and jobs with Clean Energy

 

I am honored to be the prime sponsor of House Bill 1 for 2010 which expands Colorado’s renewable energy portfolio to 30% by 2020.  This bill, currently going through the state senate, will also vastly expand opportunities for residential and commercial solar, wind and small hydro projects.  It’s anticipated that this will create over 10,000 new Green Jobs in the coming years.

 

In addition, there are a number of other energy bills in the House and Senate to further expand opportunities and create a more stable, cleaner energy environment.

 

Balancing the budget with fairness and compassion

 

We just finished passing nearly $500 million of cuts to the state budget. We have also closed $15 Million in tax loopholes for this budget year. The Governor has cut 1,500 jobs from departments under his control.  We are endeavoring to protect the safety net and essential services while sharing the burden of balancing the budget as widely as possible.

 

Over the next few weeks we will be working to cut over a billion dollars to balance next year’s budget.

 

Much of Colorado’s budget is determined by the number of people in school, on Medicaid and in the Department of Corrections.  Even though our population has grown by 500,000 in the last five years, many departments will see spending rolled back to 2005 levels.

 

Tough times, tough votes but a brighter future

 

I’ll be facing many tough votes as we face the reality of significant cutbacks in state services and funding. But that’s the responsibility we have: to make sure Colorado’s public sector lives within its means just as you do.

 

On the other hand, we can still take steps to create jobs and preserve funding for pre-school and kindergarten as well as preserving as

much of our “safety net” as possible.