What your Weld County representatives accomplished during the 2022 Colorado legislative session: Mary Young edition

Written By Kelly Ragan

By Kelly Ragan

What have your Weld County representatives done for you lately? With the 2022 Colorado legislative session done for the season and an election on the horizon, it’s important to take stock of what our representatives accomplished this year.

Don’t worry, we’ve done most of the hard work for you.

We’ve looked at the bills each of our Weld County representatives were named prime sponsors of and show you what they got passed and what they didn’t. We’ll show you who the other prime sponsors were so you can get a sense of how bipartisan your representatives were this year.

Here we have Mary Young, a Weld County Democrat representing House District 50, which includes zip codes 80631 and 80634 (think central and east Greeley and Evans). 

Bills passed

Supportive Learning Environments for K-12 Students, HB22-1376: This bill made changes to state law related to school discipline, use of restraint and seclusion, data reporting and availability, enforcement authority, school resource officers, and the expelled and at-risk students grant program. Some of the highlights include specifications that restraint cannot be used as a form of discipline or way to gain compliance from a student. It also requires parents to be notified if their child is physically restrained. The bill prohibits School Resource Officers or law enforcement from using handcuffs on students unless there is a danger to themselves or others. For schools that use a seclusion room, the bill stipulates that the student must be continually monitored.

Signed into law: May 26, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

License Registration Fee Relief for Mental Health Professionals, HB22-1299: This bill pulls $3.7 million from the state’s General Fund over to the Division of Professions and Occupations Cash Fund to cover the cost of state boards for psychologist examiners, social work examiners, marriage and family therapist examiners, professional counselor examiners, unlicensed psychotherapists, and addiction counselor examiners. The idea is to save mental health professionals money on licensing fees with the ultimate goal being to strengthen the workforce and offer some financial relief in the industry, Gov. Jared Polis said in an editorial. 

Signed into law: May 17, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

Special Education Services in Charter Schools, HB22-1294: This bill allows charter schools, with approval of the authorizing school board, to develop and administer an enrollment preference plan to give preference to children with disabilities.

Signed into law: May 26, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

Behavioral Health Administration, HB22-1278: This bill aims to transform the state’s system, maximizing the power of federal and state funding, by establishing a regional behavioral health entity. The idea is to ultimately make collaboration easier.

Signed into law: May 25, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Mandatory Reporters, HB22-1240: This creates a task force charged with analyzing best practices and recommended changes to training requirements and reporting procedures with particular emphasis on families of color, under-resourced communities, and people with disabilities. The idea is to analysze the effectiveness of mandatory reporting, examine its relationship with systemic issues (think disproportionate impact on people of color) and evaluate reporting time frames to ensure victims’ safety. The task force is set to operate for two years and will submit its findings and recommendations to various committees on Jan. 1, 2025. 

Signed into law: June 2, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Behavioral Health Crisis Response System, HB22-1214: This bill requires crisis system facilities and programs, including walk-in centers and mobile crisis programs, to meet minimum regulatory standards that include mental health and substance use disorder standards.

Signed into law: April 27, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Sunset Continue Regulation Speech-language Pathologists, HB22-1213: This bill continues the regulation of speech language pathologists in the Department of Regulatory Agencies. It was scheduled to end Sept. 1, 2022, but thanks to this bill, the program is set to continue until Sept. 1, 2033.

Signed into law: May 31, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Sunset Strategic Action Planning Group on Aging, HB22-1209: This bill sunsets (read: phases out) the Strategic Action Planning Group on Aging and ensures any unspent funds get transferred for use by the Colorado Department of Human Services for the Colorado Commission on Aging. The idea is that the Strategic Action Planning Group on Aging accomplished what it set out to do and no longer needs to exist. So, any leftover cash will be moved around for better use as the action group rides off into the sunset. 

Signed into law: April 12, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Inclusive Higher Education Opportunities, HB22-1107: This bill creates a grant program in the Department of Higher Education to help institutions create inclusive programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It includes an appropriation of $450,000 to the Inclusive Higher Education Opportunities Cash Fund. Schools can use money to assess existing capacity, determine what training and technical assistance they need, or create other programs and supports that help students to have a comprehensive higher education experience. This is set to cost at least $451,532 in fiscal year 2022-23 and $450,000 in fiscal year 2023-24.

Signed into law: May 26, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Reasonable Independence for Children, HB22-1090: This bill amends the statutory definition of neglect to say a child is not neglected when they are allowed to participate in certain independent and safe activities (think walking to school by themselves and playing outside).

Signed into law: March 30, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Modernization of the Older Coloradans’ Act, HB22-1035: This bill added two members to the Colorado Commission on Aging (not to be confused with the Strategic Action Planning Group on Aging mentioned above) and makes some tweaks to the structure of the commission.

Signed into law: March 24, 2022

Other prime sponsor:

 

Driver License Fee Reduction, HB22-1004: This bill creates a one-time state transfer of $3.9 million from the General fund to maintain the current driver license fee level, delaying an increase. It serves a nice break for folks getting their license *and* serves to reduce the state’s TABOR refund obligation.

Signed into law: May 16, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Bills failed

Transportation Innovation Grant Program, HB22-1395: This bill would have created the Competitive Transportation Innovation Grant Program in the Department of Education to address public school transportation shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Had it passed, it was set to cost the state $7.6 million.

Other prime sponsors:

Kelly Ragan
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