What your Weld County representatives accomplished during the 2022 Colorado legislative session: Tonya Van Beber 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 Tonya Van Beber, a Weld County Republican representing House District 48, which includes zip codes 80631, 80634, and 80504 (think central and west Greeley, Eaton, Milliken, Gilcrest, La Salle and more).

Bills passed

Foster Youth in Transition Program Clarifications HB22-1245: This bill essentially made some tweaks, clarifications and technical changes to the Foster Youth in Transition Program -- a program established in 2021 that allows eligible foster youth aging out of the system to get continued support. 

Signed into law: April 12, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Foster Parent Bill of Rights, HB22-1231: This bill creates certain rights for foster parents, including the right to receive training and support, timely financial reimbursements, clear descriptions of expectations, certain records, reasonable notice for changes to a foster child’s placement, certain notices about court proceedings, and access to the grievance process with appropriate licensing authorities. These rights, of course, don’t apply to foster parents who were found to be abusing children.  

Signed into law: May 3, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Appeal Procedures Dependency and Neglect Cases HB22-1113: This bill requires the Judicial Department’s Child Welfare Appeals Workgroup to monitor the implementations recommended in a 2021 report, including: determining if other issues are contributing to delays in appeals, studying opportunities to reduce delays in child welfare appeals, and providing related training.

Signed into law: March 30, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Blockchain Agriculture and Uniform Commercial Code, HB22-1053: This bill requires the Commissioner of Agriculture to develop an online educational program for agricultural producers about the benefits of blockchain technology (essentially a digital, unchangeable ledger system) including its application in production, distribution and sales, different blockchain programs available to ag producers, and requirements to begin using a blockchain program in accordance with best practices. It’s set to cost about $72,768 for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

Signed into law: June 7, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Right to Counsel for Youth, HB22-1038: This bill requires kids 12 years old and older to be appointed legal counsel in dependency and neglect hearings. The counsel must be an attorney licensed to practice in Colorado and approved by the Office of the Child’s Representative. The goal is to give Colorado youth the right to participate in all hearings related to their case.

Signed into law: April 12, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

 

Early Childhood Educator Income Tax Credit, HB22-1010: This bill creates a refundable income tax credit for eligible early childhood educators who make equal to or less than $75,000 or $150,000 for a joint return, has held an early childhood professional credential for at least six months, and is the licensee of an eligible early childcare program or employed by an eligible program for at least six months. This credit can be claimed from Jan. 1, 2022, through Jan. 1, 2027. Credit amounts include: $750 for an Early Childcare Professional I, $1,000 for an Early Childcare Professional II, or $1,500 for an Early Childcare Professional III, IV, V, and VI. The idea is to offer some financial relief to early childhood educators.

Signed into law: June 3, 2022

Other prime sponsors:

Bills failed

Colorado Critical Infrastructure Resiliency Initiative, HB22-1404: This bill would have created the Colorado Critical Infrastructure Resiliency Imitative and the Colorado Resiliency infrastructure Board in the Department of Public Safety. The board would have provided oversight and governance of Colorado’s infrastructure enhancement program. Much of this would have involved identifying electric grid, water, oil, natural gas, and telecommunications infrastructure needs and provide recommendations, overseeing various disaster mitigation efforts, finding funding and more.

Other prime sponsors:

 

Parent’s Bill of Rights, HB22-1236: This bill would have prohibited the state and any other government entity (think school districts) from infringing upon the rights of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their child without first demonstrating there is a compelling government interest. It would have established parents’ rights to direct the education, moral or religious training and health care of their child, allowed parents to access and review all school and medical records of their child and more.

Other prime sponsors:

  • None

Standards for Immunization Requirements, HB22-1201: this bill would have allowed people who are required to get immunized for any reason to claim an exemption if an immunization had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the manufacturer is not liable for injury or death caused by the immunization, or if the clinical trial did not use a control group for at least one year after the immunization was first administered.

Other primes sponsors:

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