We did it...Unanimously.

Congratulations to all of you who worked on this important bill with us! The Colorado Senate voted this morning to pass HB1160, a bill that will allow Colorado residents to register to vote and update their registration information online at the Secretary of State's secure website. The vote was 33-0 in the Senate and passed in the Colorado House last month with a vote of 60-4. 

Only 2 other states, Arizona and Washington, currently provide voters with the option to register to vote online. In Arizona, voter registration numbers increased by 10% in the first year of the online option being available and over 70% of registrations now occur online. When Washington instituted online voter registration in 2008, almost 40% of new voters registered online. In the first six months, half of the new registrants were under the age of 30.

In other words, there is a strong demand for this registration option among voters.

Dinner & a Movie!

Please join us for an exquisite dinner at duo Restaurant and the premier of "Get on the Bus," a short film documenting New Era Colorado's work during the historic 2008 Elections.

Great article from the Colorado Independent about the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" military policy for LGBT people in the military:

Air Force ROTC cadet Mara Boyd pledged to uphold the principles of integrity, service before self, and excellence. But trying to adhere to those values not only unraveled a promising military career, it saddled Boyd with more than $30,000 in debt.

Boyd’s saga began in 2001, eight years after President Clinton signed into law the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which bans openly gay, lesbian and bisexual people from serving in the U.S. military.

After an estimated 12,500 service members and ROTC cadets, like Boyd, were dismissed since 1993, Congress is trying again to reverse “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 was introduced on March 3 by U.S. Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., after the Obama administration signaled its support. Among the Colorado delegation, Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, and Jared Polis, D-Boulder, have signed on as House co-sponsors. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is expected to carry the bill in the Senate. The San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that opposition to Tauscher’s bill is mounting in the House and Senate Armed Services committees where Reps. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, and Sen. Mark Udall will hold key votes.

While repealing the 16-year-old ban may bring a moral victory of sorts for gay and lesbian service members and their straight allies, the damage done to personal lives and the estimated $363.8 million cost of implementing “don’t ask, don’t tell” to replace military personnel discharged because of the ban, are often forgotten in the now-discredited hue and cry over unit cohesion.

Boyd’s experience in the University of Colorado at Boulder’s ROTC program provides an example of how Clinton’s political naivety and good intentions ran afoul of common sense.

After joining the collegiate officer training program in her sophomore year, she completed summer basic training camp at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Graduating in the top 10 percent of her class, Boyd returned to her childhood home in Ann Arbor, Mich. The plan was to kick back for a few weeks and then resume her military scholarship in the fall.

But things got complicated.

Read the full article from the Colorado Independent.

So here’s the story.Well, there are actually five stories. Those of Jacob Ind, Trevor Jones,Andrew Medina, Nathan Ybanez,and Erik Jensen. All of these individuals share a unique, and disturbing, story. They all received the same treatment in the Colorado justice system - a sentence of life without thepossibility for parole while juveniles. Most of them did not actually commit murder, but instead were convicted under the FelonyMurder Statute. On April 1^st in Hellems 246 we will besharing their stories, which were apart of a PBS Frontline special “WhenKids Get Life”.

Mary Ellen Johnson, founder of the Pendulum foundation,will also be there to talk to us about the Felony Murder Statute and juvenile sentencing in Colorado. Wehope to see you there. Check out the trailer here:: 

Screening of "When Kids Get Life"

April 1st

7pm - 9pm

University of Colorado Campus - Hellems 199 

A synopsis: Data collected from aerial surveys of the high elevation forests show that our tree problems are multiplying. In addition to the Mountain Pine Beetle, the Spruce Beetle, Sudden Aspen Decline (SAD) and the Western tent caterpillar are all wreaking havoc on our forests. The Mountain Pine Beetle infestation began in 1996. Since then, nearly 2.9 million acres have been destroyed with 400,000 acres of damage this past year alone. 

The importance of maintaining a healthy forest has some surprising points. There is the obvious aesthetic value that brings in tourism to the mountainous regions. Tourism is the second largest industry in terms of jobs for Colorado (Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association). The High Elevation forest provides economic benefits for timber and other natural resources. The mountains are a place to play and enjoy the outdoors. The unique biodiversity and wildlife that are indigenous to Colorado's high country adds to the majesty of the outdoors. The trees in the high country minimize erosion, provide snow cover and play a vital role in producing water and maintaining our watershed. The watershed in Colorado, provided by the melting snow and ice from the mountains, provides water for many other states.

The biggest threat to our ailing forest is the risk of wildfire...

The Renewable Energy Finance Act is moving onward and upwards at the Capitol! The New Era the intern legislative team has been working hard to spread the word and gain support for Senate Bill 51. This bill will improve an existing bill that passed last year that created a fund for low interest loans for renewable energy and energy efficiency upgrades. This bill has the added potential of improving the notoriously strained tenant-landlord relationships as well. There has been too long of a stale mate between the two parties over energy bills and efficiency improvements. Up until now there has been little incentive for either side to invest in improvements, but this bill could begin to make headway towards improvements by providing some marketing incentives that could benefit both sides. Imagine your landlord actually doing something to help lower those ever-rising energy bills!

The bill is going strong for the meantime, having recently passed the Local Government and Energy Committee, it is on its way to the Appropriations Committee on Friday the 26th.  With any luck and hopefully a lot of support, the bill will soon be headed to the Senate floor for its first round of readings.

 
Help us spread the word at CU by passing out these flyers. If you would like to help spread the word or if you would like info about a ride to Denver on Thursday, Feb 26th, for the lobby day, please call us at our office, 720 565 9317.

Check out all the legislation that we are working on!

Click to 'read more' for information on SB 225.