Dennis Apuan

At the beginning of the legislative session, the House Democrats pledged to fight for you, your family and small business. We renewed our commitment to create jobs, continue to balance the budget, and be fiscally responsible. We are halfway through, our work is not done, but we are making clear progress.

We have worked diligently to cut government by streamlining operations and closing a shortfall of $2 billion. We eliminated 10 corporate tax loopholes for big businesses and special interests, because they, too, need to pay their fair share to help balance the budget. By closing these tax loopholes, the state will have an extra $15 million in 2009-2010.

We also introduced measures to make government leaner and smarter. The SMART Government Act is well on its way through the legislature. It demands a new level of government accountability to show which programs and agencies use tax dollars wisely and efficiently.

We are striving to save money and achieve greater efficiency in the state's health care system. The Medicaid Modernization Act is making its way through the Senate now. Additionally, I am the primary sponsor of bills to simplify both the Aid for Families with Dependent Children Act (AFDC) as well as the insurance application process in general.

We have continued our aggressive job-creation agenda especially in the green sector. Our number one bill this session assures that 30% of our state’s energy is from clean sources such as wind and solar by the year 2020. This is estimated to support 3,000 more jobs per year. An additional 2,000 new energy efficiency jobs will be created by the passage of the New Energy Jobs Creation Act of 2010, which increases access to bonds and loans for home energy improvements.

More Colorado families are struggling financially than at any other time in recent memory. That is why we are prioritizing getting people back to work through job training and retraining. For example, we passed the Green Jobs Colorado Training Program, which ensures that Colorado is supplying new energy companies with the best educated and most highly skilled workforce in the country.

We are also providing incentives for doctors and nurses who serve in underserved and rural communities through the passage of the Health Care Jobs Act. I personally sponsored a resolution to recognize EMS providers for all the hard work that they do.

I am particularly concerned about making sure that our veterans are taken care of and receive the honor they deserve. I am the primary sponsor of a license plate bill to honor veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars for their tremendous sacrifices. Furthermore, I sponsored a resolution to recognize the brave fallen soldiers of these wars.

Even though this is a difficult budget year, we have created legislation to make lives a little easier for Colorado families. We introduced legislation that halts the cycle of debt perpetrated by dishonest lenders, protects the value of gift cards and protects neighborhoods from abandoned properties.

We have about 60 days left in the session, and there is still much work to be done. I look forward to working on legislation that saves money while improving the lives of Coloradoans. We will work to improve public education by moving away from unhelpful CSAP tests, provide more relevant teacher evaluations, and make schools more transparent. We will also pass legislation making it easier for small businesses to access state loans and credit.

As we continue our hard work at the Legislature, I would like to hear from you about how to move Colorado forward. You can contact me at repdennisapuan@gmail.com and keep up to date at www.coloradohouse.org.

Dennis Apuan is a democratic state legislator from Colorado Springs.