By Moira Cullen, DFER CO State Director
When it rains, it pours. Or actually, it snows when you live in Colorado—even in Spring. This week we not only saw a flurry of action as the 2013 legislative session wound down, but we received five inches of snow at the state capitol in Denver on May 1st and over one foot of the white stuff in the mountains. But, weather aside, it was a policy week for the books.
Here are a few of our highs:
Si se puede/Yes we can.
Monday kicked off with the historic signing of the ASSET bill by Governor John Hickenlooper, at Metropolitan State University of Denver, making it legal for undocumented students who graduate from Colorado high schools to qualify for in-state tuition. Colorado became the 14th state in the country to allow immigrants who graduate from state high schools this right.
“This is the first step,” Hickenlooper said, arguing that the new law points the way to national immigration reform. “We’re opening the door—you guys are going to have to do all the work.”
ASSET was passed in the House on March 8th, 2013 but took 10 previous attempts—totaling a decade—to finally become law. This time around, it had unanimous Democratic support and a handful of Republicans voted to the pass the measure. Members of both parties had opposed previous iterations of the bill.
DFER Colorado (DFER-CO) founding board member, State Sen. Michael Johnston (D-Denver) was a key sponsor of the bill. And on Monday, as he was joined by Lt. Governor Joe Garcia, another DFER-CO advisory board member, Johnston proclaimed to the packed crowd, “in Colorado, the doors are open and the dream is alive.”
I do.
Civil unions took effect in Colorado at midnight on Tuesday. The event made for a packed and cheerful civic building where Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and US Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Denver) presided over some of the first ceremonies granting same-sex couples many of the same rights as married couples.