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Colorado Editorial Forum | 08/26/2015

Lawmakers Committed to Standing with Women and Families
By Faith Winter , Jessie Ulibarri


OP ED

As public servants representing House District 35 and Senate District 21 in the Colorado legislature, we often meet with our community to learn about their concerns and their hopes and dreams. What we hear often is that they worry that they are one accident, one illness and one tragedy away from complete financial devastation because they are living paycheck to paycheck.

At one of our town halls this year we heard from Mary, who decided to comfort her mother in the last weeks of her life but by doing so lost her job. Without her income, Mary's house went into foreclosure. No one should ever have to decide between keeping their house and their job, and giving a dying parent comfort.

Another neighbor, Shelby, took time off when her daughter needed surgery, but even a few days off put Shelby behind on her bills. When her dad had to have surgery she couldn't afford to take more time off so she had to send her dad to the hospital on a bus. We should support family members taking care of each other.

There are real people in Colorado right now who are struggling to put food on the table. There are people who can't see a doctor when they need to because in spite of the progress we have made in recent years, care is still pushed out of reach by financial obstacles. There are parents who can't stay home to care for their sick child without worrying that they will lose a day's pay and not be able to make ends meet that month.

The message is loud and clear -- our neighbors, and voters throughout Colorado, want to see an end to policies that help big corporations at the expense of hardworking Coloradans. They want to see a state budget that prioritizes programs that reflect our values, where we have funding for education so that every child has the opportunity to learn and thrive, an economy that works for all of us- not just a few and where health care decisions are left to the women, their families and their doctors-not the government.

From low wages and outdated workplace policies that deny paid leave and worsen the pay gap to unfair scheduling rules and a lack of affordable child care to pregnancy discrimination and difficulty in accessing health care, Colorado is facing serious issues. The fact is that women, particularly women of color, are most negatively impacted the lack of action to address these problems. As champions of fairness and opportunity, we are committed to doing something about these problems!

We would rather spend the legislative session working to create forward-thinking policies rather than debating another set of outdated policies that restrict a woman's ability to manage her own health care or make basic decisions about when she is ready to become a parent. But it is not enough to keep stopping these attacks. We need to refocus our efforts on a positive agenda that actually helps the people of our state. It's up to elected leaders to engage Coloradans in both defending our rights and in creating new legislative opportunities that give every Coloradan a fair shot at success.

It is time for us all to stand with women and families and demand action in Denver and in our home districts in Adams County -- action that will create real and lasting change. We must hold accountable those who continue to play political games and stand in the way of women and families making progress in our state. If we do not do our job and take action then we are leaving families worse off than they are now. We must do all we can for our families. This means working to create more jobs and raise wages. We need to make sure parents can get enough time off to care for family and afford child care. We must also ensure access to reproductive health care, including abortion and contraception, fund education and ensure public safety.

Together, we must demand that those who are getting in the way of making positive change stop pushing a partisan agenda and instead stand with women and families for the economic policies and reproductive care that will not only set women up for success but will create lifetime prosperity for all families.

Winter is State Representative for District 35 which covers the Adams County side of Westminster and a portion of unincorporated Adams County. She is a mom of two and former Mayor Pro-tem of Westminster. State Senator Jessie Ulibarri (D-Westminster) represents Senate District 21, which includes Commerce City, Federal Heights, Arvada, Westminster and the unincorporated neighborhoods of southwestern Adams County. Sen. Ulibarri serves as the Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, and sits on the Local Government and State, Veterans and Military Affairs committees.


Copyright (C) 2015 by the Colorado Editorial Forum. The Forum is an educational organization that provides the media with the views of state experts on major public issues. Letters should be sent to the Forum, . (08/26/2015)

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