✍️ New laws to be on the lookout for
BY PEYTON GARCIA | @CITYCASTDENVER
2022 legislative session highlights
Last week wrapped up the 2022 Colorado legislative session. For those of you looking for the TL;DR version, I gotchu. Here are the results of some of the most highly-anticipated bills that faced state lawmakers this year.
Passed:
✅ Codifying abortion rights [HB22-1279]
✅ Making Juneteenth a state holiday [SB22-139]
✅ Free universal preschool [HB22-1295]
✅ Increased election security [SB22-153]
✅ Collective bargaining for county employees
[SB22-230]
✅ Harsher penalties for fentanyl possession
[HB 22-1326]
✅ Those $400 sales tax rebates [SB22-233]
✅ Creation of the Office of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives [SB22-150]
✅ Increased protections for residents of mobile home parks [HB22-1287]
Failed:
❌ Statewide ban on flavored tobacco products
[HB22-1064]
❌ Creation of a panel to study the medicinal effects of hallucinogens [HB22-1116]
❌ Plastic utensils from restaurants only on request [HB22-1134]
❌ Individual tax credits for subscribers to print and digital local media [HB22-1121]
❌ More protections for people who use marijuana while at work [HB22-1152]
❌ No more TV blackouts during contract disputes between networks and cable providers [HB22-1058]
❌ Banning phone use while driving for those 18 and younger [SB22-175]
🚩 BUT there were literally hundreds more! Read up on some of the other most hotly-debated bills of the session 👉 [Denver Post; CPR; CO Sun; Axios; Denver7]
More news you should know
🎸 Is it that time of the year already? Get excited for the Underground Music Showcase, Denver’s largest annual indie music festival. Happening July 29-31, UMS 2022 features more than 150 bands and musicians at venues on South Broadway. Find lineup and ticket info 👉 [UMS]
- ☝️ Of note: This will be the first year of UMS since local music nonprofit Youth on Record bought a stake in the event. YOR’s executive director Jami Duffy envisions a future for UMS that will propel a “musicians’ middle class.” Hear more from Duffy: “The Underground Music Showcase is Fun. But Can It Be a Tool for Social Good?”
🍎 Beloved North High teacher put on leave: Denver North High School teacher Tim Hernández has been placed on administrative after leaving his classroom on Friday to participate in a student walkout. The students were protesting the district for not renewing Hernández’s teaching contract. [Denver Post; CBS4]
- 🔎 Get the full scoop: Hernández spoke with us last week about DPS’s decision to part ways with him. Listen here: “He’s a Beloved Northside Teacher. Why Did DPS Let Him Go?”
⛰️ Coloradans make history on Mt. Everest: Eddie Taylor from Boulder and Thomas Moore from Denver helped make history last week as part of the first group of Black climbers to successfully summit Mount Everest. Congrats! 👏 [Full Circle Everest]
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Denver’s child climate champion 🌎
“Children have a voice that people should listen to.” — Madhvi Chitoor
She’s a Globe-Trotting Climate Justice Warrior. And She’s Only 11
Move over Greta Thunberg, Colorado’s got its own wunderkind climate champion. Her name is Madhvi Chittoor. She’s 11-years-old, lives with her parents in Arvada, and just got the sale of “forever chemicals” banned across Colorado.
Be a better Denverite
🧼 Donate to the Spring Showers Hygiene Drive: The department of Denver Human Services is collecting hygiene items — like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, tampons, soap, toilet paper, and more — to donate to community members in need. There are more than 90 donation drop-off bins across the metro area. Find the one nearest you.
🚮 Organize a litter clean-up event: Looking for a way to clean up around the community? Gather your friends, family members, or coworkers and plan your own litter clean-up event at a nearby trailhead or walking path with nonprofit Clean Trails.
🛠️ Lend a neighborly hand: Extreme Community Makeover is an organization that coordinates volunteer teams to partner with local residents on neighborhood improvement projects. Volunteer for an upcoming event or project.