West Slope legislators including Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie held a bipartisan town hall last week via Zoom. The hour and half long meeting included a run down on legislative agendas from five Senators and seven Representatives.
Senator Dylan Roberts said the update meeting comes just after the mid-way point for the state legislative session that began in January.
Speaker of the House, Julie McCluskie said over 400 bills are currently making their way through the legislature ranging from education to the reintroduction of wolves on the Western Slope. She said both houses are working hard on legislation including affordable housing, accessible healthcare, water issues and wildfire concerns.
The first latina elected to represent the Western Slope -House District 57 Representative Elizabeth Velasco, talked about a joint effort with Senator Perry Will, representing Senate District 5 on the proposed mineral withdrawal on the Continental Divide. Velasoc is also working on solutions to the continued problems on I-70 in the Glenwood Canyon. She said delays and shutdowns of the major East-West route affect the local economy including local responders.
While there were plenty of opportunities for debate amongst the legislators on upcoming bills, for the most part the town hall kept a bipartisan approach. One controversial subject did come up during the question and answer period related to the plethora of gun bills promoted by Democrats.
Representative Matt Soper, from Delta, a staunch supporter of gun rights walked a careful line on the heated topic.
