This week I was proud to have the first of my own bills pass the House. HB 11-1203 would extend the scope of the criminal record sealing law to “private custodians” of criminal records. Having a criminal record makes it harder to get a job, rent an apartment or get credit. Once a judge orders a record sealed, private companies that sell that information would now have to seal their records as well. The bill passed the House unanimously, and now moves on to the Senate.

Unfortunately we lost a bill that addressed one of my most important goals – creating jobs in Colorado. I co-sponsored HB 11-1129 with Representative Dan Pabon. The bill would have given certain preferences to Colorado-based, U.S. and veteran-owned businesses when the state government contracts services from private companies and the costs are roughly equal. Colorado tax dollars are funding these projects, so Colorado citizens should be the first to get the jobs that they create. A majority is needed to pass a bill out of committee but the vote was split along party lines, which prevented HB 11-1129 from going on.