April 29, 2026 · Education · 8,924 words · 25 speakers · 94 segments
All President accounted for, and I'm going to make one quick change from what I announced on the floor, because I found out new information on 1321. We have the Senate sponsor, Senator Cutter, here. Would you go ahead and tell us what you're going to do?
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Committee. 1321, House Bill 1321, was introduced to establish a more comprehensive policy of school safety, Not simply incident response, but also focusing on mental health and prevention. Comprehensive school safety is nothing without these really important components. After lengthy discussion with all the parties involved, I request that House Bill 1321 be postponed indefinitely. It's my hope that both the Office of School Safety and some of the impacted nonprofit entities can work together to focus on creating this comprehensive school safety plan moving forward. This is really too important of an issue to ignore.
Thank you. I appreciate your work on this. Do we have any comments from the committee? Seeing none, Senator Marchman, you're going to have to make a motion.
Okay. I moved at the sponsor's request to postpone indefinitely House Bill 11-13-21.
That's a proper motion. Ms. Kirsch-Vanley, please take the poll.
Senators Bridges?
Aye.
Bright?
Aye.
Brazil?
Aye. Kip?
Yes.
Rich? Aye. Marchman? Aye.
Mr. Chair?
Aye. And that is postponed indefinitely. I mean, an anonymous vote. Thank you again, Senator Cutter, for your work on this. We appreciate it. We'll keep working on it. Thank you, committee. Next we will hear House Bill 1078 with Senators Marchman and Kirkmeyer, off-campus courses and concurrent enrollment programs. Who would like to begin?
Senator Marchman. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you members for hearing our bill today. HB 261078 is a targeted access bill. It removes a location-based barrier so four-year institutions can offer qualifying concurrent enrollment courses off campus as long as those courses meet all existing concurrent enrollment requirements. I'm going to cover what concurrent enrollment means. It is a state-structured pathway that lets high school students take college courses at no tuition cost. Instead of the families bearing the cost of the course, the class is covered by the College Opportunity Fund through school districts. Those courses must be part of an approved CTE program or a statewide transfer agreement. And the program is built around clear guardrails, like tuition coverage up to the community college rate, COF eligibility and coursework that applies toward a degree or certificate. If a student completes a CE course toward an academic degree, it also transfers to other public Colorado institutions. CTE coursework may not transfer if a student language changes to an associate or a Bachelor of Arts or Science, but this is different from the broader dual enrollment programs that may not follow the state statutory structure Those may be cash funded and those cause families have to pay So one example of that would be the CU Succeed program that is a dual enrollment program where students earn letter grades at CU Denver. I am going to pass now to my co-prime to cover
what problem this bill solves and how it'll be fixed. Senator Kirkmeyer. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So here's the problem. If you are doing concurrent enrollment as a student, trying to get as much opportunity as you can, and you are doing that with a four-year institution, you have to be on campus for that course. You can't do it online. So they have to bus them or figure out a way to get them to campus. And all this bill says is you can do it online. So saving that cost, hopefully opening up even more opportunity, expanding opportunity for more students to do concurrent enrollment and get the education that their post-secondary education that they're hoping to receive at an earlier time. But doing it through concurrent enrollment. So again, if you're doing concurrent enrollment with a community college, you get to do it online. No additional expenditure trying to get to campus. If you're doing it with a four-year institution, you only can do it on campus. And we're just saying let's be fair, let's do it the same across the board and allow for students to do it online and help save those transportation dollars that it's costing them. That's what we're saying. That's what this bill does. I think it's pretty easy peasy and should be something that everybody loves and just vote yes for. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Do we have questions for our bill sponsors? No one, no one. All right, we'll go to testimony. We have a few people signed for questions only. we'll see if we have those questions and I'm going to call up Dr. Marie DeSanctis Dr. Landon Purius and Chancellor Jennifer Sobenet Sobenet I think I said Sobenet I caught myself, I got it right sorry about that, and then Brandon Schaefer we'll start with chancellor sobanay since you're ready to go oh she's remote go ahead
thank you can you hear me yes oh wonderful great well thank you all so much and mr chair and members of the committees i really appreciate having this opportunity to testify in front of you today. As mentioned, my name is Jennifer Sobenet. I serve as the chancellor for the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and I'm speaking on behalf of the university in strong support of House Bill 26-1078, which, as was explained, expands the ability of four-year colleges and universities to offer off-campus concurrent enrollment courses to Colorado high school students. I want to thank our Senate sponsors, of course, Senators Marchman and Kirkmeyer for carrying such an important bill that supports students across Colorado. We are increasing opportunities for Colorado high school students here at UCCS to take concurrent enrollment courses. We currently have 74 concurrent enrollment students this spring semester, but it should be much higher than that. Concurrent enrollment works. It allows high school students to earn college credit accelerate degree completion reduce college costs and expand access to post education Current law creates an unnecessary barrier Four institutions are prohibited from offering concurrent enrollment courses off campus, even when those courses meet all statutory requirements. This barrier disproportionately impacts rural and underserved students. Here in Colorado Springs, I have been asked time and time again by our Pikes Peak Region superintendents to bring CU concurrent enrollment into the high schools because school districts can't bus their students to UCCS to attend these classes on the UCCS campus. This severely limits access that so many high school students, families, and principals want so that they can take CU concurrent enrollment classes. The bill makes a narrow, targeted fix. It authorizes four-year institutions like UCCS to offer concurrent enrollment off-campus while fully maintaining program integrity. Bottom line, the bill expands access, reduces barriers for students, and allows institutions to serve learners where they are without increasing costs or weakening accountability. Thank you so much for the opportunity to testify, and of course, I'm happy to take questions.
Thank you. We'll just hold on and see if we have some after everyone has testified. Next, remotely, I have Brandon Schaefer. You know the drill?
Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the Senate Education Committee. My name is Brandon Schaefer, and I work for the St. Vrain Valley School District. I am here to testify in favor of House Bill 1078. In St. Vrain, we have seen firsthand how concurrent enrollment and early college opportunities change students' lives. When students can begin meaningful college coursework in high school, they gain confidence, save money, and see a clearer pathway to their future. Senate Bill 1078 expands those opportunities by allowing four-year colleges and universities to provide off-campus instruction and concurrent enrollment programs. This gives students more access to courses that align directly with bachelor's degree pathways while they are still in high school. The bill also allows districts and higher education institutions to build innovative models, including accelerated pathways that can significantly reduce the time and cost required to earn a college degree. For many families, this makes higher education more attainable and affordable. Ultimately, Senate bill, I'm sorry, House bill 1078 helps us better align high school, college, and workforce preparation so students graduate with real options and momentum towards their goals. For these reasons, St. Frank Valley School District supports House bill 1078, and I respectfully ask for your support as well. Thank you for your time, and I'm also happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you. We'll move on to Dr. Perius. Is that correct? If you would unmute yourself, correct me if I misspelled or mispronounced your name. And you have three minutes.
Thank you, Chair. You got my last name right, but I'm here for the Q&A and will defer to the Chancellor for her response.
Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. And then we have Dr. DeSanctis here in person.
Thank you, Chair Kolker, members of the Senate Education Committee. My name is Dr Marielena DeSanctis and I serve as the Chancellor of the Colorado Community College System I am here today in a neutral position on House Bill 1078 Our neutrality reflects months of conversations with the University of Colorado regarding its proposal to use its extended studies division known as CU Succeeds to offer concurrent enrollment through what the bill refers to as off courses Because CU Succeeds courses are not accredited in the same manner as traditional academic offerings, our focus has been in ensuring that any expansion remains aligned with the state's concurrent enrollment safeguards and student protections. For the committee's awareness, concurrent enrollment in Colorado has specific statutory meaning. Those standards include the courses must be part of the college's accredited, Title IV eligible or financial aid recognized courses as appearing in their official course catalog. No off-campus or non-credit courses can be considered concurrent enrollment. And off-campus, I think, is being confused. It means non-credit, not physically off-campus. CU succeeds non-credit courses do not qualify as they do not meet this criteria. The courses must qualify under the Colorado Opportunity Fund eligibility requirements and reported as COF-eligible courses. Courses must be taught by an instructor that meets the college's credentialing requirements for all accredited state-funded Title IV eligible courses. Instructors in the CU Succeeds program do not need to meet the college's regular credentialing requirements. The school district can only be charged a maximum tuition rate, which we've covered. Students are required to meet the same prerequisite requirements for the courses offered at the home campus. So if CU's college algebra course requires a certain SAT score or a certain number of years of high school math, the same exact standards must apply in the K-12 setting. Same for all other courses. The prerequisites must be identical for CU's regular students. Concurrent enrollment is tuition-free access to courses. Tuition cannot be charged to students or families, but can be charged to the school district. The credits must be transferable, and formal cooperative agreements with the school district must be documented and submitted to CDHE. With these requirements, and this is what is really important, there is accountability. However, the accountability falls on the school districts. If these requirements are not followed, it is not the university that is penalized, it is the school district that will lose PPR funding. The onus is on the school district to know whether or not these courses meet the requirements. To conclude my remarks, our position recognizes both realities, a desire to expand options for students and the importance of preserving integrity of a program. To be clear, our universities are already offering concurrent enrollment at high school sites. CU is offering concurrent enrollment and about 8,000 students through dual enrollment. We appreciate the sponsors. CU, the Department of Education, and legislative staff are engaging thoughtfully on this issue, and we remain committed to ensuring that this continues to be affordable, rigorous, and student-centered. Thank you.
Thank you. Appreciate your testimony. I do have, for questions only, in case we have other questions available, I'll only ask them to come up if we have questions of them from the Department of Education. And again, as you heard from Dr. Perius from the Colorado Community College System is available for questions too. And Chris Puckett from the University of Colorado System. Do we have questions for those who have testified? And none. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you for your testimony. that is all that I have if the sponsors are come back up is there anyone left in the room who would like to testify sign up testifying their name wasn't called or would like to Testify. Seeing no one, testimony phase is closed. To the amendment phase, sponsors.
Sarah Kirkmeyer. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We've been going back and forth over an amendment, and everyone hasn't been able to see the most recent amendment, so we have agreed that we'll make an amendment on second reading. So we're trying to work with everybody, community colleges, Department of Education, make sure that they all feel comfortable with it, make sure that the funding will be in place. And if it's not, then they don't have to fund it, and they don't have to continue doing any more certifications. All right.
Does the committee have any amendments? And I just want to say that's if you get to second reading. The amendment phase is closed. Come on, some levity here, people. Let's go. Close. You want to close first?
Sarah Marshman. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to highlight the great work that our universities are doing, four-year institutes as well as our community colleges. I know that I've got folks up in Nederland at Nederland Middle High School who are allowed to attend Front Range, but it's a 45-minute drive down a mountain, it would be so great if they would be able to have CU actually come to their school. I also want to highlight the fact about our tribes. We have most of our tribe kids down in the southwest corner go to Cortez High School or I think the other one's Montezuma. And under this bill, those kids are allowed to drive to Fort Lewis College to access education. But under this bill, we could actually have the college come to them, and I just think that could be really transformational for some of those communities. So I just really appreciate everyone who came today. I'm excited to get that amendment on because it does put an end point on. And just really look forward to moving this bill forward. So thank you.
Thank you.
Sarah Kirkmeyer. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just so everyone understands, we did have a pretty extensive stakeholder process. And I would just like to thank my co-prime sponsor. She did a lot of the heavy lifting here while I was over doing stuff with the budget. But the University of Colorado team worked closely with partners through the Colorado Community College System, the Colorado Department of Education and Colorado Mountain College, and, you know, even school districts and things of that nature. So we wanted to ensure that we have consensus on the bill, and I just want to thank all of them for their collaboration and engagement. I also just want to reiterate, this bill fixes the issue of location. It does not change how concurrent enrollment works or who can offer it, but just allows four-year institutions to offer it off campus. It expands access, it reduces barriers, and it saves money. It's a good bill. It'll run, like I said, expand concurrent enrollment opportunities. It'll help with the affordability of post-secondary education just by increasing that ability to obtain more credits prior to enrolling, whether it's a community college or an university. So ask for a yes vote on 26-10-78, and thank you for your time today.
Thank you. Do we have any comments?
Senator Bridges Thank you Mr Chair And I appreciate that the sponsors intend here to offer students in Colorado a greater variety of courses I have deep concerns about this bill being one more in a series of bills that break down the distinction we have between our community colleges and our four years. And I think that over my ten years here in the legislature, we've seen communities say, well, we want to offer some four-year degrees. we've seen four years say we want to offer some certificates and now the four years are moving in on concurrent enrollment which was historically not meant to be a place that they were involved and so I appreciate the amendment is coming I do trust both of you that that will come I have deep concerns on this and even with that amendment frankly this isn't the kind of approach to concurrent enrollment that I think is to the maximum benefit of students in the state and the system of higher education we have. So I have concerns and will continue to pay very close attention. So thank you.
Thank you. Senator Kipp?
Thank you. I know this really isn't the question phase, but is your bill in a good place without the amendment for the community college system, or does their neutrality depend on the amendment that you're not offering today? I'm sorry.
Senator Marshman. The amendment that we're offering is going to help CDE get to a good place, but the community colleges are remaining neutral.
Any other comments, questions? All right, thank you very much, both of you. Senator Kirkmeyer is always good. You know, today you've had some good co-prime sponsors. I like to see that. Thank you. Me too. Thank you. Ms. Chris-Faylor, oh, Senator Marshman, I need your motion.
I will move House Bill 1078 to the Committee on Appropriations with a favorable recommendation.
That's a proper motion. Ms. Chris-Faylor, you take the poll. Senators Bridges?
Pass.
Right? Yes. Yes. Frizzell? Aye. Kip? Yes. Rich? Aye. Bridges? No. Marchman? Aye. Mr. Chair? Aye. That passes 6-1. Off to appropriations. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. Look forward to seeing you all in appropriations. Some of you. Maybe just two of you. Maybe just one. Next, looking for the bill's sponsor on 1143. We'll take a sedentary of five. Thank you Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Go ahead, Senator Bridges. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have not officially been added to this bill, but I plan to be, and I'm not sure why I'm not. So 1299, what we have before you is about getting bureaucracy out of the way of educators. It eliminates outdated, duplicative reporting requirements so educators can spend more time on students, not paperwork. Is this the second bill I've brought before you all that is about streamlining government, reducing overhead, and bringing clarity and honesty to state data requests? I think so. If the state says something is voluntary, it must actually be voluntary, not with a backdoor mandate or strings attached. This modernizes how we do compliance without weakening accountability, from streamlining improvement plans for small systems to centralizing missing children's checks. The bill keeps safeguards in place while reducing inefficiency. It's no cost, which I think is very important in this year. Common sense, no fiscal impact, bipartisan, all the buzzwords. Unanimous in the House, and those guys don't agree on anything. Unanimous on the State Board, again, not common. And this is because reducing unnecessary burden is something we can all agree on. Ask for an aye vote.
Thank you. Do we have questions from our committee? What's left of our committee? Senator Kipp.
I don't, I mean, it lists that you have a bipartisan sponsor, but I don't see him here.
Senator Bridges.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I take no responsibility for anything that comes from the land of Peltonia by the first name of Byron. He is unpredictable and, frankly, unreliable. I didn't choose him as my co-prime on this. and I have regrets. He's stuck. I've got a text from him. He's stuck in another committee. It's that time of year. So he's stuck on confirmations in his committee. Withdrawn. He's fantastic, and I'm just sorry that he couldn't be here with us. Yeah, he's stuck over there.
So do we have any other substantial questions concerning the bill for our bill sponsor? See you none. We'll start the testimony phase. We do have just two people signed up. we have Prateek I'm sorry Prateek Duda and Daniil LaPlatt remotely I always forget is it Duda go ahead
Mr. Chair you can go either way
you say it and then we're going to do my best
I'll do my best to remember. Go ahead. You can begin. Thank you. Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Prateek Dada, and I'm here in my capacity as Vice President of Policy for the Colorado League of Charter Schools to express my strong support for House Bill 1299. Colorado's educators are committed to helping students succeed, yet too often they are buried under a growing web of data reporting requirements, many of which are redundant overlapping or outdated Instead of focusing on teaching and school improvement school leaders spend hours navigating compliance 1299 is the first step to untangle that problem. Whether it strengthens the Education Data Advisory Committee, repeals outdated mandates, or allows smaller districts and charter schools to submit a single unified improvement plan, House Bill 1299 takes practical steps to simplify reporting and reduce unnecessary administrative burden. This bill is not about reducing accountability. It is about using educators' time more wisely. Every hour spent on unnecessary reporting is an hour not spent supporting teachers, improving instruction, or helping students. 1299 is a practical, bipartisan step that respects educators' time and keeps the focus where it belongs, on students. I urge a yes vote on 1299. Thank you.
Thank you. We will hold on for questions. I have Ms. LaPlatt remotely. If you would go ahead and unmute yourself, state your name, you know the drill. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I'm Danielle LaPlatt, Executive Director at the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance. The Alliance represents 146 rural school districts across the state, collectively educating over 135,000 Colorado students. The Alliance is proud to support House Bill 26-1299. As you know, rural school administrators wear every hat. A superintendent in a district of 200 students is also the curriculum director, the HR department, the compliance officer, and sometimes the bus driver. Every unfunded, outdated administrative mandate consumes time and capacity that small school systems simply cannot spare. This bill does something straightforward. It identifies requirements that have outlived their purpose, mandates that made sense at one point but no longer reflect how districts actually operate and removes them. It streamlines duplicative planning obligations so small systems aren't producing multiple documents that cover the same ground. and it shifts administrative functions to the state level where they can be handled more efficiently at scale rather than placing that burden on every local education provider regardless of capacity. The unanimous House vote speaks to how straightforward this legislation is, and we urge your support. Thank you.
Thank you. I appreciate the testimony. Do we have questions for these witnesses? Seeing none, thank you again. Thank you for joining us. is there anyone else signed up to testify who has not been called who would like to testify seeing no one the testimony phase is closed
do the amendment phase Senator Bridges no amendments
does the committee have any amendments seeing none the amendment phase is closed
closing remarks Senator Bridges thank you Mr. Chair you know as I think back on my 10 years in the legislature and the many no just kidding good bill vote yes I wasn't listening, so are you done?
Oh, okay. Does the committee have any questions? Or comments? Excuse me. Seeing none, I need a motion. Senator Bridges.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move House Bill 1299 to the committee of the whole with a favorable recommendation.
That's a proper motion. Ms. Chris Fannery, take the poll, please. Senators Bridges.
Aye.
Bright. Aye.
Frizzell? Aye.
Kip? Yes.
Rich? Aye.
Merchman? Excuse.
Mr. Chair. Aye. And that is Office of Committee of Appropriations. Senator Bridges, or committee, I'm so used to Appropriations, Committee of the Whole. Senator Bridges, do you have a recommendation? Any objection to consent? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and put it on consent. Wait, who objected? No, nobody objected. Okay, good. You can always pull it off. Just for snark. Just for snark, we would have objected. Yes. Got it. I got it. Now we'll bring up, I need a senatorial five. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. And Senate Education is back. We have our sponsors for 1143 here, Senator Wiseman, Senator Benavides, who would like to begin? Senator Benavides. Senator Benavides. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, members. This bill is basically, it's a pretty easy concept that sometimes universities and certain nonprofits need to run background checks on individuals, even for non-employment matters. Let's say they're going to be in an internship program of something where they're not receiving any funds. And so normally they ask for a Social Security number to do that. This provides them to use an alternative of an I-10 individual taxpayer ID number or fingerprints in order to be able to run those checks. This is really helpful for people. We have a lot of people and immigrants that are right now, their situation is somewhat in flux because of different things that have happened. I'll give you the best example because we're talking about universities, is DACA students. You know, some DACA students, they're still there. That program has still been undetermined. There's been no push to do anything about it per se. So that's what this is about. It still allowing people to participate to get educated if they in those programs and to move on in their lives So I think it a great bill and it will be very helpful to a number of people So is that my – Senator Wiseman. Thanks, Mr. Chair. Members, my involvement with what is now 1143 probably started last September. out of the spirit that Senator Benavidez spoke to. Ninety years ago this year, our country created the Social Security system. With that, the Social Security number, which, although it was never intended to arise to this kind of usage, is the closest thing we probably have to a de facto national identifier. A lot of things it's very hard to do without that. A lot of us in this room may take that for granted. But there are many folks in our country and in our state, including trying to participate in high-need professions of the sort that we talk about around here a lot, who really, through no fault of their own, don't have a Social Security number and thus find themselves blocked from various pathways that they would like to pursue in work and life, including some that it is in our interest for people to be able to pursue, like nursing. I believe you'll hear from some witnesses about that. Relative to early pre-introduction drafts, we've narrowed and scoped and defined things down a lot more tightly. As you can see, there were amendments in the House. We have written in usage for the fingerprint background check methodology, where that might be necessary to speak to security type of concerns. concerns we believe that we have addressed any outstanding opposition here. Again, most folks will go through a background check with a social. That's not in this bill. If you are somebody who has not been assigned one by the government and you have an ITIN or, you know, we all have our fingerprints, the bill is a framework by which you can try to proceed, not even across the whole economy, but in a variety of ways that we've defined to get, you know, a volunteer opportunity to get a kind of internship. You'll see we've specifically tried to stay clear of the whole classification debate about what is or isn't employment. This is just to help folks try to further themselves and do things that are socially useful as well and overcome barriers that have been put in their way through inactions by other levels of government. So we hope that you'll support and hope that you'll hear from the witnesses too. Thank you. Do we have questions for our sponsors? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and start our testimony phase. We do have eight people signed up to testify. I'll call them up in two groups. The first group, Kyle Picola. Picola? Picola? Excuse me. Picola? I think I got it right that time. Picola from I remember. And then we have Joshua Stallings. Dr. Mark Longshore and Annie Martinez. Those two are remote and they are not showing up online. So, give it a moment. So, if we'll start here in person. Go ahead.
State your name, who you represent, you have three minutes Of course Good afternoon Chair members of the committee My name is Kyle Picola I am the director of government affairs for MSU Denver and we are here today in support of this bill. MSU Denver is Colorado's statutory modified access university. That means any student with a hope and a dream of going to school can be accepted and be served by MSU Denver. One of the many, many benefits of being a modified open access university is that we serve an extremely diverse student population and a portion of that population is falling into the same quagmire that this bill is trying to fix we have students who are pursuing degrees that cannot get the on-the-drive training needed to either graduate and or then get the license that they need to pursue that career and we feel that this bill will help fix that I understand that for some this may be a squishy issue and a relevant question is are we setting students up for failure after graduation I will address that but first I just want to very briefly provide an overview of the headwinds that some of our students are facing right now. There effectively hasn't been any new DACA applications since 2017. Many of our students are aging out of the DACA program, and there doesn't seem to be a federal solution coming. However, our students are extremely astute. They are smart, and they're very active in their planning for their careers. So many of them are in the process of getting a social security number. Many of them are pursuing career opportunities so that later they can become a licensed worker. And the reason we know that is because our advisors are very hands-on with these students. And lastly, I'll just end with, and as was mentioned, so many of these careers are careers that we need in Colorado. They are directly aligned with the Colorado talent pipeline and something that we should always seek to fill and fix. So please vote yes on this bill and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you. Just hold on. We'll see if we do have questions. I'm not sure who. Oh, Dr. Longshore, will you please unmute yourself? State your name, who you represent, and you have three minutes.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am Mark Longshore, a registered nurse and the executive director of the Colorado Nurses Association. We ask you to vote yes on House Bill 26-1143, removing one barrier to education and opportunity for all people in Colorado. I've spent over half of my nursing career in nursing education and have recently had conversations with a number of other educators, both nursing and other health-related fields, and there is much agreement that passing 1143 is the right thing to support nursing and other students. Nursing education is filled with background checks. At the community college program at which I was the director, a background check was needed to get into the program. Students attending clinical at one particular clinical site had to do a second background check due to that facility's rules. And more recent guidelines require an FBI fingerprint background check before any contact with children in the behavioral health setting. So that's up to three background checks just to complete their nursing education. Then, of course, an additional fingerprint background check to get that multi-state license. We aren't here to talk about eliminating any of these background checks. Nursing has consistently been voted the most trusted profession, and nursing schools want to maintain safe nursing practice, beginning with that focus on safety, not status, when looking at admissions. Nursing school deans and directors have shared for years stories of well-qualified students who are barred from some experiences due to the lack of a social security number. But this also goes beyond nursing school admissions. 1143 also impacts internships and volunteer activities. I worked with a nurse whose spouse was undocumented. That status meant he could not volunteer at his own child's school because he lacked a social security number. There was no safety issue, just a numbers issue. Allowing a background check using an ITIN would identify that individual as someone able to help with school activities and what school does not want more parental involvement. I had a student in my nursing program who was going to school with a primary goal of being able to provide safe nursing care to her own child who had chronic debilitating medical problems. I've seen a number of individuals go through CNA nurse aide training with the intention of being able to care for aging parents and grandparents. Currently, these individuals would be blocked from being able to provide safe care to their own families if they lack a Social Security number, with those family members possibly ending up institution-wise earlier than necessary. Stories aside, we need health care workers. While CNA is focused on nurses, we also know there aren't enough certified nurse aides available. There aren't enough physicians available. There aren't enough rural health workers in general. So why would we want to limit access to quality education because someone does not have a social security number? Take down the barrier. Vote yes on House Bill 26-1143. Thank you.
Thank you. And I called Josh Stallings, excuse me, and online Annie Martinez, but I don't know if anybody else, if they showed up. So, all right. Do we have questions for this panel? Seeing none, thank you both for coming to testify. I appreciate it. Next, I have Karina Hernandez, Amanda Bent, Josh Bogdanovitz, and Melina Taya. and correct me if i mispronounced your name i apologize who'd like to go first okay i'll just call your name carina hernandez go ahead
good afternoon chair and members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today my name is carina and i'm reading this testimony on behalf of b who would like to need anonymous due to concerns about their safety. I support House Bill 1143. This is a piece of my story and why this bill matters for the benefit of our community. My mom and dad never let us worry about anything growing up and created a safe and happy childhood. Dad would come home in the middle of his day, sometimes on a tractor, and deliver us lunch. Mom left us her phone and we would call her at work to check when she was coming back. While the little truths started to slowly present themselves about the hardships of life, there was never anything to worry about. When I learned what it meant, my parents were in the United States undocumented, and I learned what fear and uncertainty was. For the first time, I feared every day of my dad not coming home or my mom not answering the phone. After years, that worry is still ever-present, now greater than previous years. Currently, highly capable and trained individuals in health care who have the knowledge to make a difference in our workforce, are being held back due to a choice by organizations to use background checks requiring a social security number when there is a legal and acceptable alternative use of an ITIN number or even fingerprinting. Undocumented immigrants are a valuable part of our community, and like my family, there is a fear in doing everyday activities. Having these trained and educated individuals and limiting their ability to apply for clinical placements internships etc is a loss of intellectual workforce In a time where our healthcare is drastically in need of trained professionals it is important to not further their gap and instead increase our personnel by allowing those without Social Security numbers and with U health care training to contribute their needed skills with a standardized background check, accepting fingerprints, or iTunes. Please support House Bill 1143. Thank you for your time and
consideration. Thank you. Thank you for presenting that testimony. Next, I have Josh. If you'd state your last name because maybe I mispronounced it. I don't want to do it again. It's Bogdanovich. Thank you. Okay, thank you. And go ahead.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. My name is Josh Bogdanovich and I am reading this testimony on behalf of B, who would like to remain anonymous due to concerns for their safety. My name is B and I am a licensed social worker, a bilingual therapist, and an immigrant. And I am here to support HB 1143. I believe in a state where individuals are evaluated by their skills, effort, and commitment, not by a nine-digit number. I've done everything that has been required of me to prepare for my profession. I completed many years of higher education, internships, and required trainings. I am licensed, qualified, and actively working toward a career in serving youth and families, especially those who are a part of communities that have been historically overburdened by inequitable systems. At the same time, Colorado is facing a serious shortage in health care and mental health services. Programs are attempting to recruit talented students, agencies are trying to hire skilled providers, and our communities are asking for and in need of more services. Yet, at multiple points in my academic and professional career, I have been told that I cannot move forward in certain educational and clinical opportunities. This isn't because I failed a background check and not because I pose a safety risk, but simply because I do not have a social security number. And this is more than an individual barrier. It's an active structural barrier in the workforce pipeline. We are training people, investing public dollars into education, and then limiting qualified candidates right at the final gate. This doesn't make Colorado safer. It makes our system smaller, more strained, and less responsive. Equity means our system should measure safety and competence, not immigration status. My current organization chose to work with me, to treat me as a professional rather than an inconvenience. This experience has shown me what is possible, but access to education and work should not depend on finding an exception. Passing state legislation to require that alternative forms of identification be accepted during background checks for non-employment educational opportunities like clinical practices is a practical and reasonable solution. It preserves safety while removing a policy barrier that is actively preventing our workforce from growing. Colorado cannot afford to turn away people who are trained, bilingual, culturally responsive, and ready to serve. So I urge you to vote yes on HB 1143. Thank you all so much for your time and consideration.
Thank you. Again, thank you for presenting that testimony. Next, I have Amanda Bent.
thank you mr. chair madam chair madam vice chair and members of the committee um i appreciate the opportunity will you uh pull your microphone closer and is that green light on in front it is okay go ahead yeah i just need to work the mic a little better okay i am amanda bent and my organization um spring institute for intercultural learning did submit written testimony in support of this bill, and now I'm reading on behalf of M, who wishes to remain anonymous for safety reasons This is M testimony Earlier this year I was offered a significant career opportunity As a recent university graduate with years of internships certifications and leadership development experiences I felt prepared and excited to take the next step in my professional journey. However, I lost that opportunity before I could even begin because I was unable to pass a background check due to not having a social security number. This experience was deeply discouraging. I had demonstrated my commitment through education and professional training. I followed every step I was told would help me succeed. Yet I was disqualified, not because of my character, qualifications, or work ethic, but because of a system that continues to create barriers for undocumented professionals, even in situations where such requirements are not legally necessary. While federal and state agencies can conduct background checks without requiring a Social Security number, many private screening processes still rely on it, creating unnecessary obstacles that have little to do with safety or competency. The experience took a significant emotional toll. After years of sacrifice, both personally and alongside my family, it felt as though the door I had spent so much time working toward was closed due to circumstances beyond my control. It forced me to reflect on my future and question whether hard work alone would ever be enough. At the same time, the experience strengthened my sense of purpose. This challenge is not unique to me. Many talented and driven professionals face similar barriers, despite having the skills, education, and determination to contribute meaningfully to their industries and communities. Systems that evaluate individuals should focus on integrity, capability, and merit, not administrative limitations that fail to reflect someone's true qualifications. Opportunities should be defined by potential and effort, not restricted by paperwork that prevents capable individuals from contributing to our workforce and economy. Please vote yes on HB 1143. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Thank you. Appreciate that. And finally, Ms. Taya, is that correct? Go ahead and you may begin.
Thank you, Chair, members of the committee, for this opportunity to present to you today. My name is Melina Taya and I'm from Colorado Center Law and Policy and I am reading this testimony on behalf of S, who would like to remain anonymous due to concerns about their safety. As a higher education staff member that works closely with students, I value equitable, informed access to educational and career-based opportunities. Access to opportunities can boost people's chances of improving their quality of life and socioeconomic status. As a society, we place a lot of emphasis on making good career choices to earn a living wage in order to support our families, our lives, and our futures. As a child of immigrants, I felt this immense academic pressure to pick the right path to a secure future, but securing a well-paying job that is enjoyable takes more than academics. I obtained my degrees in STEM, but it was a path that I was always a little unsure about pursuing. While in grad school, I was anxious, miserable, and constantly unsure of myself. I wish I had explored more in college and tried other things. Out of feelings of desperation, I started researching non-traditional career paths in STEM, and I started to get involved in other groups. I was able to transition to a career in education because I had experience working as a teaching assistant, and I identified that while I didn't like lecturing, I really enjoyed working with students one-on-one. I also did summer science workshops with middle school and high school students. These experiences allowed me to change my path and find something that I really enjoy doing. Now I work closely with students to ensure they are informed and prepared to tackle all the challenges that college can throw their way When you look at a job description the qualifications aren just asking for an educational degree or certain classes Jobs require knowledge and experience. Without opportunities to explore, to complete an internship, or to gain valuable work experience, I would not have been able to get a job or change my career path. Students need more than a degree to get a job. They need experience and training. I've worked with many students who pursue health care careers because they want to help people. Unfortunately, qualified, hardworking students are being held back from filling much-needed healthcare positions because they lack a social security number to complete a background check. Students are unable to finish clinical healthcare programs or pursue volunteer internships that require a background check. Students should have the same opportunities as I did to experiment or get valuable learning opportunities, such as becoming a teaching assistant. Access is important to ensure that undocumented students can access career opportunities that grant them a living wage in order to support our lives, our families, and our futures. We need to pass a state law to allow undocumented students without a social security number to compete. Background checks for non-employment educational opportunities like clinical education programs. Removing social security barriers opens pathways for undocumented Coloradans to study, work, and contribute fully to our economy as much-needed industries. Please vote yes on this bill.
Thank you. Thank you. And since you all read testimony, are you available to answer questions? in case we have any.
Yes.
Do we have questions at all? Thank you all. Appreciate you coming in and presenting those testimonies. We did, Josh Stallings did come in. Josh, if you'd come up, please. We have it all to yourself. Just right there, yep. Should turn green. State your name, who you represent, and you have three minutes.
All right. Mr. Chair, members of the committee, my name is Josh Stallings. I represent Juntos Community, and I'm here to testify on behalf of House Bill 1143. Just want to first say that y'all do a great job of being efficient. Apologies for being tardy. I'm really impressed. Over the last 13 years, our state has gotten much better at supporting young undocumented people who are commonly referred to as dreamers, especially those with a temporary status called DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. And as Kyle had previously mentioned, because of legal challenges of that program and just narrow requirements from the very beginning, there's fewer and fewer DACA recipients in our universities and higher education institutions today, and none left in our K-12 system. So what that means is that we have a growing population of young students in Colorado and adult learners as well that don't have a work permit. And even that being said, there is a pathway for these brave and talented individuals to have a career and income through entrepreneurship and through independent contracting. But we need to clear this background check barrier that we're talking about today so that these students can gain their education, experience, have an income, and share their contributions with our state. And I think this is something that feels even more pressing right now because of the big three in our K-12 system that I would imagine you all are familiar with because high quality real world work based learning and in demand industry credentials are things that often require background checks of our students, especially when they're wanting to enter healthcare professions or even careers in the trades. And so addressing this barrier by allowing students to complete a background check with an I-10 or a fingerprint is a common sense solution that maintains security while ensuring that unnecessary barriers don't discriminate against students that don't have a Social Security number. And as we all know, Cardinal Bureau of Investigation and FBI systems don't require a Social Security number because criminal history records are based off of one's name and fingerprints. And while many private background checks, sorry, and many private background checks can utilize an I-10 instead of a Social Security number too. And I just want to say that we're not alone in this effort. We've had over 1,300 Coloradans sign a petition saying that they support this bill and this effort, and we've had 46 organizations sign on alongside Juntos supporting this effort. And so I ask for your support today to please vote yes on House Bill 1143.
Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate your testimony coming in. Any questions for our witness? Seeing none, thank you so much. Is there anyone left in the room who would like to testify but who has not been called? To no one else, the testimony phase is closed. To the amendment phase, senators, do we have any amendments? No amendments from our sponsors? Do we have amendments from the committee? Seeing none, the amendment phase is closed. To final comments, Senator Wiseman.
Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee, for listening. I'll say just a few things in closing. Just now we handed out some written testimonials to keep the time here brief but maybe committee folks could take a look and hear more in a firsthand way Second, I was thinking back to a bit of personal history I discovered only recently. My grandfather, my dad's dad, long since passed, came to this country when he was a boy of about six years old. He arrived with older relatives basically speaking no English. The census records reflect that the family's language of common use was Yiddish. He was one of a number of folks of Eastern European Jewish ancestry who fled at the time of the pogroms. I didn't realize until a lot later in life, looking through some records that my mom, the family genealogian, had pulled together. my grandfather actually did not file his petition for citizenship until 1932. Never talked about that as a family growing up. I actually don't really know the why of it. But between coming here as a boy and that petition, which was ultimately granted, he learned English, he went to high school, he went to college, was the only one of six siblings who ever had the chance to do so, then went on to earn a medical degree. This is all before social security numbers much less what they come to mean Later in life he was briefly a captain in the Army Medical Corps and served stateside during World War II after which he ran a family practice specializing in cardiopulmonary medicine for decades, retired in 1982 when I was five years old. Point is, at that point in our country, notwithstanding it took him a while to adjust his status. He was able to hustle. My father once referred to him as a pistol for his work ethic, and really make something of himself and contribute to his community and to his country. And that's what we want for everybody 100 years ago and now, I think, in this country. That is the American way. That is the American dream. And laws and practices and nine-digit numbers did not stand in the way of my grandfather or anybody like him. But they stand in the way of people now, and you've heard a few of those stories. The reality is, I think, in all of our districts, we represent families of mixed status and people who face struggles based on numbers that maybe some of us don't have to think about. My colleague from Adams County and I, because of the communities that we live in and represent, probably have more such families in our districts than almost anybody else in the Colorado legislature So I think about that vis everything that I do down here It why I committed right away to be part of this effort last fall even knowing the details at that time were TBD. We've done a lot of work to bring the bill to this point. We have made provisions for concerns about the safety of certain populations. You'll see that in the bill. I think it says something on an issue like this that there was no opposition here today. So I hope the committee will support. Thank you.
Do we have any final comments? She hasn't done. Any others? Thank you very much. Senator Marshall, where are you?
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for bringing this bill, colleagues. I move House Bill 1143 to the Committee of the Whole.
That's a proper motion. Ms. Chris-Faylor, you take the poll, please.
Senators Bridges? Aye.
Bright? No.
Frizzell? No.
Kip? Yes.
Rich? No.
Marchman? Aye.
Mr. Chair? Aye, and that passes 4-3. Thank you very much for coming in. Thank you for the testimony, both written and those that have come in. Senate Education Committee is adjourned.