May 4, 2026 · Education · 9,709 words · 14 speakers · 134 segments
Senate education will come to order. Ms. Kurtz-Fillan, will you please take the roll?
Senator Zimobili? Here.
Bridges? Yep.
Wright? Here.
Rizal? Present.
Kip? Here.
Rich? Here.
Madam Chair?
Here. And we're going to go a little out of order to hear from our committee participants on House Bill 1317, since you guys are both here, if that's okay. Thank you. And we'll give our sponsors a second to get situated because I sprung this on them.
Line by line. Why is this? These are, did something happen?
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. All right. Who would like to kick us off?
You want me to?
No, I can't.
I apologize. I was not quite.
It's okay.
There's no rush, Senator Frizzell. This was me, not you. Thank you. So committee members, thank you so much for your time today. We're here to learn about House Bill 26, 13, 17. And I'm going to hearken back to last year. the governor issued an executive order, that was Executive Order 25-006, which essentially tasked the governor's office staff to develop a report on the future of post-secondary talent development in collaboration with and including feedback from leaders in CDHE, CDLE, OEDIT, DORA, CDE, CTE, and the Colorado Community College System. And so this was a really collaborative effort. In addition, they engaged with other state agencies, institutions of higher ed, local workforce centers, and external workforce and education intermediaries. So basically, this came to be because we have created, unintentionally, all of these different workforce development silos in all these different departments. And they don't talk to one another. They have, you know, there's boards and commissions and grant programs and plans and all of these different programs. and when it is that kind of fragmented, it kind of creates this situation where you have all these competing priorities that really dilute the impact of each and every one of the programs. Because workforce development is incredibly important in the state of Colorado And that's something that's been acknowledged by the legislature every year since I've been here and probably long before that. It's in response to our business community. It's in response to our education system. And so we have responded, and we've done a lot of good work. But we've created all these different silos that live in all these different departments. and it's not efficient. And that something that the governor office really wanted to understand They wanted to get their arms around what exactly does this look like How many different programs are there? Where are they located? Who are they serving? And that is what they did. And so they came back in December with a report, and I suspect that my co-prime sponsor saw some of the same charts and diagrams that I did, which was frightful, to put it mildly, how very, very disorganized we are as a state trying to do this really good work. So with that came this bill and some other things that will be happening, and I'll turn it over to my good co-prime to describe exactly what this bill does, and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. Thank you, Senator Frizzell. Senator Ridges.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Colorado Paradox. Folks on this committee are very familiar with the Colorado Paradox. We have more folks in this state per capita with advanced degrees, a college degree or more. And yet at the same time, we do a pretty substandard job of educating the workforce that grows up here. We have one of the highest dropout rates in K-12. And guess what? Only about a third of Colorado high school graduates, so even if you did graduate from the class of 2016, went on to earn a post-secondary credential in the six years after graduation. A third. Do you know how many jobs in Colorado require some kind of education beyond high school? Well, three-quarters of all jobs in the state in the next few years will require some kind of post-secondary education. So we look at this Colorado paradox. We look at this gap. And then we look at how are we trying to address it here in the state. Over the last 10 years, I have run so many bills putting workforce development programs into place, and I have put them into places across this entire state government. There has been very little consistency with where these programs live. And so what happens is for people who would like to get that advanced degree, people who want to go get that certificate, who want to go back to school, who want to earn while they learn in an apprenticeship program, people who want to engage with the possibilities that our economy offers have no idea where to start. And that confusion leads to fewer people in this state that have the qualifications they need to earn a good life, which means fewer companies in this state that have the workforce that they need to continue creating our strong economy here in Colorado. And so this bill right here is about streamlining. My colleague mentioned silos. I think she said silos at least five. I think it was probably more. This is about breaking down those silos, and it's about doing it in a way that is responsible. This bill could have been, we're breaking down the silos, we're putting these things together, here's the plan. That's not what this bill is. This bill is, let's make a plan for that plan. Let's create a coherent, structural, systemic approach that makes sense, and let's take our time in doing it. Let's make sure the right people are in the room to make those decisions. I think where we have ended up in this bill puts the right people in the room, gives them the right topics to converse about, and will, on the other end, lead to a solution to the fragmentation that we have here in the state for those post opportunities More than 20 divisions offices and units across seven state entities deliver 110 programs and initiatives in the system. If you think that's confusing for us as we're writing bills trying to support workforce development in Colorado, imagine what that's like if you are just an average person trying to get that education to get a good job here in the state. Ask for an aye vote on this bill.
Thank you, Senator Bridges. Senator Kipp?
Thank you. Yeah, I do have a question. I believe I heard this bill referenced during the State of the State address on, like, what was that, day two of the session? Is that correct? And then this is, like, day 111 of the session, and I'm just wondering where the bill's been this last 109 days and why we're doing it at the last minute.
Senator Bridges.
Thank you, Madam Chair. It's been in the oven. This bill has been baking. There have been people working extremely hard on this bill to make sure that when it was introduced, it was introduced in as clean a version as possible. If you flip through here, you will see very few of those highlights that represent amendments from the House. I think the work that was done prior to introduction ensured that when it was introduced, the folks that had concerns, and there were many, and a big part of why I'm on this bill is to make sure that one group in particular felt confident that their concerns would be heard, if not in the first chamber, at least the second, but they have not reached out to me and last I heard, they're good. So I'm very happy that all of that work was done. And again, this is just the plan for the plan. This is not the plan itself. This doesn't do the work. This creates the structures. this creates the structure that will create the plan. Is that it? Very good. Senator...
Senator Amabile. Thank you, Madam Chair. So I also heard about this bill a long time ago, and I think at the time that I heard about it, it was going to... the Department of Higher Ed was going to get folded into the Department of Labor. And I guess that plan has changed, which seems good to me, but I do worry a little bit that the plan to make a plan already has a foregone conclusion. I wonder if you think that, too.
Senator Bridges. Thank you, Madam Chair. The foregone conclusion is that we have to make this easier for the people in Colorado to understand and approach. That's the foregone, that's the only foregone conclusion, that we need a solution for people who want to get that certificate, who want to get that post-secondary education. We need a solution for the employers who are looking at who they engage with in order to make sure that we are creating the workforce that they need. There is no foregone conclusion as to which entity eats which or even what pieces of that entity will be on the table. They must consider and include recommendations on how certain divisions can transfer in, But the may, I think, in this does a lot of work, and I'm happy to give you this sort of summary doc of what it is exactly that the group must include recommendations on. Those recommendations, I think, can take a lot of different forms. So I think even though they must include recommendations on these, it's not necessary that what that recommendation will be is not a foregone conclusion. So, again, we're setting up the structure to make sure that conversation happens. the only foregone conclusion is that having 20 divisions offices and units across seven state entities deliver 110 programs and initiatives in the system is not good for the people of Colorado and we should streamline some of that and break down some of those silos.
Senator Frizzell. Thank you. Thank you for the question, Senator, and thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to clarify. So one thing that this bill does is it makes conforming amendments to Title 23 and establishes the Department of Higher Ed and Workforce Development. So it does do that by July 1, 2028. That's a pretty long ramp, if you will. But that was really based on, this concept was based on the study that was done. and in coordination with all of these entities between, I don't know, May and December, but it involved CDHE, the Department of Labor and Employment, Oedit, DORA, CDE, so all those people that I named at the beginning along with various institutions of higher ed, workforce centers, all those folks were involved with this. And this was kind of where they landed was that it's really important to reimagine what the Department of Higher Ed looks like. And this is one of the reasons why I'm on this bill, because I'm all for government efficiency. And what we are doing right now is incredibly inefficient and redundant. And I think that this is a really important effort to bring together all these desperate programs into a single agency that's really mission-driven by education, training, and providing support to Coloradans. So I think that we've got to do something. and, you know, I want to do housing next because we have a similar issue with all of our 20 gajillion affordable housing programs that we've launched over time because they are redundant. And it gets to the point where citizens and businesses and educators, they don't know where to go because it's just not centralized and easy to access. So this is, if we're going to do workforce development, let's do workforce development and make it, let's make it relevant to the citizens of this state.
Senator Amabile. Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't disagree that it's, we do a lot of, you know, we do have a lot of issues where we have a million programs and we don't, we're not strategic. And my only concern, and it's not to say I wouldn't vote for the bill, but is that we lose at least part of what higher education is about, which isn't workforce development. There is, higher ed has a higher purpose than just making sure that people can get jobs. And it is about knowledge and about learning how to learn. It's about expanding your mind. It's about being exposed to new ideas. There's a reason why people who have a higher ed degree are better able to work, and it's not because they learned how to put a cog into a machine, it is because they learned how to think. And so that, I know when I first heard about this bill, that worried me about it, that We were going to turn higher ed into a machine cranking out the next skill set that comes along rather than this higher purpose. And so I'm perfectly fine with the bill, but that is my concern, and that's why I asked the question and why I'm glad it's not already in the Department of Labor, because to me that's a real misfit.
Senator Bridges. Thank you, Madam Chair. This does create the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development. And to me, that is something I've talked about for a couple of years. And I think that there are some folks, maybe the governor included, who wanted this to be like the Department of Opportunity or something like that, or that would even just collapse it to the Department of Workforce Development and take out, I think, what it is that you very rightly pointed out, which is there are benefits to higher education and certain programs within higher education that go beyond simply the preparation it gives you to be a good employee at some business, right? And I think as Americans, we don't like to talk about class. We like to pretend like class doesn't exist. It does. It is a real thing. And I think a four-year degree is one of the most direct and straightforward ways for people to jump class. And it doesn't necessarily mean a jump in income, but I think that that is, you know, there are folks with a four-year degree that have jumped class and still have less income than a lot of folks out there that have pursued workforce opportunities in different ways. I also think that we as a culture have emphasized the four-year degree as the only way to a successful life. And we, I think, in many ways have convinced an entire generation of young people that they should sacrifice the entire rest of their lives under a mountain of debt in order to get that four-year degree. And so part of why I'm on this bill is to make sure that there are folks that consider those apprenticeship programs, those earning while you learn programs, on equal footing with those four-year degrees. That that is just as viable a path and an option if people want to pursue that in their lives. and I think having them in these separate areas sort of emphasizes this, I think, false distinction between these two life paths, right? That one is better than the other. And I think that is exactly the sort of bias that putting all of this into one department, I think, can fight against. I think this increases the number of folks who will pursue those apprenticeship program opportunities It increases the number of folks who will consider a four-year degree that maybe were thinking of an apprenticeship program instead. I think it gets everyone in the same line, looking at the same different opportunities, and then seeing what matches best for them. It's why I ran the Return on Investment Report bill, the bill that created the Return on Investment Report for higher education in my second year in the legislature, so that folks would have the data that they needed to say, is the program at this school going to give me the same life opportunities as a different program at a different school? Give the folks that data. I think that we need to trust that people will make good decisions, but we need to also make it easy for them to know what those decisions are for them to make. I have comments and questions but I wait until later because I have a bill up So we going to go ahead and pull up the witnesses and Senator Kipp is going to take over the chairing of the meeting
Do you have an order that you would like witnesses in? All the witnesses have signed up, are in support, which means, you know, don't feel like you have to... Opposition first. Okay, opposition first. Is there anybody else in the room who would like to testify in opposition or amend to the bill who is not signed up and would like to testify? Seeing none, the amendment of opposition phase of the witness testimony is done. Let us bring up Julie Beggs, Debbie Brown, Andy Tran, and J.B. Holston. And we are doing two-minute testimony today. We are at the end of session, and we ran along. Thanks for hanging in there with us all day. We're going to go from my left to my right. Oh, it looks like we have another spot available. Not everybody is here. How about we bring up Richard Mays as well? Okay, come on up. You get the lucky seat. We're going to go from my left to my right. Everybody gets two minutes. Please introduce yourself. When you have two minutes, the little lights there will indicate when the yellow light goes on. You have 30 seconds. When the red light goes on, please stop talking or wrap it up in about three seconds. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the committee. My name is Julie Begg, and I serve as the Vice President of Economic Mobility and...
You need to turn on the mic. So it's a little gray button. Oh, no, this is a different mic. I don't know how to work this one.
Use the middle mic.
Yeah.
I could use my projection.
Now we can't hear you. No, you can't because people are online and can't hear you still. So please go ahead. Good. Take that away. Okay, perfect. I'll start over.
So my name is Julie Beggs, and I serve as the Vice President of Economic Mobility and Workforce Innovation at Arapahoe Community College, part of the Colorado Community College system, made up of 13 colleges serving more than 130,000 students annually, from high school concurrent enrollment through adult learners pursuing certificates, associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, and workforce training. I am here today in support of House Bill 1317. Every day my work focuses on helping learners connect education to economic mobility. What I can tell you is this, students do not experience their lives in silos and they should not have to navigate siloed systems in order to succeed. Many of our learners are balancing jobs, parenting, transportation challenges, and the rising cost of living while trying to complete school. Students across our colleges consequently tell us they are concerned about basic needs like housing, food, and financial sustainability while pursuing their education. Because of that reality, time matters, clarity matters, and connection matters. Students need to know that the time and money they invest in education will lead to real opportunity. They need clear career paths before they graduate, strong advising and navigation support, direct connections to employers, apprenticeships, and other paid work-based learning. when those are aligned students can move more effectively from learning to earning this what this is why this bill is important for our learners this is not about agency structure it about whether Colorado makes it easier or harder to build a better future On behalf of the Arapahoe Community College and the Colorado Community System I respectfully ask for your support of House Bill 1317. Thank you for your time.
Thank you very much. And I believe next up we have Mr. Mays. Awesome.
Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the committee. My name is Richard Mays, and I am the Executive Director of Ednium, the Alumni Collective. Through direct programming, research, and policy action, we seek to ensure public school alumni 18 to 35 are full participants in Colorado's democracy and economy. Since our founding in 2020, we have held one-on-one and focus group conversations with thousands of alumni regarding their education and workforce experiences. Through these conversations, we have learned that young people lack formal, structured pathways to explore careers, build professional networks, and successfully navigate their professional journeys with the ultimate goal of achieving long-term agency and financial stability. This gap is especially significant given that not all alumni pursue a post-secondary education. Many take gap years or enter the workforce directly after K-12, often with limited access to coaching, professional guidance, or resources when they later seek to upskill, reskill, or earn additional credentials. And our alumni are told if they do everything right, graduate high school, go to college, earn a credential, take on internships, engage in networking, they would be successful. One alumni conversation stood out to me. They shared, I was told that if I did everything I needed to do, I would have the job and life I wanted. Even with support and a degree, I don't know what I want in my career. I barely pay bills with a bartending job, paying back student loans, all while living at home. It feels like even with the support I had in college, I am not where I need to be. I am still behind. These systems are unnecessarily complex, and this is why I'm testifying in support of House Bill 1317. The status quo of how our systems operate no longer work for our learners. Our K-12 system has a vision to ensure every learner leaves high school with college credit, an industry credential, or a meaningful work-based learning experience. It is time that our post-secondary and workforce systems align to meet the moment. Colorado has an opportunity to continue our investment in homegrown talent. I urge you to support House Bill 1317 so our young people can navigate an aligned system with a clear vision, high-quality data to realize their goals for economic prosperity. Thank you.
Thank you. Executive Director Holstein. How's that? Now we can hear you. Thank you.
Good afternoon. Thank you, Senator Kipp. Thank you, Senators. My name is J.B. Holston. I'm the Executive Director of the Department of Higher Education. I'm here today to support House Bill 26-13-17. The relationship between education and work is changing more rapidly than ever. The half-life of skills is now down to about two and a half years. It's one-third of what it was just a few years ago. new technologies are reducing that dramatically the need for lifelong upskilling coupled with post-covid remote and hybrid learning has created an explosion in post-secondary options there are now 1.8 million certificates available in america which is up 80 percent in three years at the same time only a third of those certificates have value as measured by changing the career arc for those who pursue them in colorado as you've heard we have 110 state programs designed to help advance our workforce's education and skill building spread across a multiplicity of agencies and interfaces. Meanwhile, our traditional higher ed institutions are facing an enrollment hill with a population of high school graduates forecast to decline in the state by 12 by 2041 Our radins and the employers trying to find them are confused We been an innovator in education and the economy It time to take the next step Nine in 10 Coloradans agree that post-high school education and training should connect people to employment. 71% of Coloradans support a new department that makes it easier to access high-quality education and job training programs. I was in Alamosa last week meeting with Adams State, Trinidad Community College, the largest health employer in the Valley, and a range of workforce advocates and practitioners who are doing this collective hard work on the ground locally all support this bill i've talked with a number of my counterparts in states across the u.s in recent weeks about this bill and they've consistently said they see this as a model all states will pursue many have also observed that this bill will strengthen colorado's ability to assist our traditional higher education institutions as they navigate through a volatile and uncertain future to deliver on the mission that senator amabile so eloquently expressed this is a critical step to develop consensus on a detailed plan to organize our efforts to be the leader in the nation, and I ask for your support for this bill.
Good timing. Thank you. Mr. Tran, I believe you are up next.
Hello. Do I press the button?
We can hear you. Yeah, the mic is still on.
Sounds good. All right. Good afternoon. My name is Andy Tran, and I'm a CareerWise apprentice alum, a current college student at the University of Colorado Denver, and now an employee at CareerWise USA. Thank you for our opportunity to talk today. At 17 years old, before I even graduated high school, I was sitting in professional meetings with people twice my age, trying to keep up and realizing I actually could. I was contributing to real projects, getting real experiences, and earning a wage, the opportunity to change the direction of my life. CareerRise connected me with Pinnacle Assurance, where I spent three years working in technology. During that time, I worked on early AI and emerging technology projects, learning in real time and being trusted to contribute. That experience taught me more than just technical skills. It taught me how to learn quickly, adapt, and carry myself in a professional environment. It gave me confidence in my ability to step into a new space and figure things out. And what made the biggest difference was I was able to do school and work at the same time. What I learned in the classroom directly showed up at my work, and what I experienced at work made my education more real and meaningful. They reinforced each other. I did not come from a family with connections to the industry, and I didn't have a degree yet. What I had was a program that built a bridge where I was and where I could go. Because of that, I did not have to choose between earning and learning. My income helped me pay for school and stay on track to graduate debt-free. But I also know not every student has this opportunity. Too many young people are forced to choose between school and work. Apprentices offer a different path where experience, income, and education are part of the same journey. This bill helps make that path more accessible. I'm here today because apprenticeships worked for me. This bill helps make sure it can work for many other students. Thank you.
Thank you. Members, do we have questions for this panel? Seeing none, you guys must have covered it. Thank you so much for being here and for hanging out with us and the unpredictability of the last 10 days of session. Really appreciate it. Okay, we are going to bring up the rest of our witnesses on this bill who are, I believe, all online, Randy Johnson, Joe Barella, and Yasmin Garcia. And if there is anybody else who would like to testify on this bill, it is your chance. There are empty seats. Come on forward. But other than that, we will this will be our final panel. OK, Mr. Johnson, please unmute yourself. Introduce yourself. And you have two minutes.
Good afternoon. Thank you. My name is Randy Johnson and I'm the executive director of Emily Griffith Technical College. I'm here before you in support of HB 26, 1317 and the creation of a unified society. system of post-secondary talent development. I encourage you, let this important bill and this important work move forward. As the leader of the largest public technical college in the state, I've worked endlessly to impress upon the greater system that all education is ultimately career education. What we see frequently in our students seeking a technical college education is that they either were never exposed to the opportunities and the value available in pursuing a career that's anchored in a credential where the demonstration of skills is paramount, or a career that culminates through a registered apprenticeship, or far too often they come to us having lost their job and they desperately need a place that will actually help them begin training for a new career and not send them to an office across town. I believe this important bill will ultimately take steps to correct misunderstanding and misinformation that occurs about the value of having workforce outcomes attached to the process and purpose of learning, regardless of the level of learning. For too long, we've bifurcated the message of college and career as an either-or proposition, implying to students from the earliest ages that these are different paths and that one is better than the other. They're not. It's all the same path. Ultimately, it's all career education. Today, considering less than 50 percent of Colorado's high school graduates will enroll in any college following graduation, the current systems are simply not working. And this is not to mention the 300,000 adults in the state today without a high school diploma, which truly is the most basic workforce credential upon which all others stack. Please support this bill moving forward. Let the process begin to unify post-secondary talent development, recognizing that the function of education and workforce readiness are two sides
of the same coin. Thank you. Thank you. And I will note that I believe I've been informed that Ms. Brown put her testimony in written testimony, so you should find it in your box, members, if you would like to look at that. Next up, Mr. Barella, please proceed.
Good afternoon, and thank you, Madam Chair and esteemed members of the Senate Education Committee. My name is Joe Barella, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. The fields of education, economic development, and workforce development are intricately tied together. Individual Coloradans and businesses need these systems to work together seamlessly in order to connect talent to business and to drive our economy forward. The programs administered through the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment keep Colorado working and ensure that every Coloradan prospers and that employers thrive. Businesses and individuals deserve the best possible resources for labor exchange, career exploration, and guidance, data and support, and more than 200,000 individuals and more than 13,000 businesses served by the public workforce system in program year 2024 observe a state system that delivers these resources as effectively as possible. The intent and vision of House Bill 2613-17 is that state governance for these systems will be connected and configured to deliver best-in-class results, creating better access to and engagement with these services by business and individuals in local communities. The result of this bill will be a pathway for thoughtful, intentional design that accounts for a wide array of stakeholders, input, and optimizes the state-level structure and governance for talent development moving forward. During my time at CDLE, I have focused on building good government and enhancing our state structures so that they are designed and optimized to one support local implementers and local communities and to support Coloradans at all stages and phases of their career journey As we go through this next wave of disruption from automation and AI we will need a talent pipeline system that is agile to respond to reskilling upskilling and nextskilling the workforce no matter what stage of their work lifecycle We need a system that allows all education options to lead and build towards good jobs and thriving careers, which, as you have heard, is what Coloradans want from post-secondary education. The idea of better aligning systems and programs is not new. What is new in the bill, however, is the bold approach to reinventing and rebuild a single state agency. Combining these functions and the work of the Transition Advisory Committee will be critical in ensuring that this new agency is designed to push Colorado forward and drive success for all learners. Thank you.
Thank you. Ms. Garcia, you are up next.
Thank you. Buenas tardes, Chairman Coker and the Senate Education Committee. My name is Yasmin Garcia. I'm here today to advocate for the recognition of alternative educational and career pathways and shine light on where our current systems fall short. Growing up, the message was clear. A four-year degree is the only key to success. As the daughter of an immigrant, this was the dream that my family sacrificed for. But the advice I received lacked a lived experience. It just followed the standard, and it wasn't coming from people who look like me. I graduated from CEC Early College of Denver in 2018. While my concurrent enrollment credits gave me a head start through the community college system, they did not prepare me for the reality of a four-year university. Transitioning to a predominantly white institution in Fort Collins brought immense culture shock and imposter syndrome. Finding belonging in my classes only existed in those centered around culture and identity. I know I had the potential to excel, but I didn't always feel like it was mine to access. After leaving higher education, I found myself needing to forge my own path. I had to rely on personal connections to find my current role as a community career pathway navigator at Emily Griffith Technical College. This begs the question, where are the safety nets for students when the traditional higher education system fails to serve them? House Bill 1317 is a vital opportunity to address these gaps. To make it effective, I ask that you empower the task force to focus on three principles. The first is to honor lived experience. We must examine not just what goes well, but also the stories of those who fall through the cracks like me. Two, honor the data. Findings must be presented transparently without sugarcoating systemic failures. And lastly, create true stakeholder mechanisms. We must be willing to sit in the discomfort of honest, unpleasant feedback to drive real change. Thank you for your time and willingness to listen.
Thank you. Do we have any questions for this panel, members? Seeing none, thank you so much, and I hope you enjoyed Fort Collins when you were there, Ms. Garcia. I represent Fort Collins, and, you know, we try and be welcoming to everybody, but thank you very much for being here today. Okay, with that, I'm saying nobody took advantage of the empty chairs, the testimony phase is over, so that brings us to the amendment phase we'll bring our sponsors back up um no you're rounding yes we could have just stayed up there yeah Sorry Thank you It looks like you do have an amendment. Would one of you like to move L-004?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move L-004. Thank you. Please tell us about it. Sure. On page 12, there is a direction of the transition committee to consider and include recommendations in the transition plan about to coordinate with CDE on workforce readiness activities occurring in the Department of Education, including registered apprenticeships, work-based learning, post-secondary credential programs. And at the request of the folks who work on a lot of the after-school stuff, we decided to add them as well. There are a lot of career-connected after-school programs that we think it would benefit this group to take a look at. And again, inclusive, not required that there be some sort of changes to all of this. But at their request, they wanted to be included in this. Thank you.
Do we have any questions or concerns about L004? Is there any objection to L004? Seeing none, L004 is adopted. Any further amendments? Seeing none. Members, on this side of the dais, any further amendments? Seeing none, the amendment phase is closed. Who would like to wrap up first?
Senator Frizzell. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Committee. Really appreciate your consideration of this bill. I think one of the things that I like about this transition advisory committee is that they have to wrap up their work to create a plan before the end of this year. So it's a group that's going to have to really buckle down and figure this out. And I'm very much looking forward to seeing what they come up with when it comes to a plan to move forward and to improve our workforce development programs and just, you know, let's figure out what's going on. I also think that the diversity of the committee, which is, it's a big committee, but it really does include a lot of people who really have to have seats at the table, and that's important as well. I really, I think this is a good bill. I think this is a great path for the state of Colorado, and would ask for your aye vote.
Senator Bridges. Thank you, Madam Chair. This is focused on the learner. This is about making sure that those folks who aren't just your first time higher education folks coming out of high school, heading into the unknown, but folks across age groups, across Colorado, have a path into higher education. And very importantly, and this is to Senator Immobile's question, it's a both-and approach.
It about making sure that whatever it is that is going to be best for that student that they have access to and information about It about simplifying and streamlining the way into what it is that allows folks to get those critical thinking skills, to get the certificates that allow them to get good paying jobs, that allow them entrance into Colorado's post-secondary world and all of the benefits that come with it. It's learner focused. It is about streamlining government. I ask for an aye vote. Thank you. Members, any closing comments on this side? Okay. With that, an appropriate motion would be to the Committee of the Whole. Oh, Senator Marchman, I'm sorry. Vice Chair Marchman.
No, you're all good. I actually had a question. I saw SNAP and TANF in this, and I was curious why. And then I also, I just want to say, it's interesting. Like, I support this bill. I share the same concerns as an educator. I know that there's so much more to education than test scores and jobs. But I think there are two transitions right now. One is related to our executive branch, and one is related to the higher ed institutions, or the Department of Higher Ed. And I guess it's just interesting to me that we're going to work really hard from July 1 until November 30th to come up with a transition plan to give to a new administrative group. And, you know, my understanding was Governor Hickenlooper had a ton of plans, and they were shelved when the new administration came in. So I just want to say I think this is great. I support the idea of silos, but I do wonder why do we think the governor, the new governor, would move in this direction. So I'm completely supportive of the bill today. I appreciate the work toward getting rid of silos, but those were my questions. And then, yeah, the SNAP and TANF is on page 13, and then it says they're also going to look into other Department of Human Service reports. And, yeah, I just, that seems interesting.
Senator Bridges.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And I think this goes to, you know, what we see at those institutions of higher education that think about more than just what happens in the classroom for the students. And we know that whether or not a learner succeeds in all sorts of environments in that post-secondary world has as much to do with what happens outside the classroom as inside of it. And so when we think about the supports that are in place, the broader ecosystem that exists in state government. We want to make sure that we don't stop at what it is that is directly under the control of that institution and that we look at all of the different ways that we as a state can ensure that we are supporting the folks that are engaging in getting that certificate, that associate's degree, that four-year degree, whatever it is that they are going after, that we are giving them the support. through that apprenticeship program, that we don't put the silo, that we're not drawing the lines of the silo around systems, right? That's the whole thing. It's not about, this isn't about the institutions of higher education. It's not about the single school. It's not even about the ecosystem of higher education and workforce development in the state. It's about the student. And it's about making sure that this is a learner-focused approach that we take here and that it is best, we end up doing what is best for Coloradans, not necessarily, which I think is complementary to, but not limited in focus to but just the institutions themselves. And so that's my answer just to why it is that we include those as part of what we look at here. To your second question, I am confident that having a plan that whoever comes next can react to will lead to more forward movement on this than not, whatever that reaction is. I also know that many of the people involved in the creation of this legislation in all of the steps that have led up to today are also heavily involved in, I believe, all of the major candidate campaigns right now for governors. So there should be some continuity, I would expect, with this. I'd say, additionally, most of the people, I think at least in this room, are going to be here. Right, maybe, oh, I think you're all going to be back next year. And I'm the odd man out, potentially. I could be here. Who knows? But we will have continuity on the legislative side. and many of the changes that this will require will be on that legislative side. So there will be continuity in the legislative branch, even though there will be a change for sure in the executive. Thank you.
And with that, who would like to move the bill? Senator Frizzell.
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move House Bill 1317 to the Committee of the Whole, as amended, with a favorable recommendation.
Ms. Kurt Phelan, will you take the roll? Senator Zimobili?
Yes.
Bridges?
Aye.
Wright?
Yes.
Rizal?
Yes.
Kip?
Yes.
Sorry, I missed that. Rich?
Yes.
Marchman?
Aye.
That passes unanimously. Senator Bridges?
Thank you, Madam Chair. To save us all some time, I suggest the consent calendar.
Thank you. Is there any objection to the consent calendar? Seeing none, congratulations. You are on the way to the consent calendar. Thank you, committee. 13.17. Next up, we have, whichever sponsor can get here, either 10.28 with Qatar or 12.82 with Mullica. We will take a senatorial in five until we see who wins that race. Thank you. Thank you Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you We are now going to hear HB 26-1028 with Senator Cutter, second language educational program for high school students. for high school students. There we go. And we will hand again to Chair Marchman. Thank you, Senator Kemp. Thank you, committee.
I am here to talk about House Bill 1028, which is a pretty simple bill that allows... So right now, a local education provider can grant a diploma endorsement in biliteracy for a student who demonstrates proficiency in English and at least one other foreign language. This just allows students to demonstrate English proficiency and foreign language proficiency through additional methods. Just opens it up a bit. It creates a separate diploma endorsement for bilingualism, and that's really the crux of the bill. So I hope that you can support it today.
Committee, any questions? I see that the fiscal was removed in the House, so that makes your job a lot easier. Ms. Kurtz-Felan, do we have witnesses signed up? So I would invite any of the staff in the room who want to. I'm teasing. I don't think if there are any witnesses online, we would welcome them. Seeing none.
Oh, Senator Kipp.
Yeah. Witness phases will end. Amendment phase. Are there any amendments? Senator Cutter?
No, there are not.
Committee, do we have any amendments? We do not. Amendments phase will close. Comments, questions? Thank you. I guess we'll let her give her close if she wants, but I move HB 261028 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation.
Yes, Senator Cutter. Ditto, yeah.
Great. Ms. Kurtz-Felan, would you please call the roll? Senator Zimoboli?
Yes.
Bridges?
Aye.
Bright? Excused? Rizal?
Aye.
Kip?
Yes.
Rich?
Aye.
Madam Chair? Aye. That bill passes six to zero. Senator Cutter, would you like to make a recommendation?
Yes, please. If possible, we would love to go to the consent calendar.
Okay, great. any objection to consent seeing none will be efficient put that on the consent calendar i love house bill uh 1028 is adopted very good thank you committee thank you we still have this one right senator cutter will you bring um will you send senator mollica our way please when you return Thank you Madam Chair We'll be in a senatorial five. Thank you. Senator Mullica, we have House Bill 1282 up.
May I begin? Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the committee. Members, House Bill 1282 addresses duplicative and contradicting regulations for school-based before- and after-school programs. Currently these programs are regulated not only by the Colorado Department of Education, which already oversees school district operations facilities and staff training, but also by the Department of Early Childhood under child care licensing rules. This has created situations where districts must navigate two separate regulatory systems, often with conflicting requirements for things like playground equipment and staff training. Districts have been seeking resolutions that maintain health, life, and safety while still acknowledging the other requirements they must meet to serve students and families. The result is increased administrative costs, delays in onboarding staff, and confusion for students and families without improving safety or program quality. The bill has introduced sought a broader fix to addressing duplicative and contradictory rules school districts must meet. We had a robust stakeholder process and it became clear that there were some significant opposition from the early childhood community as it relates to equity in federal law. Though this process with the department and early childhood organizations through this, we narrowed the bill to provide alternate pathways for school districts to meet requirements by clarifying that public health agencies and certified playground inspectors can maintain standards for playground equipment and allow for staff training requirements to be met through school district training. These changes allow school districts flexibility while still maintaining health life and safety for students. This bill is a small step towards decreasing the duplicative and contradictory requirements that school districts must meet when they prove through multiple entities that they value student safety, health, and wellbeing above all on a daily basis. We can and must continue this conversation to find areas of additional relief. And I also just want to take this opportunity so that you can understand what this means in real life and on some situations that our school districts face with what they do during school hours and then what they do with after school hours. Playground equipment, for example. During the school day, playgrounds can be inspected approved by a certified safety organization for use during school hours. For after school programs or school age programs, they are restricted for use using playgrounds equipment exceeding six feet in height. Student injuries. During school day, the student injuries are handled in accordance with district protocols and risk management. For after school programs, student injuries result in a state level injury report and onsite inspection. And then this is my favorite one, and I'm gonna go home and tell my kids why I ran this bill, is that during the school day, the National School Lunch Program allows a serving of chocolate milk. For after school, it is prohibited in licensed programs. I just want us to all be aware that these school-aged children will be voters someday, and that if you vote to keep chocolate milk away from after school programs for these schools, there may be consequences when they become a voting age. And I just want to be clear that we all, that that's on the record, and we all are aware of that as we hear testimony today and you vote on this bill. I would ask for a yes vote.
Very good. I appreciated all those. That was fantastic. Does anybody have any questions? Seeing none, we're going to go ahead and get with the witnesses. Senator Mullick, I think you can stay there. We have remote witnesses only. We've got two witnesses and then a questions only from CDAC. So we've got Carrie Lockermeyer and Alicia Elmore, both in favor. Okay, great. I think we may just have one. So, Ms. Lockermeyer, we have two minutes today for testimony, but if you need to go three because you prepared three-minute remarks, we will let you go three. You're our only witness today on this bill. You may begin.
Thank you very much. Good afternoon to everybody there. My name is Carrie. Oh, wait. Hold up two seconds.
We can't hear you. Can you turn up your volume at all? All right.
That's better. Can you hear me now?
Sure.
Yes. Yes?
Okay.
Sorry. I had to switch to the settings. So again, thank you for letting me be here today and speak to you all. My name is Carrie Lockenmeyer. I'm the director of our base and peak programs for Adams 12 Five Star Schools, supporting, testifying and supportive House Bill 1282. When we began this process, our goal was to significantly streamline licensing requirements for school district operated programs to better reflect the unique environment of our public schools. While the bill before you today is far from everything we saw, it represents a meaningful and small step forward and a much larger and ongoing conversation. It is important to understand that we sought to have Colorado Department of Early Childhood recognized the highest standards already established in public school districts governed by the Colorado Department of Education their boards of education federal laws and our district and program policy and procedures. This recognition would be moved to ending duplication by stopping duplicate training and inspections for facilities that are already certified and safe to serve students every day during the school day, common sense practices and safety, aligning the rules for things like playground equipment and student nutrition so that the school day doesn't suddenly become non-compliant the moment the after-school program begins, and financial impacts and mandates. Unlike a private licensed facility, school district programs are uniquely governed by federal laws like the McKinney-Vento Act. This requires districts to waive fees and provide specialized support students in foster care or experiencing homelessness services that cost our district upwards to $30,000 a month. Our broader goals are important. I see this legislation as a necessary foundation for addressing duplications and operational inconsistencies across school districts and the programs they operate. I look forward to continuing the work with the department to ensure school-age programs can operate efficiently without compromising safety and quality. House Bill 1282 and the start, it does provide necessary transparency, recognizing that school district operated programs are well positioned to operate with high levels of oversight and accountability already in place, removing double layers of oversight that cause duplication and confusion for our families. I urge you to support the measure and I thank you very
much and happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Ms. Locker-Meyer. Does anyone have questions for our witness? Seeing none, thank you for your work on this. And this is an iterative process, so we'll see where we go from here. But thank you for being here today. Is there anybody else who has no testimony? Okay. We'll close the witness testimony phase. Any amendments? Sponsor? Seeing none. Any amendments from the committee? Seeing none. We'll go ahead and close the amendment phase. Madam Vice Chair, will you, you're not, but will you move the bill as, not amended,
just move the bill, and then we'll talk about it. I move HB 26-1282 to the Committee of the
Whole with a favorable recommendation Thank you so much Senator Amabile I just had a question about the chocolate milk Yeah So we aligning these two regulatory regimes Is it possible that we could end up with no chocolate milk? Senator Mullica.
I feel like this is a trap question, Senator Mabley.
And I will say that the intent of the bill is to allow for chocolate milk, yes, and not to disallow it or to ban it.
Senator Kipp.
I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to have the chocolate milk after school and the regular milk during school because you don't want the kids all hyped up on sugar?
Or am I just, like, overstepping my lane here?
Senator Mullica.
Yeah, I definitely think you're trying to get me in trouble here a little bit. But I can definitely see your point, but I think that the intent of the bill is that if chocolate milk is allowed during school hours, that it should be allowed after school hours as well.
Reasonable. Senator Bright.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Senator Malka, for bringing the bill.
So I've had a lot to say about this bill as it has gone through this process and just want to weigh in on a couple things on how it's gone. I'm incredibly excited that a lot of the more – the pieces that really don't favor one entity over another were removed out of this bill. So that makes me happy. Much better place than where we started. If this bill truly was about chocolate milk, we could solve that easy. But most of the bill as it started involved a whole lot of other things. and so I just have to go on record saying that a four-year-old is a four-year-old regardless of what entity is providing care or education for that four-year-old a second grader is a second grader regardless of what entity is providing that care fifth grader fifth grader same idea I served on a commission in 2019 that set out to to tackle this very issue of the disparity between CDE rules for kids after school and Department of Human Services child care licensing rules at the time for during those school hours. Since I operate after programs in elementary schools I can tell you that when the bell rings at 3 o I have to go out and tape off playground equipment because somehow it was safe from 8 a to 3 p and somehow the same kids aren safe from 3 p to 6 p There is an issue here and this bill is highlighting that issue. The left turn that the bill was taking that I feel was wrong was exempting one over the other. If we're going to have rules for safety and health of a four-year-old, a second grader, and a fifth grader, they should be the same rules, not just 8 to 3, but 3 to 6 and prior to that. And so I am glad that we're highlighting this issue, and I hope that we can do some further work to, again, get on the same page. This bill addresses playgrounds, playground safety, and chocolate milk. Being a nationally certified playground inspector, I can tell you that there are a lot of playgrounds out there on elementary school campuses that are not safe. And I sure hope that at some point in time we can get those playgrounds at those elementary schools back to a safe place. And I think that's a great piece of legislation for the 2027 session, if anybody wants to help me with that. I applaud the work. I applaud the direction. I applaud the highlight on the disparity. And I hope that we can work further, deeper, to make sure that those rules align and that we're truly looking out for the health and safety and that all of our rules within the state of Colorado can align in this way. So because of all the incredible work that has been done on this bill to pare it down and not have those disparities, I'll be in support, but I will do that with an asterisk that I will come back in and I'll be addressing this again next session as well. Thanks.
Very good. Seeing no further comments, Ms. Kurtz, Phelan, will you please poll the committee?
Senator Zimobili?
Yes.
Bridges?
Aye.
Wright?
Yes.
Rizal?
Aye.
Kip?
Yes.
Rich?
Aye. Madam Chair. Aye. That passes seven to zero.
Senator Mullica?
Yeah, I would love the consent calendar. Okay. Do we want to save some time on the floor? Seeing no objection, we'll put this one on consent. And seeing no further business before us, Education Committee is adjourned. Woo!