Updates from the capitol

Libby Earthman used to work in river conservation and views water use differently than most people. When she and her husband decided to landscape their backyard, the couple had one goal in mind, to conserve as much water as possible.

Earthman’s choice to conserve water aligns with a Colorado law sponsored by Rep. Karen McCormick, who represents Longmont. The law passed on March 18 and bans the installation of ornamental grass, invasive plants and artificial turf on most commercial, industrial and government properties. The law does not apply to residential properties except for areas managed by a homeowners’ association.

“Water-wise landscaping conserves our precious water resources and encourages communities to embrace Colorado’s natural landscapes,” sponsor Rep. Karen McCormick, a Longmont Democrat, said in a news release. “Our law sets us on a path forward to more effectively manage and preserve the water we all rely on.”

The new law is expected to reduce water use. Almost half of the water used by cities and towns goes toward watering grass that is not native to Colorado, according to experts.

Legislators hope that more people will plant native grasses and plants that use less water. Earthman is among them.

Earthman bought a home in Longmont Estates and noticed that her lawn, then filled with Kentucky Bluegrass, used around 18,600 gallons of water each month.

“It made our water conservationist hearts wilt to ponder that watering regime, so we began planning what we’d replace it with,” Earthman said in her blog.

The couple researched several types of grass alternatives including clover and Buffalo grass. Neither option would hold up to pets and the heat and sun in their unshaded backyard. They discovered a type of grass engineered by the University of Colorado, Dog Tuff Grass, according to Earthman.

The new grass used 9,800 gallons of water last summer, however, Earthman expects that to decrease as the grass becomes more established.

The city of Longmont has already taken steps to reduce its water use for turf. In August, the city’s Water and Waste Department teamed up with Art in Public Places to combine art with water conservation. The project took place at Kensington Park. It included removing unused turf and replacing it with a water-wise garden. The project also preserved the art installation “The Unitity Project,” which had been repeatedly hit by lawnmowers. The damage to the piece raised concerns about its structural integrity.

The project was funded by the Transformative Landscape Challenge posted by the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The program “challenges local communities to reimagine their public spaces and embrace waterwise landscaping. The effort, a partnership with the nonprofit Resource Central, is designed to convert water-intensive landscapes into climate-appropriate, low-water-use, and attractive spaces,” according to a news release from Gov. Jared Polis’ office.

“To reduce our water demands, Colorado needs a suite of conservation tools, including water conservation programs and water pricing structures that help shape what our cities look like and how we develop,” said CWCB expert Jenna Battson. “Having land use codes and ordinances that align with these efforts is critical because the last thing we want is for codes to reinforce installing the same types of high-water vegetation that we are paying to remove.”

The city of Longmont has three water-smart projects planned for this year. Two projects will replace bluegrass with low-water-using turf and the other will replace the existing bluegrass with a mixture of low-water-using turf and water-wise garden, said Hope Bartlett, water conservation specialist at the city of Longmont. The city will work with Resource Central, Northern Water and other local groups to apply for additional funding for these projects.

Read the story in your browser HERE.

Being turned away when your pet needs medical care is something no one wants to experience. But it's increasingly a reality as Colorado faces a critical shortage of veterinarians and vet techs.

“We absolutely need more in our workforce and we need to hang on to the people that are already in our workforce because that's also a problem,” said state Representative Karen McCormick, a Democratic lawmaker from Longmont, who herself is a veterinarian.

Those close to the issue say this shortage has reached a point where it's ultimately hurting animals and their owners. It's estimated that there are about 3,800 vets able to care for about 2.5 million dogs and cats in Colorado, and that's not including horses and other farm animals.

“We don't have enough veterinary schools across the nation,” said McCormick. “And the students that come out of CSU, about 80% of those students go into companion animal medicine. And so our shelter animal spaces and our large animal, farm animal populations are really bearing the brunt of this shortage.”

Rep. McCormick spoke with Colorado Matters host Chandra Thomas Whitfield. Listen HERE.

DENVER — Legislation addressing the so-called "ambulance gap" in health insurance is scheduled to be heard in the state House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee next week.

HB24-1218 would allow an ambulance service to submit rates to insurance for reimbursement covering out-of-network costs.

The bill prohibits an ambulance that's out-of-network from billing a patient more than their health insurance covers, which can leave the patient to pay high amounts in medical bills for the difference. The exception to that would be the required deductibles or copayments under that person's insurance plan.

The introduction of this bill stems from the experience of Coloradans like Mary and Alvin Gordy. When Alvin had a seizure at his doctor's office in July 2022, an ambulance took him to Swedish Hospital's ER next door.

The couple had insurance through Cigna, and their explanation of benefits was clear: They would not have to pay anything. However, they were saddled with "balance billing" also known as surprise billing.

That's when the difference between what hospitals or ambulances charge and what insurance companies pay is passed on to the patient.

That's possible because ambulances are not covered by the federal No Surprises Act that went into effect in 2022 and prevents surprise medical billing.

Couple billed nearly $2K for ambulance ride next door has bill reduced to $0

A federal committee has convened to consider changes and recommendations to change that. This week, on March 15, the committee will submit its final report.

Colorado lawmakers are hoping to tackle the issue on the statewide level.

The legislation would require $36,515 be allocated to the Department of Regulatory Agencies in fiscal year 2024-2025, which would begin on July 1.

The legislation has bipartisan support with Rep. Karen McCormick, D-District 11, Rep. Matt Soper, R-District 54, Sen. Kyle Mullica, D-District 24 and Sen. Mark Baisley, R-District 4, sponsoring the bill.

The bill is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday, March 19.

If it passes through the legislature, it could take effect in August of this year.

View the story in your browser HERE.

Colorado lawmakers are working to clarify when veterinarians can see your pet via telehealth.

Watch the Video HERE.

Rep. Marc Catlin, R-Dist. 58, told the House Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resources Committee HB24-1047, Veterinary Scope of Practice, a bill he co-sponsored with Rep. Karen McCormick, D-Dist. 11, a veterinarian by trade, will help ease the shortage of veterinary care resources for pets and livestock in the state.

The bill would clarify guidelines for veterinary technicians and allows an expansion of scope for that care under the supervision of licensed veterinarians. Catlin said the bill is supported by Colorado Farm Bureau, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and Colorado Woolgrowers in addition to veterinarians.

Rep. McCormick said veterinary technicians are crucial and must be recognized.

“This bill reiterates, clarifies, and solidifies that only a licensed veterinarian may practice actual veterinary medicine, which is diagnosing, prescribing, prognosing and performing surgery,” she said, “The bill also gives advanced flexibility in the treatment of herd animals and animals under the stewardship of animal shelters to allow a veterinarian to have protocols or instructions available to inform treatment plans even if the veterinarian is not on the premises.”

McCormick said the bill includes the scope of procedures and tasks that could be delegated to a veterinary technician under indirect supervision to include reproductive ultrasound.

“These are what you hear about in the large animal space as preg checks and this is a super big deal,” she said.

OTHER PROCEDURES

Other procedures detailed in the bill include wound care, dental procedures including the extractions of single root teeth and the suturing of gingival incisions, imaging, suture and staple removal, and administration of drugs to manage and control pain, up to and including euthanasia.

She said better utilization of veterinary technicians not only increases access to care, but potentially increases job satisfaction and entices veterinary technicians to remain in their field. The bill also includes two hours of additional professional development as part of the veterinarian’s licensure requirements.

An amendment to the bill clarified the intent of the bill and makes clear that no changes to animal husbandry in a large animal setting are made when a veterinary professional is not present and a livestock producer is carrying out animal health tasks.

According to the bill, a licensed veterinarian may delegate tasks pursuant to the board’s rules after first establishing a veterinarian-client-patient relationship with an animal or group of animals and the owner of the animal or animals. The licensed veterinarian is required to provide an appropriate level of supervision of the veterinary technician or veterinary technician specialist in accordance with applicable rules of the board. If there are not applicable rules related to the specific veterinary task that is being delegated, the veterinarian may delegate the task based on the assessment of the veterinary medical care being provided, the experience, education, and training of the person providing the care, and in compliance with all state and federal laws.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2026, the bill authorizes a veterinary technician to receive a veterinary technician specialist designation as part of the veterinary technician’s registration, grants title protection for veterinary technician specialists, and prohibits the unauthorized practice as a veterinary technician specialist by a person who does not have a veterinary technician specialist designation. The bill passed unanimously and will be sent to the House with a favorable recommendation.

TELEHEALTH SERVICES

The second of McCormick’s bills, this one co-sponsored by Rep. Matthew Martinez, D-Dist. 62, is HB24-1048, Providing Veterinary Services Through Telehealth.

In current law, one criterion for the establishment of a veterinarian-client-patient relationship is that the veterinarian has conducted an examination of the animal that is the patient. The bill clarifies that the examination must be an in-person, physical examination. The bill also extends the veterinarian-client-patient relationship to other licensed veterinarians who share the same physical premises as the veterinarian who established the relationship if the other veterinarians have access to and have reviewed the patient’s medical records.

The bill allows a licensed veterinarian who has established a veterinarian-client-patient relationship to use telehealth to provide veterinary services to clients and patients in Colorado with the consent of the client. A licensed veterinarian may also refer a patient to a veterinary specialist, who may provide veterinary services via telemedicine under the referring veterinarian’s veterinarian-client-patient relationship.

The bill authorizes the state board of veterinary medicine to establish rules for the use of telehealth to provide veterinary services.

The bill clarifies that only a licensed veterinarian with an established veterinarian-client-patient relationship may prescribe medication using telemedicine.

The bill allows a licensed veterinarian who has established a veterinarian-client-patient relationship to supervise veterinary personnel who are not located on the same premises using telesupervision if the veterinarian and the personnel are employees of the same veterinary practice and the veterinary premises, the veterinary professionals or other veterinary personnel, and the patient are all located in Colorado.

The bill establishes record-keeping, confidentiality, and privacy requirements related to the use of telehealth.

McCormick said the removal or weakening of the requirements of the VCPR in statute does not benefit animals or increase access to care.

“The ideas being pushed at statehouses across the United States is coming from outside corporate interests and going backwards, weakening the definition of the VCPR here in Colorado, in conflict with the federal definition, won’t help animals,” she said. “It will benefit corporations focused on profits and not focused on animal care. It would allow direct to consumer marketing platforms aimed at pushing product without that particular online veterinarian ever touching your animal, ever visiting your herd, ever having access to the critical medical information that they need about your animal simply to grow their bottom line. This is big money behind these efforts, and it is happening state by state across the country. They want to challenge the Food and Drug Administration’s duty to protect our food supply, our duty to protect public health, and our duty to advance animal welfare. Their goals are not patient care and mine are.”

The bill passed unanimously and will be sent to the House with a favorable recommendation.

Read the story in your browser HERE.

Coloradans venturing into the backcountry in spring and summer might find themselves complaining of tick bites, mosquito swarms, and other creepy crawlers, but some say there’s something more terrifying than a spider in a sleeping bag: a future without enough insects.

Studies conducted across the globe and in Colorado show there have been declines in the populations of invertebrates, which play vital roles in the food chain, pollination, and the decomposition cycle. That’s why a bipartisan group of Colorado lawmakers are proposing legislation that would allow the state to begin tracking insect populations.

“These ecosystems that these invertebrates provide for are experiencing pressures and loss of biodiversity driven by climate change and habitat loss and other invasive species,” said Rep. Karen McCormick, D-Longmont, a prime sponsor of the bill. “We don’t have adequate data to know what’s happening in our state.”

House Bill 1117 — also sponsored by Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican, and Sen. Janie Marchman, a Loveland Democrat — was approved by the House on third and final reading Monday. Next, it will be considered by the state Senate.

If approved, it would allow Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to study and determine the conservation needs of invertebrates and native plants at risk of extinction in the state. They would also develop voluntary programs to help protect those species.

Soper believes the bill could also help prevent unnecessary requirements from the federal government, which at times has created policies for a species it believes is endangered based on incomplete data, he said on the House floor.

CPW officials would be able to decide how they want to go about the studies and would hire six people to help with the work. The program would cost about $1 million annually, according to a fiscal note on the legislation. Bill sponsors expect non-profit groups, many of which have already been conducting these studies, would help in conducting the surveys.

While no groups have filed in opposition to the bill and there was limited debate on the measure, several Republicans voted against the bill Monday.

Republican minority leader Rep. Ty Winter of Trinidad voted against the bill in its earlier committee hearing as well.

“I haven’t been here very long, but I have seen data come through this building that has been taken by activist groups later on to push an agenda,” he said in the hearing. “That is what my biggest fear with this is.”

View the story in your browser HERE.

Read the story in your browser HERE.

Colorado bills to address veterinary care pass Joint Committee

Two bills advanced yesterday at the General Assembly aimed to address veterinary workforce issues and access to animal care in Colorado.

Colorado state Rep. Karen McCormick DVM (D)Longmont, introduced Bill 1-Veterinary Technician Scope of Practice and Bill 7-Veterinary Telehealth Act. Both bills were voted out of the bipartisan joint chamber Water Resources and Agriculture Review committee on October 31. Rep. McCormick is presently the Vice Chair of the committee. The vote on both bills was unanimous in the ten member committee.

Bill 1 recognizes that veterinary technicians are essential team members and critical to addressing the health and welfare needs of the animals of Colorado. Bill 1 will open up the veterinary care delivery model to reach more animals and help address the pressures on the veterinary workforce. The bill will highlight advanced career pathways for veterinary technicians.

To elevate the veterinary technician profession, this bill will expand the definition of supervision levels to give more flexibility for veterinary teams. It adds levels of supervision associated with listed tasks as a permissive guide for veterinarians to fully utilize their veterinary technicians and other team members. The bill elevates the Veterinary Technician Specialist, or VTS, to be able to do more under the veterinarian’s indirect supervision following certain guidelines. Veterinary Technician Specialists have the training, experience, and credentialing to fill the mid-level role that many have talked about in recent years. The Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine will write rules and guidelines to further carry out the legislative intent of this policy.

Bill 7 concerns the use of telehealth to provide veterinary services and defines different types of telehealth tools that can be used in a veterinary practice. The bill specifies that part of establishing a veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR) the veterinarian must initially conduct an in-person physical examination. Currently, Colorado law only says that the veterinarian has conducted an examination of the animal as part of establishing a VCPR. Adding this language adds Colorado to the growing list of other states that are making it clear that state statute matches FDA guidelines for creating the VCPR. This is important when it comes to the need to prescribe medications via telehealth.

In addition, the bill would extend the VCPR to other licensed veterinarians who share the same physical premises as the veterinarian who established the relationship if the other veterinarians have access to and have reviewed the animal’s medical records.

Veterinary telehealth has the potential to open up access to care in many ways. The ability to create more appointment space in hospitals by doing more follow up cases via telehealth will help to ease the backlog of patients that may be waiting to see their veterinarian. Tele-triage and tele-advice tools can be used in urgent situations without a VCPR to make sure clients have timely information in decision making for their animals.

The two bills will next be introduced when the 2024 Legislative Session opens in January and go through the same process as all other bills.

In the wake of such terrible and tragic national events, Uvalde and Buffalo being just two examples, I have had many people reach out to me and say, “We must do more to prevent these tragedies from occurring.” Here in Colorado, we are far too familiar with the pain of mass shootings. It is hard not to feel hopeless after such a traumatic event. My heart truly aches as I try to process these tragedies. How can this be our reality?

Acknowledging these feelings, it is important to know that there is progress and change happening in Colorado to address and prevent gun violence.

In 2013, after the Aurora theater shooting, we passed legislation which closed the private gun sale loophole that permitted firearm transfers without background checks, limited the size of magazines allowed to be sold or possessed, made it harder for perpetrators of domestic violence to access firearms, and enhanced quality training for those seeking a concealed-carry permit.

In 2019, the legislature passed a Red Flag law, which enables a family or household member or a law enforcement officer to petition the court for a temporary extreme risk protection order (ERPO) if a person poses a significant risk to themselves or others by possessing a firearm — a policy that has been highly successful in reducing gun-related deaths across Colorado since it went into effect in January 2020. It’s been particularly effective in reducing the number of suicides with a gun. Truly a life saving piece of legislation.

Last year, in 2021, we passed six gun violence prevention bills, making 2021 one of the most productive and unprecedented gun reform sessions in Colorado legislative history. These bills strengthened our background check system, further restricted those with violent records from accessing firearms, and mandated safe storage requirements for guns which we hope will make it difficult for kids to access weapons.

We passed a law to make it mandatory to report a lost or stolen firearm and, in response to the King Soopers shooting, removed the statewide preemption so that local governments could pass their own gun violence prevention ordinances.

We also established the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which treats gun violence in communities as the public health issue that it is. The office provides evidence-informed resources to organizations to conduct community-based gun violence intervention initiatives focused on interrupting cycles of gun violence, trauma, and retaliation that have demonstrated promise at reducing gun violence without contributing to mass incarceration.

Finally, this year we passed the Vote Without Fear Act, which prohibits the open carry of firearms at or near polling places. Armed voter intimidation has also been targeted at nonpartisan election officials simply doing their jobs.

I’m proud that Colorado has taken these steps to protect our communities, but I know it’s not enough. We can and should do more. I strongly encourage you to contact our federal congressional delegation and urge them to enact common sense gun safety measures to keep our families and communities safe.

I support the “Protecting our Kids Act” that just passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is now with the Senate. We need nationwide reform to truly address this crisis, and it is well past time for Congress to act.

We and our children need to be able to safely go to school, to the grocery store, to church or to any public place without fear of gun violence. My colleagues and I have already started work on additional gun safety legislation ideas for our state. The unacceptable trauma of gun violence affects us all. And it is up to all of us to continue to speak up and act to make freedom from gun violence a reality.

To me, Earth Day should be about more than just words — it should be about action. That’s why this Earth Day I’m so proud to work on protecting our planet by passing legislation to address the climate crisis head-on.

I’ve lived in Longmont for 26 years, and I know just how much our mountains, rivers, lakes and plains define who we are, which is why I’m dedicated to protecting our environment for my children and for generations to come. Last year, we saw record-breaking forest fires that devastated so families, homes, and priceless public lands. Our communities have also seen record-breaking floods. We’ve seen our winters grow warmer and our sky grow gray due to pollution. The time to act is now.

This session, my colleagues are working on bold, impactful environmental legislation, and I’m proud to support them. Rep. Lisa Cutter is working on natural mitigation legislation to protect communities across Colorado from the effects of wildfires and other natural disasters. Representative Alex Valdez is running legislation to strengthen public health protections against air toxin emissions, while Rep. Dominique Jackson is working on legislation to promote outreach to underserved communities that are disproportionately affected by air pollution.

I firmly believe that our approach to tackling the climate crisis has to be as broad as the crisis itself. That’s why I’m so excited to be addressing it from the agricultural angle by working on a bipartisan bill that would monitor and promote Colorado’s soil health by creating a voluntary soil health program within our Department of Agriculture.

The USDA defines soil health as the “continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans.” If we ever do think of soil, we don’t think of it as a living organism that needs to be taken care of, but in reality its health is vital to our Pueblo chilis and Palisade peaches, our livestock and our forests.

HB21-1181 creates a completely optional soil health program to encourage the adoption of healthy soil practices in Colorado’s agricultural community and to study the environmental impacts of optimal soil health. It creates a soil health advisory committee that will consist of a diverse group that represents a plethora of regions, political opinions and demographics in the state of Colorado. Maintaining proper soil health benefits all Coloradans, from ranchers, farmers and agricultural producers, to consumers and small businesses who benefit from nutritious local products. Healthy soils also will play a vital role in addressing our climate crisis.

The inaugural Earth Day took place in 1970 and was started by Democratic Sen. Gaylord Nelson and Republican Rep. Pete McCloskey. Their bipartisanship cooperation started a national movement that led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and groundbreaking legislation like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

I’m proud to say that my soil health bill efforts reflect the bipartisan origins of Earth Day. I’ve worked hand in hand with my colleague Rep. Perry Will throughout the process, and we hope to see the bill on the governor’s desk for signature soon. When we work together, we can accomplish amazing things that can positively impact the lives of future generations.

Although we have passed and are working to pass progressive, environmental legislation, this is just the start of what we must do to protect our ailing climate. This Earth Day I would like to encourage everyone to take a moment to reflect on the natural beauty that surrounds us in Colorado and vow to take action to protect it, ensuring its ability to sustain life on our planet for eras to come.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2023

DENVER — Today, at CSU-Spur Governor Polis and Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) Commissioner Kate Greenberg awarded $500,000 in grants to seven projects that demonstrate the use and benefits of agrivoltaics, the simultaneous use of land for solar energy production and agriculture. These grants distributed by the Polis administration will provide funding to incorporate innovative technology that supports Colorado’s producers to operate in the face of challenges created by climate change and prepare the next generation.

“Colorado’s agriculture industry puts food on tables and helps drive our strong state economy. Agrivoltaics shows us how science and innovation can help Colorado’s bedrock industries take advantage of solar power and will help our hardworking farmers and ranchers get ahead,” said Governor Polis.

These grants, funded through the bipartisan SB23-092, Agricultural Producers Use of Agrivoltaics, sponsored by Senators Cleave Simpson and Chris Hansen, and Representatives Karen McCormick and Matt Soper, and funding from the Governor’s 2024 budget proposal provide support for producers to utilize agrivoltaics and other renewable energy projects. These grants show that agricultural production and energy development can partner to advance the Colorado we love.

“Our agency is committed to climate-resilient agricultural practices, and funding such as this is integral to implementing sustainable operations for farms and ranches,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Kate Greenberg. “We are grateful to be able to support the hard work of our colleagues and producers through agrivoltaic installations, data collection, partnership building, and research that informs how we can best grow food, fiber, and fuel into the future.”

The awardees include:

Namaste Solar (Weld County) will test converting a conventional solar array into an Agrivoltaics system that supports grazing and growing crops.

Colorado State University (Fort Collins) will study the economic tradeoffs of agri voltaics versus traditional cropping systems and conventional solar arrays.

American Farmland Trust (Statewide) will conduct a strategic outreach project to Colorado producers exploring benefits and obstacles to advancing Agrivoltaics in the state.

Colorado Cattleman’s Agricultural Land Trust (Statewide) will research current barriers to incorporating Agrivoltaics into conservation easements, and propose template language that could allow Agrivoltaic development.

Sandbox Solar (Fort Collins) will install new bifacial vertical panels on an existing demonstration site.

Summit Cellars (Palisade) will compare soil moisture data under Agrivoltaic panels and in a traditional vineyard.

Longboard Power (Haxtun) will test an Agrivoltaic “shelterbelt” on the edge-of-farm, and capture soil, water, and energy production benefits.

This fall, Governor Polis submitted his budget proposal to the General Assembly, which included $900,000 to support renewable energy solutions in agriculture. In December of this year, Governor Polis unveiled a first-of-its-kind Climate Preparedness Roadmap, which outlines state actions to better prepare the state, including supporting agricultural producers, for the impacts of climate change.

By growing food, fiber, and fuel and developing energy on the same parcel of land, Colorado can meet renewable energy goals while fostering a resilient agricultural system in Colorado. Through a comprehensive approach that includes technical assistance, grant funding, marketing assistance, advocacy, and partnerships, the state can maintain agricultural production while ensuring the sustainable use of water and soil resources.

For more information, visit ag.colorado.gov/ADCRO.