The 2019 Colorado legislative session began in early-January. Several Councils have already signed on to support legislative bills aimed at helping young children, families, and communities thrive. Check back throughout the legislative session to learn more about bills supported by VFS Prep and Councils.
HB 19-1052: Empower Local Communities to Collaborate for the Delivery of Early Childhood Services
- Background: Colorado is proud to be a local control state, allowing communities to collaborate to provide a variety of services and programs. Title 32 enables the creation of special districts to fund and deliver services for a whole host of purposes including, but not limited to, parks and recreation, health, forest improvement and fire protection. There are more than 2,000 special districts in Colorado today.
- What HB 1052 Does: This legislation allows for the creation of special districts for the purpose of delivering early childhood development services.
Read more about SB-063 and stay connected to updates on this legislation HERE.
SB 19-063: Infant and Family Child Care Strategic Action Plan Bill
- Background: This bipartisan bill would model K-12 advocacy that required a Teacher Shortage Strategic Action Plan to be created and undertake a similar approach for both licensed infant child care and licensed family child care.
- What SB 063 Does: The goal of the bill is to tackle a diversity of issues that have impacted licensed family child care homes, including International Building Codes and adequate public investments to better understand trends on the availability of infant and toddler care.
Read more about SB-063 and stay connected to updates on this legislation HERE.
HB 19-1005: Early Childhood Educator Tax Credit Bill
- Background: This bipartisan bill builds on the work of the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission and was one of the recommended strategies out of the Teacher Shortage Report from Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE).
- What HB-1005 Does: The legislation would model similar successful tax credits in other states to improve compensation for early childhood educators without passing the cost on to parents in the form of higher tuition.
Read more about HB-1005 and stay connected to updates on this legislation HERE.