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Democratic 2022 Colorado House of Representative

Cathy Kipp

Cathy has served in the Colorado House since January of 2019. She currently serves as the State Representative for House District 52 which is most of the east side of Fort Collins. She currently serves on the House Education, Finance, and Appropriations Committees. Cathy Kipp lives in southeast Fort Collins, Colorado. Cathy and her husband have twin 24-year-old sons. Cathy started actively volunteering in PSD schools when her boys entered Kindergarten, and she soon became an active volunteer at the school district level.

  May-2023- Last update

Education

From free All Day Kindergarten and buying down the debt we owe to our kids, in the 2019 session we worked on education passing legislation to invest in our children’s futures.

1 - Early Childhood   May-2023- Last update

2 - K-12 Education   May-2023- Last update

  • Public School Funding: SB19-246
    • This bill increased per pupil funding $182.76 to account for inflation, for a new statewide base of $6,951.53. $20 million was appropriated to rural school districts and $22 million for students with disabilities.
  • Inclusion Of American Minorities In Teaching Civil Government: HB19-1192
    • History and civics courses receive funding to instruct students on History, culture, and social contributions including but not limited to of American Indians, Latinos, African Americans, and Asian Americans, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals within these minority groups, and the intersectionality of significant social and cultural features within these communities, and the contributions and persecution of religious minorities.

 

3 - Higher Education   May-2023- Last update

  • Increased investment in higher education to achieve tuition freezes at nearly all public universities in this year’s state budget.

4 - Vocational   May-2023- Last update

  May-2023- Last update

Environment

We passed legislation to help our environment by putting more controls on oil and gas development, creating a new Climate Action Plan, working towards renewable energy, and took other much needed first steps forward.

1 - Climate Change   May-2023- Last update

  • Climate Action Plan To Reduce Pollution: HB19-1261
    • Sets statewide goals to reduce carbon emissions. The 2025 goal for reduction is at least 26%, the 2030 goal is reduction by at least 50% and the 2050 goal is reduction by 90% of greenhouse gas emissions that existed in 2005.
  • Collect Long-term Climate Change Data: SB19-096
    • Colorado’s way of life is threatened by climate change and we need a data-driven approach to protect it. This bill directs the Air Quality Control Commission to collect data from greenhouse gas-emitting entities into a report, forecast future emissions, and propose solutions to help address the issue.

2 - Oil and Gas   May-2023- Last update

  • Protect Public Welfare Oil and Gas Operations: SB19-181
    • This Bill prioritizes protecting public safety, health, welfare, and the environment by giving more authority for local governments to oversee oil and gas drilling. The bill states that the public interest is to regulate oil and gas drilling to protect these values.

3 - Renewable Energy   May-2023- Last update

4 - Conservation   May-2023- Last update

  • Funding for Wildfire Mitigation: HB19-1006
    • Provides grants to help fund wildfire prevention efforts in identified vulnerable areas to help keep Colorado’s communities safe from these destructive natural disasters.
  • Protect Water Quality Adverse Mining Impacts: HB19-1113
    • This bill makes mining operators more accountable for preventing water contamination by requiring them to have a plan in place for new or amended mining permits that will ensure compliance with water quality standards and protect more than 1,600 miles of Colorado rivers and streams.
  • Clean Indoor Air Act: HB19-1076
    • Updates the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act to include electronic smoking devices and repeal certain exceptions, helping our clean air laws cover new technologies and crack down on harmful vaping.

  May-2023- Last update

Healthcare

We passed legislation to lower the cost of health care, address prescription drug prices, alleviate the opioid epidemic, and increase access to mental health and improve public safety.

1 - Lower Cost of Healthcare   May-2023- Last update

  • State Innovation Waiver Reinsurance Program: HB19-1168
    • This bill will help reduce insurance premiums on the individual market by 15-30% by helping insurers with high-cost insurance claims, providing much-needed relief to hardworking Coloradans across the state, many of whom are paying up to a third of their income on monthly premiums. Our state, and in particular the Western Slope, has some of the highest health insurance costs in the country.
  • Proposal For Affordable Health Coverage Option: HB19-1004
    • HB19-1004 will start developing a publicly supported health insurance option to help put affordable health insurance in reach for many hardworking families across our state. The public option can leverage the efficiencies of our current state infrastructure for greater savings, and will have a goal of becoming available for purchase by Coloradans as soon as the fall of 2020.
  • Address High-cost Health Insurance Pilot Program: SB19-004
    • SB19-004 focuses on healthcare cooperatives, which aim to lower healthcare costs by encouraging consumers to negotiate rates on a collective basis directly with providers and offer plans to individuals, businesses, and other groups that are more affordable than what currently exists on the market. The bill will strengthen Colorado’s laws to allow coops to incorporate consumer protections like coverage for preexisting conditions, and will allow the State Insurance Commissioner to work with groups seeking to create co-ops so that they can get up and running as soon as possible.
  • Limiting Out-of-Network Billing: HB19-1174
    • Establishes safeguards around out-of-network health care costs including limiting the amount that a consumer can be charged for out-of-network care. These charges can be more than 30 times the average in-network rate, and can be particularly devastating for consumers because they are often unexpected.
  • Reduce Insulin Costs: HB19-1216
    • Requires insurance carriers to reduce the cost of insulin drugs for their consumers to no more than $100 for a month’s supply of insulin. Directs the Attorney General to investigate the pricing of prescription insulin drugs and report back to the legislature about whether additional consumer protections are needed for the over 420,000 Coloradans who have diabetes.
  • Prescription Drug Cost Education: HB19-1131
    • Prescription drug costs are out of control and can be a major source of stress on Coloradans’ household budgets. This bill increases transparency in drug pricing by requiring drug manufacturers and sellers to provide prescribers with more information about the actual costs of the drug.
  • Investments in Primary Care: HB19-1233
    • The goal of primary care is to achieve better health outcomes by improving the quality and consistency of care so that both patients and the healthcare system overall can see a reduction in costs. This bill aims to increase the usage of primary care by starting a working collaborative group to identify reforms for primary care payment and establish affordability standards for premiums, including adding goals for carrier investments in primary care.
  • Hospital Community Benefit Accountability: HB19-1320
    • This bill will increase transparency of hospital investments in community health to allow the state to compare this spending on an apples-to-apples basis and encourage more hospitals to invest in the things that count.
  • Creation of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee: HB19-1122
    • Colorado’s maternal mortality rate has doubled since 2008. This bill creates a maternal mortality review committee to study the causes of maternal deaths and postpartum deaths up to one year after birth, and to make recommendations for policies to help prevent these tragedies from occurring.
  • Import Prescription Drugs from Canada: SB19-005
    • To help lower the cost of prescription drugs, this bill requires the state to design and, if approved by the federal government, implement a program to import certain lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada for sale to Colorado consumers.

2 - Opioid Epidemic and Substance Abuse   May-2023- Last update

  • Prevention of Substance Use Disorders: SB19-228
    • Establishes several measures to prevent substance use disorders, including requiring warning labels on prescriptions, prohibiting physicians from accepting benefits for prescribing specific medications, and creating a pilot program for on-the-ground intervention and screening resources for families and mothers.
  • Recovery for Substance Use Disorders: HB19-1009
    • Expands housing for vulnerable Coloradans who are recovering from a substance use disorder by expanding the housing assistance voucher program. This will allow individuals with substance use disorders who are transitioning out of mental health institutes, or who are in unstable housing environments and are transitioning out of residential treatment programs, to be eligible for these vouchers.
  • Harm Reduction Substance Use Disorders: SB19-227
    • Creates and expands substance use disorder treatment programs across the state; expands access to opioid antagonists in schools and wherever automated external defibrillators are available in order to combat overdoses; specifies that certain hospitals may be used as clean syringe exchange sites; and expands the household medication take-back program to help people safely dispose of extra medications.
  • Expand Medication-assisted Treatment Pilot Program: SB19-001
    • Extends the Medication-Assisted Treatment Pilot Program for an additional two years, increases program funding, expands the list of eligible participants, and expands it from only Pueblo and Routt counties to additional counties in the San Luis Valley.

3 - Mental Health and Public Safety   May-2023- Last update

  • Mental Health Parity Insurance Medicaid: HB19-1269
    • This bill holds insurers accountable to current state and federal parity laws that require treating mental health and addiction equal to physical health care. This will encourage patient use of mental health services and boost screening for mental health disorders in other areas of care.
  • Extreme Risk Protection Orders: HB19-1177
    • Allows for a family member, household member, or policy officer to petition the court for a temporary extreme risk protection order. A preponderance of evidence must be demonstrated that the individual poses a significant danger to himself or to others by owning or acquiring a firearm.
  • Youth Mental Health Education And Suicide Prevention: HB19-1120
    • Allows for minors of twelve years of age to seek psychotherapy with or without the consent of their guardians. Requires the mental health professional discuss the importance of notifying the parents or guardians. Requires that if the professional believes the minor is in imminent danger of committing suicide that the parents or guardians be informed.

  May-2023- Last update

Affordable Housing

In the 2019 legislative session, we worked to address the issue of affordable housing to increasing the supply and creating more protections for renters.

  May-2023- Last update

Consumer Protections

  • Retirement Security/Secure Savings Board: SB19-173
    • This bill creates a Secure Savings Board to analyze and make recommendations on how to create a retirement savings plan that is available to private sector employees, so that all workers in Colorado have the tools to plan for a secure retirement.
  • Open Internet Consumer Protections in Colorado: SB19-078
    • Protects a free and open Internet in Colorado by leveraging state dollars to ensure fair practices are used by internet service providers. Disqualifies an ISP from receiving state grant money if they interfere with the open internet and gives a preference for state contracts to ISPs that respect net neutrality.
  • Family Medical Leave Insurance Program: SB19-188
    • Over 90 percent of Coloradans don’t have access to paid leave to care for a sick loved one or a newborn. This bill creates an outline and implementation schedule that lays the foundation for a strong, robust paid family leave policy for Colorado workers and businesses by 2024.
  • Local Government Minimum Wage: HB19-1210
    • This bill will allow local governments to adjust their minimum wage up to more effectively address the local cost of living, rather than have to adhere to a statewide standard in a state where local real estate markets and health care costs vary dramatically.

  May-2023- Last update

Election Reform

In 2019 we passed legislation to encourage participation in our democracy while giving people an equal voice in the presidential election.

  • National Popular Vote: SB19-042
    • Colorado enters an agreement with other states that when the compact’s electoral vote share reaches 270 that the national popular vote winner of the presidential election will receive all electoral votes in the compact
  • Colorado Votes Act: HB19-1278
    • This bill continues to move Colorado forward on making voting accessible to all eligible Coloradans. Increases access to the ballot and minimize long lines on Election Day by updating the formula for drop-boxes and Voter Service and Polling Centers; allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they will turn 18 and be eligible to vote in the general election; and making other cleanup changes to election law.
  • The Clean Campaign Act of 2019: HB19-1318
    • This bill will help bring more transparency and accountability into our elections so voters know who is spending money to influence their votes. Increases disclosure requirements for political spending by dark money groups in our elections, closes loopholes that allowed foreign money in Colorado elections, expands “paid for by” statements to improve transparency, and tightens coordination laws.
  • Lobbyist Transparency Act: HB19-1248
    • Improves transparency of lobbying activities at our state legislature by requiring lobbyists to report more frequently on their clients and bills they’re lobbying, as well as closing various loopholes on transparency.
  • Management of Legislative Workplace Conduct: SB19-244
    • Creates the Office of Legislative Workplace Relations at the legislature to receive and manage HR and workplace harassment issues, and creates a bipartisan committee to oversee complaints and help ensure accountability. Improves victim confidentiality and processes for handling formal or informal complaints.
  • Campaign Finance Enforcement: SB19-232
    • This bill will help ensure stronger enforcement of Colorado’s campaign finance laws and give voters more confidence that the system works for them – not special interests and mystery money groups.
  • Census Outreach Program: HB19-1239
    • This bill awards grants to local governments and nonprofits to do community outreach to help ensure a complete count of Coloradans for the 2020 census.
  • Automatic Voter Registration: SB19-235
    • Improves access to the ballot and expands the ability to participate in our democracy by implementing automatic voter registration for eligible Coloradans who visit the DMV, and eventually Medicaid applicants. The bill includes opportunities for these individuals to opt out if they so choose.
  • Expand Disclosure Electioneering Communications: SB19-068
    • This bill will provide additional transparency in election communications by closing a loophole that allowed for unreported mass communications between primary and general elections and requiring anyone spending $1,000+ per year on these communications to tell voters plainly who they are.

  May-2023- Last update

Equal Rights

In the 2019 session, we worked to create protections for LGBTQ+ youth, recognition and respect for identity, and ensure that people receive equal pay for equal work.

  May-2023- Last update

Criminal Justice

In the 2019 legislative session we worked on creating a more fair and equitable criminal justice system.

1 - Major Bills   May-2023- Last update

  • Limit on Job Applicant Criminal History Inquiries: HB19-1025
    • This bill prevents employers from asking about criminal history on an initial job application, but allows them to inquire at any other stage of the hiring process. This gives applicants a chance to demonstrate their qualifications for a position based on their merit and skill and to tell their own story during an interview, rather than being immediately passed over.
  • Free Menstrual Hygiene Products In Custody: HB19-1224
    • Requires correctional facilities and jails to provide free menstrual hygiene products at no cost to the person in custody. Each woman’s body is different and we must ensure the state is treating all women, including those that are in custody, with the respect and dignity that they deserve.
  • No Monetary Bail For Low-Level Offenses: HB19-1225
    • Prior to this new law, people who committed minor offenses were often kept in jail simply because they couldn’t afford to pay bail. This law helps avoid unnecessary pretrial detention by eliminating cash bail for petty & traffic offenses such as having an open container or shoplifting less than $50 worth of goods.
  • Bond Reform: HB19-1226
    • This bill moves Colorado towards a fairer and more equitable criminal justice system by making changes to our bail, bond, and pretrial services systems to better serve the community and the rights of defendants.
  • Increased Eligibility For Record Sealing: HB19-1275
    • This bill will help broaden access to record sealing for lower level offenses, allowing more people to successfully maintain housing and employment and help them move on from their past mistakes after they have served their sentences. The bill streamlines record sealing processes, expands eligibility, and gives victims and prosecutors the opportunity to give input to the judge when deciding on sealings.
  • Juvenile Justice Reform: SB19-108
    • Research shows diverting low-risk youth into community options like restorative justice rather than incarceration is more effective for rehabilitation and overall public safety. This bill expands opportunities for diversion by using validated risk and needs assessments in diversion decisions for juvenile offenders.
  • Parole Changes: SB19-143
    • This bill will allow the Department of Corrections to better manage their population when the vacancy rate falls below 3%. It will better align parole board decision making with the parole release guidelines for people who have been assessed to be less than high risk, reduce parole revocations for technical violations, and make it easier for individuals to access reentry services after release.
  • Prompt Pretrial Liberty And Fairness: SB19-191
    • Creates additional rights for defendants related to their ability to release from jail on bond. Previously, defendants sometimes sat multiple days in jail before a judge set their bond or before they could be released once bond was set. This bill tasks the judicial districts to set tighter timelines for these hearings, sets firm deadlines for a defendant to be able to post bond and be released, and limits bond-related fees.

  May-2023- Last update

State Budget and Transportation

We referred measures to retain revenue to provide funding for public schools, higher education, roads, bridges, and transit.

1 - State Budget   May-2023- Last update

2 - Transportation   May-2023- Last update

  • Investment In Transportation: SB19-261, Sb19-262, SB19-263
    • We worked on creative and collaborative solutions to our transportation problems by passing three bills to help responsibly invest in the transportation needs of the state. These bills are a part of the bipartisan $300 million agreement for transportation funding.

  May-2023- Last update

Transportation

I understand the need for a multi-faceted approach to transportation challenges.  I will work to implement more public transportation solutions while developing non-traditional ways of commuting.  I will work to repair existing roads and bridges while adapting and creating innovative, multi-modal transit options to accommodate our growing population.