Aug 2018
It's easy to get caught up in all the stuff going on at the federal level these days. Every day (or hour, sometimes) there's a new scandal in the White House or Congress. You have to dig a little deeper just to find out which horrible judges were confirmed, or what lamentable bill was passed by Congress. Calling your Senators and Representative feels like a daily chore.
It's easy to ignore the state level. Don't. While, yes, a number of laws and judgments at the federal level can affect your life or your loved ones' lives, a lot of decisions at the state level will affect how much those federal laws get a chance to trickle down, or not. Many fewer people pay attention to the state laws, or contact their representatives, so you have a much better chance of having your voice heard. Never mind that you have a good chance to actually meet your state representatives and senators, unlike the federal level.
The Denver Post did a great write-up of the most recent Colorado State Legislative Session. Here's the rundown:
Some of these are particularly important for our NOW pillars. HB18-1018 would require truckers to be educated on ways to spot human trafficking, for example, and domestic violence victims would have a longer time in which to bring forward civil suits against their abusers in HB18-1398. Some things failed, such as a red flag law that would allow a person's guns to be confiscated if there were credible reasons to believe they were imminently going to hurt themselves or others. This could have saved lives of potential suicide victims, as well as likely stopped some domestic violence. A bill to streamline how Colorado universities and colleges deal with sexual assault also failed.
These are just some examples, and hopefully you will read the whole summary. The main thing to remember is that we all need to be participating in our local elections, and interacting with our state and local elected officials on a regular basis. These are things which affect your life in all kinds of ways, and affect lots of other women, too!