What’s Happening in Colorado
* New Leadership has emerged for the Senate Democrats.
Democratic Senator Robert Rodriguez was elected by his colleagues as the Senate Majority Leader, replacing Senator Dominick Moreno, who resigned earlier this year to join Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration. Additionally, now Senator Dafna Michaelson Jenet has been elected to replace state Senator Dominick Moreno in Senate District 21 after a Democratic vacancy committee selected her.
* Denver Mayor Mike Johnston released the city’s 2024 budget proposal to the City Council.
It is focused on five areas: affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, a revitalized downtown, a greener Denver, and housing for all. The Johnston administration also launched a new dashboard to measure the progress to house and shelter 1,000 individuals by the end of 2023.
Dig into the budget details here.
* The Interim Session continues to be hard at work in preparation for the 2024 Session
This involves the Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee, Treatment of Persons with Behavioral Health Disorders in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems, Colorado’s Child Welfare System Interim Study Committee.
Stay updated and informed here.
A View from Washington, D.C.
* With only a few days left in the fiscal year, Senate Leadership released details regarding a seven-week stopgap bill that would avert a government shutdown.
The Senate will take the first step, leaving very little time for error, to send to the House of Representatives, where potential barriers to passage exist.
Read more about what’s going on here.
* The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Office for Civil Rights, announced a proposed rule that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.
The rule updates critical provisions that help people with disabilities access health and human services and ensures individuals do not face discrimination in any program or activity receiving federal funding.
Read more about the proposed rule here.
* The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a brief report on recovery among adults in the U.S.
Findings reveal that a significant majority of adults (7 in 10) with a mental health or substance use need are in recovery, representing 50 million Americans. Additionally, people in recovery reported that the pandemic did not significantly impact their recovery journey.
