2019 Policy Summit Takes Place in Denver

Colorado Common Cause is hosting its first annual Policy Summit focusing on Democracy Reform on Saturday, February 9th at the First Unitarian Society of Denver.

Amanda Gonzalez, Executive Director of Colorado Common Cause, says the event will feature break out sessions on a variety of issues from the 2020 Census to recent legislation on the National Popular Vote.

“We think that we have an opportunity to make real improvements around unmasking dark money, increasing disclosure, and better tracking activities of lobbyists. There’s also going to be a bill that’s going to help improve automatic voter registration and make sure that we get some of the formulas right for voter service and polling centers in 2020. in 2018… people waited up to two hours to vote in person, and we want to make sure that we don’t have people that are having to be late just to vote the next time we have an election.”

Along with census work and voting, Common Cause is also working on ways to reform TABOR (the taxpayer bill of rights,) a bill that ties tax revenue with inflation and population growth, unless otherwise approved by a vote of the people.

“We are looking at ways we can help ensure our elected officials are able to do the things that we want them to do… It really ties the hands of some of our elected officials. We are looking at ways that we can improve that, and it would likely be a ballot measure, but we’re still exploring the legal parameters.”

Gonzalez hopes for people of all backgrounds to attend the summit and take part in helping to improve the democratic process.

“Our democracy functions best when we are all involved, and this summit is going to reflect that. We have elected officials that will be joining us; we have state senators and representatives that are running bills that will be there to talk about them. We also have attorneys and a continuing legal education track. We have a discounted rate for students; we have some high school students who are some signed up, who are interested in ways that they can engage better in our democracy. the goal is that this is enough education so that even if your new to this work or you’re just curious about it, you’d be able to learn.”

The Summit on Democracy Reform will be held on February 9th, at the First Unitarian Society of Denver, 1400 N Lafayette St, Denver, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Registration in advance is recommended. Included with registration is lunch. After the Summit there will be a happy hour and silent auction.

To Register, or for more information, go to:
https://actionnetwork.org/ticketed_events/2019-policy-summit

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