Although it starts with a splash of levity, the House Republican caucus’s video update, posted on Friday, quickly moves onto more serious ground.

“This is Jim Wilson from Salida, Colorado,” says state Rep. Yuelin Willett, R-Grand Junction, as his serious gaze dissolves into a grin and an imposing figure enters the frame, shooing away the imposter. “Not even close,” says Wilson. “I’m the real Jim Wilson.”

Once the shenanigans have been dispensed with, Wilson takes his seat in the House chamber and lays out the weekly update, and this week it’s about education.

“One of the things the State Board (of Education) is currently struggling with is how to deal with turn-around schools. Rep. (Paul) Lundeen addressed that in a bill he had in front of the Education Committee,” Wilson says, referring to the Monument Republican’s proposal to require low-performing school districts to set up accounts for every student and allow parents to draw on the funds to educate their children other ways. (According to an analysis by legislative staff, five districts would qualify in the upcoming fiscal year – Adams County 14, Aguilar, Julesburg, Westminster and Montezuma-Cortez – while Adams-Arapahoe would qualify the following year if it stays on what’s termed the “accountability clock.”)

While Lundeen’s bill died in the Democratic-controlled House committee, Wilson says, “That pointed out we have 22,000 students in turn-around schools. Those students, if they were in the first grade are now in junior high, or if they were in junior high, they are now graduating, in schools that need some serious help, and we’re trying to figure out how to address those issues.”

“One of the things that we’ll be bringing up in education is that there’s a group of folks, myself included, that are trying to put together a ground-up approach from people across the state of Colorado to see if we can help to alleviate the challenges we have in education,” Wilson says. “It’ll be similar to the State Water Plan. That’s one of the things we think is important, is to get the input of people from the ground up, because we all know issues that have been top-down in the past few years, that have gone to the voters, have gone down 60-40, or roughly 2-to-1. This an effort to really address those needs of what’s going on across the state of Colorado and get their support before we move on any legislation.”

House Republicans have been posting briefings, clips and promotional videos for some time.

Last week’s more pointed video update features House Minority Whip Lori Saine, R-Firestone, discussing “lost opportunities” at the Legislature. Those include Democrats shooting down a bill she sponsored with state Rep. Stephen Humphrey, R-Severance, that would have lifted the limit on ammunition magazine capacities, a 2013 Democratic-sponsored measure Saine says hasn’t benefited public safety but has cost the state tens of millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs.

Saine slammed majority Democrats for blocking a bill to allow the concealed carry of firearms in public schools and another bill that would have extended the state’s “Make My Day” law – allowing residents to use deadly force if they feel their life is in danger in their home – to businesses, colloquially known as “Make My Day Better” legislation.

“Democrats seem intent on destroying the families and voted down three measures that would have protected women’s rights and the unborn in our state,” she says, and then asks viewers to thank Neville, Humphrey and state Reps. Kim Ransom, Justin Everett and Dan Nordberg “for upholding their oath to the Constitution.”

Saine also noted that the House passed state Lundeen’s bill to help fight human trafficking out of the chamber and that state Rep. Perry Buck, R-Greeley, had introduced a bill she called “common sense and revenue neutral” to help with Colorado’s transportation-funding problems.

Previous updates featured House Minority Leader Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock, Assistant House Minority Leader Cole Wist, R-Centennial, state Rep. Dan Thurlow, R-Grand Junction, as well as Willett and Lundeen.

– ernest@coloradostatesman.com