leroy garcia Archives

Firefighter cancer fund personal for Colorado Springs’ Exum, whose bill lets him continue to save lives

May 5, 2017

—

by

Rep. Tony Exum Sr. knows too well the cancer risks a firefighter takes in the flames and fumes, as well as the financial devastation a cancer diagnosis can take. He worked for nearly 36 years as a Colorado Springs firefighter. Exum watched watched fellow first-responders wither away under a state law passed in 2007 that lumped firefighters’ cancer…

Hickenlooper signs Esgar-Garcia bill creating specialty license plate to recognize Pueblo chile

Apr 18, 2017

—

by

Ernest Luning

Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday signed a bill to create a specialty license plate recognizing Pueblo chile, but it appears the state’s neighbor to the south will beat Colorado to the bumper with its own license plates featuring New Mexico’s famous Hatch chile. “This is a proud day for all of Colorado, not just for…

Navarro: What’s being done about opioid use in Colorado?

Apr 18, 2017

—

by

Clarice Navarro

There is an opioid crisis in Colorado and across the nation. Colorado, and especially southern Colorado, has seen an increase in use and abuse of opioids. Traditionally, when we hear the word opioid we think of the “junkie,” but that’s not where it ends or begins. With the rise in use and abuse, we see…

Pueblo Chile plate heads to Colorado governor hot off loss to New Mexico

Apr 12, 2017

—

by

Joey Bunch

Every legislative session, at least one bill gets an outsized amount of attention. This year, it’s the Pueblo Chile specialty license plate. On Tuesday the state Senate passed House Bill 1012 to the governor to be signed into law. Maybe it was the heat of competition. Legislators in Colorado and New Mexico were racing to…

Colorado veteran-care bills speed through Senate, championed by Pueblo’s Garcia

Mar 30, 2017

—

by

John Tomasic

State Sen. Leroy Garcia is an understated lawmaker who is probably best known for working to win greater accountability from the electrical utilities that serve his native Pueblo and, more recently for his efforts to combat the opioid epidemic plaguing rural Colorado. But Garcia is also an Iraq War veteran Marine, and his dedication to…

Dominick Moreno discusses hard budget choices, winning election as a youngster and accidentally finding the panic button

Mar 29, 2017

—

by

Ernest Luning

State Sen. Dominick Moreno, a Commerce City Democrat, has been in office longer than many of his fellow lawmakers but is still the youngest member of the state Senate, a distinction he explores in this week’s episode of “Behind the Politics,” a podcast produced by the Senate Democrats. The 32-year-old member of the Joint Budget Committee also talks about…

Opioid efforts locally and nationally unite Republicans and Democrats

Mar 15, 2017

—

by

JOEY BUNCH

A bipartisan group of Colorado state senators and representatives are taking on opioid addiction in a meaningful way with two bills pending before the Senate. One would create a national research center in Colorado, and the other would foster medication and counseling programs counties could use to get a handle on local issues. And pot users are…

Leroy Garcia talks Pueblo, treatment for opioid abuse in Senate Dems’ inaugural podcast

Mar 13, 2017

—

by

Ernest Luning

Assistant Minority Leader Leroy Garcia discusses Pueblo, a bill to combat opioid abuse and the importance of reading early in life in the first episode of “Behind the Politics,” a weekly podcast produced by the Senate Democrats. Garcia, a Pueblo Democrat, calls Pueblo a fascinating community and recommends visiting Lake Pueblo, one of the area’s most…

At midsession mark, state Senate Dems celebrate minority party successes

Mar 9, 2017

—

by

John Tomasic

Minority Party Democrats can’t control the agenda in the state Senate, so they’re picking their spots, members told reporters gathered Wednesday for a brief midsession report. They celebrated successes notched so far this session. Sens. Leroy Garcia from Pueblo and Cheri Jahn from Wheat Ridge touted work to address the plague of opioid addiction sweeping…

House votes unanimously to add John Buckner’s name to organ donor awareness fund

Mar 2, 2017

—

by

Ernest Luning

Her tears, she said, were tears of joy. “This gives me so much joy. You don’t have any idea. Now I have peace,” said state Rep. Janet Buckner Wednesday morning from the well of the House of Representatives. “In church, we say ‘a peace that passes all understanding,’” the Aurora Democrat added and then thanked…