Democratic state Rep. David Ortiz in the House on March 4, 2021.
When COVID-19 first hit the state, like many Coloradans, Scott LaBarre, a 52-year-old attorney from Centennial, searched for as much information as he could find.
He wanted to track the number of COVID-19 cases and the slew of sweeping executive orders that brought big changes to public life in Colorado. But he said he quickly realized he couldn’t access the state s digital information.
LaBarre lost his vision at age ten due to a childhood virus and describes himself as totally blind. He uses a screen reader, which takes text and converts it to synthetic speech, but the state websites weren’t compatible with the software.
Julie Reiskin is the executive director of Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, a disability rights advocacy organization.
As vaccines become more widely available, some people are eager for a return to life before the pandemic. But many Coloradans with disabilities are worried about the termination of accessibility measures.
The pandemic helped break barriers for people with disabilities to work from home and easily attend events like online concerts and remote church services without judgment.
For disabled folks who advocated for these measures years before, the inclusion felt bittersweet.
Julie Reiskin, executive director of the disability rights organization Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, said many people in her community disagree with the notion of going back to normal.
Colorado’s bill to create an affordability board to reduce the price of prescription drugs passed the Senate with a 19-16 vote last week after contentious debate in the chamber.
The bill’s supporters including most state Democrats and state entities like the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing say the board’s establishment of upper payment limits for certain high-cost prescription drugs will make critical medications significantly more affordable for Coloradans.
Opponents including conservative state lawmakers and pharmaceutical companies have repeatedly countered these claims, saying the board would interfere with the prescription drug market and wouldn’t actually benefit consumers.
James C. Hooper via Getty Images
Colorado school districts would have to reduce suspensions and set higher standards for school resource officers under a state bill introduced Friday that takes aim at what’s called the school-to-prison pipeline.
The bill also bans the use of handcuffs on elementary school students.
Children of color and those with disabilities are more likely to face heavy discipline that puts them in contact with the criminal justice system and derails their education, and the bill’s sponsors said they want to stop the “criminalization of youth.”
“Black, brown, queer and disabled kids are disproportionately impacted by harsh discipline policies, and we have to change it,” said state Rep. Leslie Herod, a Denver Democrat and sponsor of the bill. Herod, who also spearheaded last year’s landmark police reform bill, chairs the Black Democratic Legislative Caucus of Colorado. Its members have signed on as sponsors of the bill.
LOVELAND Chad Wittenmyer’s long, red beard has grown unmanaged since March, seemingly at the same rate as his pain.
Twelve months ago, the 40-year old father and stepfather of four was fabricating windmill blades and was in the best shape of his adult life.
But after he contracted COVID-19 in March, a host of medical issues started to emerge. Constant fatigue set in. His heart rhythm was off, and he struggled to breathe under exertion. Eventually, pains and neuropathies developed in his extremities.
Wittenmyer is among those suffering the worst form of “Long COVID,” a catch-all for ongoing symptoms that some COVID-19 survivors endure after the infection period.