May 19, 2026: DeGette on why she should stay in Congress; 'Raising Colorado' on broken child care system

Summary

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Colorado Matters – May 19, 2026

Main Theme

This episode of Colorado Matters centers around two major topics:

1. An in-depth interview with Congresswoman Diana DeGette, who is seeking re-election in Denver's 1st Congressional District, discussing her legislative priorities, leadership, and the question of tenure in Congress.
2. The launch of a new CPR News series, "Raising Colorado," which investigates the failures of Colorado's child care system and the widespread, cross-sector effects of the crisis.

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I. Interview with Congresswoman Diana DeGette

Motivation and Legislative Power

• Experience & Ambition: Diana DeGette emphasizes the value of her seniority and experience, aiming to leverage her potential committee chairmanship to drive key health policy reforms.
  • “Next year when we win the majority, I'll be the chair of that subcommittee. I'll have a gavel and I will be able to actually bring Medicare for all single payer health care system for a vote.” (DeGette, [02:26])
  • “It took 30 years to get to that point because of the seniority system... I will have the power to be able to address the high cost of healthcare, the high cost of prescription drugs.” (DeGette, [16:51])

Responding to Voter and National Concerns

• Chaos and Uncertainty: DeGette identifies a national mood of concern due to Donald Trump’s politics, cost-of-living spikes, and international conflicts (notably in Iran and Gaza).
  • “There's a mood in the country right now that is unsettled.” (DeGette, [01:38])
• Leadership in a Crisis: She frames her candidacy as providing stability and the ability to take meaningful action, especially on progressive issues.

Medicare for All & Health Care Costs

• Argument for Single Payer: DeGette reiterates her commitment to universal health care and outlines practical legislative steps.
  • “We need to cap medical costs by moving towards a single payer system.” (DeGette, [00:16])
  • “Americans that we need to cap medical costs by moving towards a single payer system.” (DeGette, [04:12])
• Progressive Approaches: She highlights alliances with newer progressive members, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to craft modern solutions.
  • “I've sort of hand-selected... Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and some other really great newer members who I'm already talking to about how we can begin to craft this.” (DeGette, [05:28])

Immigration Policy

• Comprehensive Reform & Humanitarian Focus:
  • “We need to have a comprehensive immigration policy... people who have been here for a long time... should be getting an opportunity to apply for permanent status.” (DeGette, [10:05])
  • She recalls her leadership in investigating and mitigating family separations at the border under Trump, noting the emotional impact of these policies on children.
    • “It almost makes me cry to this day to think that that's what our country did to them.” (DeGette, [12:05])

Wars in Iran and Gaza, and Federal Spending

• On Iran: DeGette calls current US involvement "an illegal war," underscores Congressional resistance to additional funding, and critiques Trump’s spending priorities.
  • “It's almost a billion dollars a day for this illegal war. We are not going to allow that money to come forward.” (DeGette, [08:03])
• On Gaza:
  • “What I have said is...it is deeply horrifying what happened in Gaza... any innocent person who is killed in a war like this, it's a tragedy.” (DeGette, [14:40])
  • Expresses support for humanitarian aid and a two-state solution: “I believe Israel should have a nation and I believe Palestine... should have a nation... We should not be giving offensive weapons to Israel, and, in fact, I voted against that.” (DeGette, [15:53])

Tenure in Congress and Founder's Intent

• Debate on Length of Service:
  • “There is a level of experience in fighting for our principles that we need to have in Congress... At the same time, we need to bring new members in and we need to have people with new ideas.” (DeGette, [16:51])
  • Highlights her ability to effect change through leadership, referencing direct influence with Speaker Pelosi to bring up Roe v. Wade restoration.
    • “A brand new member of Congress may feel passionately about reproductive freedoms, but I'm going to guarantee you they're not going to be able to call the speaker and tell them to put a bill like that on the floor.” (DeGette, [18:45])

Partisanship & Bipartisanship

• Promotes working across the aisle and cites key bipartisan legislative accomplishments (e.g., 21st Century Cures Bill).
  • “The last bill that President Obama signed was my 21st Century Cures Bill. I did this with a Republican from Michigan.” (DeGette, [19:52])

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On ICE: “Defund and dismantle ICE. Get rid of ICE, because it's a rogue agency... It has become a domestic military agency with masks rampaging around our streets, going after American citizens.” (DeGette, [06:45])
• On Trump Spending Priorities: “...In Donald Trump’s budget... he has cuts...for diseases like cancer...and proposes huge increases in spending for the Department of Defense. That's insane.” (DeGette, [08:03])

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II. Raising Colorado: The Untold Story of a Broken Child Care System

Reporter: Jenny Brundeen

Why is Child Care a Crisis Now?

• Runaway Costs:
  • Average cost for infant care at a center is $21,000 per year; for infant and toddler, $35,000—well above what the federal government considers affordable. ([22:29])
• Systemic Failures:
  • Universal pre-K for 4-year-olds unexpectedly damaged the financial viability of private care providers, who relied on older kids to subsidize infant care. Many centers close infant rooms.
  • Massive wait lists: In Denver, one center has a 100-infant wait list; statewide, 14,000 children are waiting for care. ([23:44], [24:10])

Breakdown of Key Challenges

• CCAP Freeze: State subsidy for low-income families (CCAP) has been frozen in 24 counties, including the 10 most populous. Contributing factors:

  • Expiration of federal pandemic support.
  • Policy changes resulting in reduced reimbursement to providers, limiting new enrollments.

• Personal Impact Stories:

  • Example: Melissa Roman, single mom, had to abandon police academy plans due to lack of childcare, now works from home at a call center. ([24:47]–[25:04])

Why Child Care Matters Beyond Families

• Child Development: 90% of brain development occurs in first five years—strong public investment has far-reaching impacts (lower incarceration, higher graduation and earnings). ([25:34])

• Public Safety & Infrastructure:

  • Essential workers (nurses, firefighters, police) are unable to work full schedules or fill open jobs due to lack of care.
  • “Childcare needs to be treated just like roads and bridges. Without them, you can't go to work, like infrastructure.” — Chrissy Simmons, [27:03]

• Economic Impact: Estimated $2.7–$3.3 billion annual losses to Colorado’s economy from lost productivity due to parents unable to work. ([26:44])

Emotional Toll on Workers

• First Responders: Stress and distraction, schedules out of sync with center hours, reliance on informal networks.
  • “...the stress of childcare can be a distraction on the job. Like the story of Sergeant Antoinette Ramos, a single mother... I was talking to the suspect on my work phone while I'm trying to text my babysitter...” ([29:39])

Policy and Perspective

• State lawmakers have made modest moves (tax credits), but “the scope of the problem is so large, so far, policymakers... are not investing in it as if it were critical infrastructure.” ([30:40])

Innovative Responses

• Shadow Networks: Rise of “nanny shares” (one nanny for 3–4 kids) as an adaptive response to system shortfalls, sometimes cheaper than traditional centers. ([32:07])
• Memorable Quote: “Desperation breeds innovation there.” — Ryan Warner, [32:21]

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III. Colorado Legislative Recap – 'Purplish' Segment

Host/Moderators: Ray Solomon, Bente Birkeland, Jesse Paul, Lucas Brady Woods

Most Consequential Legislation & Political Developments

Statewide Impacts

• TABOR Refunds & Education Funding:

  • A proposed ballot measure seeks to redirect taxpayer refunds to boost education funding—potential for $90 million increase in year one (if state finances recover and voters approve). ([33:51]–[34:18])

• Home Insurance Reform:

  • Program to reimburse homeowners for hail-resistant roofs, aimed at curbing insurance rates.

• Homelessness Strategy:

  • Statewide collaboration authorized to address homelessness.

• Ambulance Billing Flexibility:

  • Expands what EMS can bill to support sustainable emergency services.

Notable Policy Changes

• AI Notification Law:

  • Requires entities to inform individuals when consequential decisions (e.g., hiring, banking, healthcare) are made using AI and allows appeals. ([37:47])

• Condiment Bill:

  • Bill requiring restaurants to ask before giving out single-use items, e.g., ketchup packets. ([38:26])
    • “The Democrats, they're coming for your ketchup and mustard.” —Bente Birkeland, [38:36]

• Automated Speed Camera Limits:

  • New rules mandate clear signage and restrict tickets for minor speed overages.

Budget Reality

• Lawmakers forced to make tough program cuts due to a “structural deficit”; anticipate recurring difficulties for years ahead.
  • “They cried their way through these cuts...because it's a structural deficit.” — Lucas Brady Woods, [39:35]

Political Dynamics

• Division Among Democrats:

  • Formation of the Opportunity Caucus (moderate Dems) led to behind-the-scenes disputes about priorities and transparency.
  • On the floor, key progressive bills (worker protections, overtime for ag workers) failed or were watered down.

• Republican Dynamics:

  • Senate GOP: United, on message.
  • House GOP: Disorganization and procedural slow-downs, e.g., reading bills at length, cost state time and money. ([47:12])

• Notable Moments

  • “We will give you that chance. Going into this session, the Democratic caucus...was pretty bitterly split.” — Ray Solomon, [40:43]
  • “Let me try and condiment on this situation.” — Jesse Paul, [43:09]

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IV. Memorable Quotes & Takeaways

• Diana DeGette:

  • “Defund and dismantle ICE. Get rid of ICE, because it's a rogue agency.” ([06:45])
  • “I believe Israel should have a nation and I believe Palestine...should have a nation and I believe we need to move towards that solution.” ([15:53])
  • “There are still a few kids. They never did find the parents. That is so. It almost makes me cry to this day to think that that's what our country did to them.” ([12:05])

• Jenny Brundeen:

  • “It's a perfect storm of at least three factors.” ([22:29])
  • “For many child care advocates, the simple fact that 90% of a child's brain development occurs in the first five years, that should be reason enough for public investment.” ([25:34])

• Chrissy Simmons:

  • “Childcare needs to be treated just like roads and bridges. Without them, you can't go to work like infrastructure.” ([27:03])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00]–[21:09]: Diana DeGette interview (Congress, healthcare, immigration, war, leadership)
• [22:21]–[32:33]: “Raising Colorado” — Child care crisis
• [33:37]–[49:12]: Legislative roundtable (“Purplish”): major 2026 session laws, budget, and party politics

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V. Episode Flow and Tone

The tone oscillates between urgent, analytical, and earnest—driven by high-stakes policy questions and the personal struggles uncovered in the child care series. The elected officials and journalists balance calls for pragmatic bipartisan cooperation with frank acknowledgments of gridlock, division, and the burdens shouldered by everyday Coloradans.

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Useful For:
Anyone interested in Colorado politics, congressional leadership, the intersection of social issues and policy, and the practical impact of legislative decisions on daily life—especially those who want to understand the state’s child care crisis and how the statehouse is (or isn’t) responding to mounting economic and family pressures.

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Transcript

[Ryan Warner]

From cpr news, this is colorado matters. Stick with me is the message from longtime Congresswoman Diana DeGette. If she's re elected, she hopes to be in the majority on a powerful committee.

[Diana DeGette]

We need to cap medical costs by moving towards a single payer system. And I will finally be in a position where I will have the gavel and I'll be able to set the

[Ryan Warner]

agenda I asked to get. If she thinks the founding fathers intended people to serve for 30 years, that says our interviews continue with the Democratic primary candidates in the first Congressional District. Then what if we thought of childcare as infrastructure?

[Chrissy Simmons]

Childcare needs to be treated just like roads and bridges. Without them you can't go to work

[Ryan Warner]

and new state laws that could have the most impact. This is Colorado Matters from CPR News and krcc. I'm Ryan Warner. A familiar name will be on the Democratic primary ballot in Denver. Diana DeGette wants to stay in Congress. She's our guest today. We are hearing from all three candidates in the race this week. The winner will face Republican Christy Peterson in the fall. Representative, welcome back to the program.

[Diana DeGette]

Great to be with you as always.

[Ryan Warner]

You became a member of Congress in 1997, making this your 16th primary. How is this one different, if at all?

[Diana DeGette]

Well, of course this year we have chaos because of Donald Trump in our country and voters are really, really concerned and worried. They want to elect people who are going to fight back against Donald Trump and also people who are going to address the affordability crisis, health care, prescript prescription drug costs now with the war in Iran, gasoline prices and fuel prices. So there's a mood in the country right now that is unsettled.

[Ryan Warner]

And how does that shape the race? Because I'm interested in how this is different from past makeups of primaries.

[Diana DeGette]

Well, I think that what the voters in the 1st congressional district want to know and this is true of voters everywhere, who is going to fight for them and who's going to fight against Donald Trump in Congress. And they want to know who has the power to do it. So I'm talking to the voters about how my power in Congress, I'm the ranking Democrat on the health subcommittee. Next year when we win the majority, I'll be the chair of that subcommittee. I'll have a gavel and I will be able to actually bring Medicare for all single payer health care system for a vote. I'll be able to craft that as the chair of that committee. Also as the co chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, I will have the ability to bring legislation forward that can help us put Roe versus Wade into law. So things like leadership like that, that's what I'm talking to the voters of the first Congressional District about.

[Ryan Warner]

You only narrowly made the primary ballot. Has that happened before?

[Diana DeGette]

Well, so this year, what happened, you had a very enthusiastic group of people for one of my opponents and they helped propel her to the primary ballot. And I say good for them. But now really, I'm talking to the hundreds of thousands of people in the 1st congressional district who will vote in the Democratic primary. And frankly, that was our plan all along because we know what the atmosphere is like in this country and we know that people are looking for members of Congress who will show leadership.

[Ryan Warner]

Let's go deeper into the cost of living. Obviously, that encompasses a lot. Housing, childcare, food, gas. You invoked Medicare for all to a Democrat who looks at a tenure of some 30 years and says, why hasn't this happened before? More meaningful health care reform. What do you say?

[Diana DeGette]

Well, we have had meaningful health care reform. I was part of the effort to pass the Affordable Care act, which gave millions of Americans health care for the first time in their lives. And just this last year, I was leading the fight against the Medicaid cuts that are going to take maybe 15 million people in this country country off of Medicaid. But what has happened over the last number of years is health care, prescription drugs, but also health care in general insurance has just started to go up and up and up. Of course, this was made worse when the Republicans in Congress and President Trump refused to extend the tax credits for millions of Americans. So now they can't even afford to go on the exchange. It's becoming more, more and more apparent to Americans that we need to cap medical costs by moving towards a single payer system. And since I've been on the Health subcommittee and the parent committee, Energy and Commerce for my entire time, I will finally be in a position where I will have the gavel and I'll be able to set the agenda.

[Ryan Warner]

Will Medicare for all be a requirement for every American or an option for everybody?

[Diana DeGette]

Yeah. What we will have to do once we get the majority, and I hope we'll get the Senate majority too, we'll have to have a broad range of hearings bringing every stakeholder group in and talking about how we get to a system where everybody can get the medical care that they need. I have a really crackerjack group of people who I've sort of hand selected to be on my committee, including Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez and some Other really great newer members who I'm already talking to about how we can begin to craft this so in the next session of Congress, we can really take a deep dive. I don't need to tell you that the Republicans who are in charge right now are doing virtually nothing to address the cost of health care or the high cost of prescription drugs. Gasoline is through the roof. And Donald Trump just pooh poos it. He says, oh, affordability, that's just a bad word. But in fact, it's something that people in the 1st congressional district are seeing every day, and it's gonna take a tough effort to deal with it.

[Ryan Warner]

It's interesting, of all of the members of Congress you could have pointed to, you pointed to AOC. Is that Diana DeGette saying, hey, look at me as a progressive?

[Diana DeGette]

Well, I've always been progressive and I've worked with people from across the spectrum, but also from across the aisle. But my core values have always been progressive. I've been a member of the Progressive Caucus. I'll give you an example. A lot of us are saying, defund and dismantle ice. Get rid of ice, because it's a rogue agency. It has become a domestic military agency with masks rampaging around our streets, going after American citizens. I didn't just come to that view, like last year. I voted against the Department of Homeland Security when it was established because I was afraid having this big monolithic security agency targeted at US Citizens would turn into something like a domestic military force, which is exactly what has happened here.

[Ryan Warner]

This is in the post 911 era.

[Diana DeGette]

That's right.

[Ryan Warner]

Well, we could go in any number of directions. How about Iran, which you've invoked a few times. The war, deeply unpopular. You know, voters may think, I don't feel like I have a lot of power in this situation. I have the power to change my representative. What would you tell them?

[Diana DeGette]

Well, I mean, the Democrats in Congress have been fighting hard against this illegal war. The war was illegal from the beginning because Donald Trump never came to Congress to get approval. We have been fighting. We have brought up several times war power resolutions. We brought it to the floor under a privileged resolution, a procedural way, and we almost passed it because some of the Republicans voted for us. So we keep pushing hard and fighting hard. We didn't just bring it up once and say, oh, well, we keep bringing it up to point out that this is an illegal war. It is now 60 days. And so there's no argument that this war is legal, that Donald Trump had these authorities. We're going to Keep pushing hard to stop it. But the next thing that's going to happen is they're going to come to Congress and ask for spending. It's almost a billion dollars a day for this illegal war. We are not going to allow that money to come forward. And by the way, in Donald Trump's budget that he just sent to Congress, he has cuts. He proposes cuts for housing, for student loan repayments. He proposes cuts for spending for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's and diabetes at the National Instit. And then at the same time, he proposes huge increases in spending for the Department of Defense. That's insane. So people like me are already pushing back against that. We had RFK Jr. In front of my subcommittee, my health subcommittee, and I led the fight against all of the cuts that they want to make. And we're going to continue to do that. I think that we're going to be able to really shape this with the

[Ryan Warner]

power of the purse strings.

[Diana DeGette]

With the power of the purse strings. And even though we don't have the gavels, the American public is with us on this defense spending.

[Ryan Warner]

What is the right level of federal immigration enforcement in your mind?

[Diana DeGette]

DIANA DE so we need to have a comprehensive immigration policy. I have felt that way for a long time. What that means is for people who have been here for a long time and who have been following the laws, they've actually been paying taxes, even though they don't get anything back because they're not eligible for federal benefits, they should be getting an opportunity to apply for permanent status, either citizenship or get a green card or something. And their kids, the DACA recipients, should be able to become U.S. citizens. And then we need to look at the way we have our visa system set up so that workers who just want to come in and work, whether it's high tech, whether it's in agriculture or other important industries, should be able to go back and forth legally and not have to do that. I thought that for many, many years, and I've fighting for that, maybe. I mean, what Donald Trump has been doing is inhumane and immoral. And one of the things I've really focused on is the kids. Because my committee, the Health Subcommittee of Energy and Commerce, that I'm the ranking member, we have jurisdiction over hhs and they're the ones that are supposed to be taking care of these kids. You might remember under the first Trump administration, when they separated the kids from their families, families and they took them away, I led a delegation to the border and I also then led some oversight investigations calling out the Trump administration. The result of that was eventually most of those kids were reunited with their families. And frankly, we're still trying to find some whose parents went back to the home country. So there's a lot to unpack with immigration. But basically it's not American to do what Donald Trump has been doing to these populations.

[Ryan Warner]

You're still trying, trying to repatriate kids with their families.

[Diana DeGette]

So most of the kids who got separated by the Trump administration when they took them away, they didn't have any identification of those kids. And this is what we found out during our investigation. So we called it out, we pushed hard on hhs and they began to repatriate it. We were able to do most of that under the Biden administration. When President Biden came in, we were able to find those kids parents. There are still a few of those kids. The most heartbreaking situation, their parents either were deported to the home countries or something happened. There's still a few kids. They never did find the parents. That is so. It almost makes me cry to this day to think that that's what our country did to them.

[Ryan Warner]

This is a matter more of state policy. But you said that folks illegally in the country don't receive federal benefits. In Colorado, they have women and children received Medicaid and that has driven up the cost of Medicaid in Colorado. So just a fact check there and a little context.

[Diana DeGette]

So what I will tell you is with the budget crisis that was caused in Colorado by the Republicans, big bad bill HR1 and the cuts that they had to Medicaid, the state is having to limit some of those Medicaid services to women and children. But I would argue we should be giving Medicaid, federal Medicaid to everybody, no matter what their status is, particularly women and children, because it's a lot cheaper to give people health care for wellness and for prevention. I don't care who it is before they get sick, rather than having them go to the emergency room where they have to be treated after they get sick.

[Ryan Warner]

She's the congresswoman for Denver and Glendale. And it's a job Diana DeGette wishes to keep. We're hearing from the Democrats in the Democratic primary for the 1st congressional district this week. When we come back, the war in Gaza. This is Colorado Matters from CPR News. It's Colorado Matters from CPR News. I'm Ryan Warner. It was Wanda James yesterday. Mailad Kira's tomorrow. For now, let's get Back to Diana DeGette, the longtime incumbent Democrat running to Represent Denver. Indeed. She's in a three way primary. Ballots for the June 30th election hit the mail soon. Diana DeGette, are you the right candidate for a voter who thinks the war in Gaza is genocidal?

[Diana DeGette]

So what I have said is it is, it is deeply horrifying what happened in Gaza and what happened throughout that any innocent person who is killed in a war like this, it's a tragedy. And now what we need to do is we need to make sure we have maximum aid in Gaza and throughout the region to help rebuild Gaza and to help those families there. Humanitarian aid has to be a top priority of the United States.

[Ryan Warner]

And does the United States have in Israel a willing partner in that goal?

[Diana DeGette]

Well, I don't think that Israel has been forthcoming enough with the aid. It looks like now there is more aid coming in and I am checking this every day. But I'm also checking the Trump budget to make sure we have enough US Aid going into Gaza to rebuild it and to help stabilize that region.

[Ryan Warner]

And do we, in your mind, we're

[Diana DeGette]

not in his budget? I don't think we do. But I think that as it works its way through, the Democrats are going to make sure that we do.

[Ryan Warner]

Is there any change that you'd make to US Support for Israel financially?

[Diana DeGette]

What I have said is that Israel, I believe in a two state solution. I believe Israel should have a nation and I believe Palestine, Palestine should have a nation and I believe we need to move towards that solution. I believe Israel has a right to defend itself. I saw a video recently of missiles coming into Tel Aviv from another country. I think Lebanon and the Iron Dome was able to shoot those down. So that's defensive weapons. But I feel strongly we should not be giving offensive weapons to Israel. And in fact, I voted against that.

[Ryan Warner]

The average life expectancy around the time of the Founding fathers was between 35 and 38. You have served almost that long in Congress. And I want to know if you think a tenure like yours is what the Founding Fathers envisioned.

[Diana DeGette]

So the way, so what I have to say is that, that there is a level of experience in fighting for our principles that we need to have in Congress. And as I said, I now have the power. When we take the majority, I will be the chair of one of the most influential subcommittees in Congress. It took 30 years to get to that point because of the seniority system. We can talk about that system another day. But that's the system. So I will have a gavel, I will have subpoena power. I will be able to haul RFK junior And subpoena documents. I'll be able to get all of that in. And I will have the power to be able to address the high cost of healthcare, the high cost of prescription drugs. And also, though it's important that we have people with that level of experience and power and leadership, at the same time, we need to bring new members in and we need to have people with new ideas who are going to work as part of the team, who will be the next generation of leaderships. That's why I work with people like AOC and a number of other junior members to bring them along. There's several great members on my subcommittee who I've sort of helped hand pick to be on the Health subcommittee. Jake Ochencloss from Massachusetts and a number of other people who are really great new members. But you kind of need both. If you have a whole bunch of people who just got there, they won't even be on those committees, much less have the power. I like to tell a story. When the Democrats took the majority the last time and when the Dobbs decision came down, that was the one that overturned Roe v. Wade.

[Bente Birkeland]

Yes.

[Diana DeGette]

I called Nancy Pelosi the next day on her cell phone because I'm the chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus. I called Nancy and I said, nancy, next week I want you to put the bill that reinstates Roe vs. Wade nationally on the floor. And I will guarantee you I have the votes to pass it. She said, okay, Diana, and she did. And we passed it through the House two times. Now what I'm trying to do, I will be able to do that when we take the majority in the House. We have to figure out how to get it through the Senate. And I'm working with my colleagues in the Senate figuring out how to do that. A brand new member of Congress may feel passionately about reproductive freedoms, but I'm going to guarantee you they're not going to be able to call the speaker and tell them to put a bill like that on the floor.

[Ryan Warner]

The idea here is that Democrats regain control of the House and as you have said, possibly the U.S. senate. Let's imagine a world where that doesn't occur. Why is Diana to get the right representative to stand up to whatever's next?

[Diana DeGette]

Well, what I'm going to plan on doing is retaking the majority. And frankly, most of my Republican colleagues think we're going to too, because some of them have already been coming to me and asking me to bring their bills up when I'm the chair of the subcommittee. But, you know, if, God forbid, we don't take back the majority, then I will continue to work for the good of my constituents in a bipartisan way. For example, the last bill that President Obama signed was my 21st Century Cures Bill. I did this with a Republican from Michigan. And we restructured the whole way we do biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health and then the way we do drug and device approval at the FDA to get cures faster to patients. And frankly, the authorities that we came up with in 21st century cures were what helped them get the approvals for the COVID vaccine. So there's a lot of things that can happen in a bipartisan way. But I believe that members of Congress like me, we need to have core values of standing up against injustice, standing up against bullies like Donald Trump, but then being able to go find common ground across the aisle, like if we're dealing with health care or something like that.

[Ryan Warner]

Thank you so much for being with us.

[Diana DeGette]

Always great to be with you. Thanks for having me.

[Ryan Warner]

Congresswoman Diana DeGette hopes to keep her seat. All three interviews with the Democratic primary candidates are [e-mail] where you can listen or read full transcripts tomorrow here on air. It's Melot Heroes. And Colorado Matters continues in the next half hour with a new series about the crushing cost of child care. I'm Ryan Warner. You're with CPR News and krcc. This is Colorado Matters from CPR News in krcc. I'm Ryan Warner. The cost of child care in Colorado is astronomical, akin to a mortgage or college tuition. With a 14,000 child wait list and child care deserts. The system is a precarious patchwork. Parents who are essential workers think nurses, firefighters, police officers are in a bind, which means we all are. Our education reporter Jenny Brundeen begins a new series, raising Colorado the Untold Story of a Broken Child Care System. And hi, Jen.

[Jenny Brundeen]

Hi, Ryan.

[Ryan Warner]

It does seem like we've been talking about the cost of childcare for some time. But what makes this a crisis now?

[Jenny Brundeen]

Well, we've got a few things going on. It's a perfect storm of at least three factors. First, for middle income parents, inflation has pushed costs into the stratosphere. It now costs an average of $21,000 for an infant at a center, and that's per year, well above what the federal government considers affordable. For an infant and toddler, it's 35,000.

[Ryan Warner]

I mean, that's truly like a college tuition.

[Jenny Brundeen]

Yeah. Another factor is A bit of an unintended consequence. Governor Polis universal preschool program, as you know, is very popular. It gives four year olds at least 15 hours a week. But many private providers used those four year olds to stay afloat. And by that I mean older kids require fewer teachers. So those older kids subsidized the high cost of caring for infants. Some of those families are moving to public school child care programs as part of the universal preschool program. That means some private centers are losing their extremely tiny profit margin. Many are responding by simply closing their infantry rooms. They're too expensive. In denver, I found one center with a 100 infant wait list.

[Ryan Warner]

Gosh, I'm imagining what it is to be 82 on that list and thinking, what do I do, Jenny? I imagine the third factor has to do with the state subsidy, CCAP for low income families. What's going on there?

[Jenny Brundeen]

It's in a world of hurt. Two dozen counties, and 10 of them are the most populous, have frozen new enrollments. Statewide, there are 14,000 children on the wait list to get childcare.

[Ryan Warner]

Okay, this is a story of wait lists. And why is that?

[Jenny Brundeen]

Well, first we have the pandemic cliff. During the pandemic, federal grants propped the system up. Leaders realized that if childcare collapsed the economy, especially essential workers who couldn't work from home, the economy would collapse. That pandemic money is gone. There's been a change in how the state pays providers, leaving less money to enroll new kids. So we have nearly 14,000 children on wait lists. Thousands fewer children can get care.

[Ryan Warner]

You spoke with some of the families affected by the freeze?

[Jenny Brundeen]

Yeah, Melissa Roman, she's one. She's a single mother living in Adams county and she had her eye on a six week academy.

[Diana DeGette]

I was looking into becoming a police officer. I kind of had to put that goal of mine aside and just settle for whatever I could find.

[Jenny Brundeen]

Now she's doing call center work at home to care for her daughter. So we know cities need more police officers, but the system is preventing her from becoming one.

[Ryan Warner]

She chose a job that keeps her at home because she can't find childcare.

[Jenny Brundeen]

Exactly.

[Ryan Warner]

To clarify, Colorado has a system of free part time child care for 4 year olds, but not kids 0 to 3. Jenny, why else does this matter to people who don't have kids or maybe whose kids are grown up?

[Jenny Brundeen]

For many child care advocates, the simple fact that 90% of a child's brain development occurs in the first five years, that should be reason enough for public investment. But the more you peel back the layers, Denver based child care expert Elliott Haspel says, you realize child care isn't a family luxury. It's foundational to society functioning. We know high quality child care is linked to higher graduation rates, higher earnings rates, lower incarceration rates. For those who've had quality preschool, Haspel found a chilling connection.

[Unnamed Colorado Child Fatality Review Team Member]

The Colorado Child Fatality Review Team has identified hundreds of cases of child death, unfortunately, where they say that the lack of affordable, high quality child care was a contributing factor that may have prevented that death had it been available. And they have made a formal recommendation to the state to adopt high quality, affordable child care as a way to prevent child maltreatment.

[Ryan Warner]

Heavy stuff. Let's talk about the economic impact. I have to imagine this affects Colorado's bottom line.

[Jenny Brundeen]

Yeah, significantly. All those parents on wait lists, they're working less or they're quitting jobs completely. That's an estimated 2.7 to 3.3 billion in lost earnings and productivity to Colorado economy. Here's how Chrissy Simmons, who teaches at Colorado Mesa University, puts it.

[Chrissy Simmons]

Childcare needs to be treated just like roads and bridges. Without them, you can't go to work like infrastructure.

[Ryan Warner]

But indeed, it's more than just helping other people work. Those other people are the same people we interact with every day.

[Jenny Brundeen]

Exactly. We rely on people every day who rely on childcare. Simmons explains it this way to people who may not see childcare as needing public investment.

[Chrissy Simmons]

Let me ask you this. Do you go to the doctor's office? Do you go to a restaurant? Do you have a waitress that waits on you? Or waiter? Do you go to the grocery store? Do you have a mechanic? Everybody is impacted by child care. All these people are serving your needs. It affects everybody, whether you have children, whether you're retired, it doesn't matter.

[Ryan Warner]

You spend a lot of time with firefighters, nurses, police officers, these important jobs that are already hard to fill. Jenny, do they feel the irony of being exactly what the state needs, yet being held back by the lack of what they need, which is child care?

[Jenny Brundeen]

Yeah, I think so. Many in this country are used to childcare being a private burden. They don't know any other option. But some, especially the female first responders I spoke with, believe that adequate, affordable childcare would radically reduce the stress level of first responders. Here's Deputy Jacqueline Melchor with the Douglas County Sheriff's Department.

[Deputy Jacqueline Melchor]

The public expects a high level of service, as you should. And to be able to provide that high level of service, you also need to create these conditions that make a person whole. Because our life is on the line and in a position of dispatch, your mental health is on the line. And so when it's coupled with all these other stresses, childcare is a particularly big one. How do we facilitate that for our people to be at their best and navigate what is already a very, very difficult job to do?

[Ryan Warner]

Yes, of course, the stress inherent in all of this. Tell us about some of the people you talk to. What's your sense of how the child care system works for them, you know, individually.

[Jenny Brundeen]

In this series, you'll hear many stories, some about how the stress of childcare can be a distraction on the job. Like the story of Sergeant Antoinette Ramos, a single mother remembering a night when she was the sole crisis negotiator.

[Sergeant Antoinette Ramos]

So once you're in it like that, you can't just leave. And I was talking to the suspect on my work phone while I'm trying to text my babysitter, who happened to be another law enforcement officer. So she understood. And I said, I'm sorry, I'm on this call out like, I cannot leave. I didn't get home that night until

[Jenny Brundeen]

after 2am but mainly because first responders hours are so long and irregular, they don't match up with childcare facilities hours. Here's Chelsea Ferraro, a nurse and a wife to a firefighter, every day.

[Diana DeGette]

I mean, I tell James, it eats at me because I'm like constantly figuring out who's going to care for the kids. And it's, it's exhausting. It's exhausting.

[Ryan Warner]

Do you get the sense policymakers are beginning to view childcare, you know, as infrastructure or a public utility? I mean, if child care is the bridge that allows people to work in essential roles like healthcare care, has the state reframed things?

[Jenny Brundeen]

The issue does have bipartisan support across the country. And state lawmakers here have just passed various tax credits for people who donate to child care or who support child care. But the scope of the problem is so large, so far, policymakers and I should say the Colorado public, are not investing in it as if it were critical infrastructure.

[Ryan Warner]

What else can we expect to hear in the coming weeks from this series? Raising Colorado.

[Jenny Brundeen]

Jenny we'll go deep, but we'll visit the western slope, where CPR's Dina Sieg looks at how a rural healthcare worker is coping. KRCC's Brianna Heaney in Colorado Springs spent some time with military families where the shortage is particularly severe. Reporter Sarah Mulholland looks at business and childcare. And I spend a couple of days embedded with a nurse firefighting couple. Also, Kevin Beatty, Our fabulous photographer and a host of freelance photographers have documented this daily juggle. You'll be able to see their photos on cpr.org before we go.

[Ryan Warner]

Anything surprise you in this reporting?

[Jenny Brundeen]

There's a shadow network of care developing outside the formal childcare system. I spoke to a veteran childcare educator who was hired to survey Anschutz medical workers about their needs for a potential 247 childcare facility.

[Ryan Warner]

Right. Because there you have a huge concentration. Concentration of essential workers.

[Jenny Brundeen]

Exactly. But they told her they were bypassing the traditional system in favor of what's called nanny shares. That's where you hire a nanny for three or four children and it can actually be cheaper than center based care. One of the stories touches on that

[Ryan Warner]

very trend, the idea, I suppose, that desperation breeds innovation there.

[Jenny Brundeen]

Exactly.

[Ryan Warner]

Jenny, thank you so much. I really look forward to listening and reading. Reading.

[Jenny Brundeen]

Thank you.

[Ryan Warner]

CPR education reporter Jenny Brundeen. She's leading our new series raising the Untold Story of a Broken Childcare System. You can hear all of the stories in the coming weeks here on CPR news [e-mail] raisingcolorado A note that this series is thanks to a grant from Gary Community Ventures, which had no editorial influence. This is Colorado Matters from CPR News. It's Colorado Matters from CPR News. I'm Ryan Warner. What are the practical effects of the bills lawmakers passed this session? Purplish takes on that question today. It's the Policy and Politics podcast from CPR News and the Colorado Capital News Alliance, Jesse Paul from the Colorado sun and Lucas Brady woods from KUNC News. Join State Capitol reporter Ray Solomon and our own Bente Birkland.

[Ray Solomon]

I want to kick things off with a big question. Of all the things lawmakers did this session, all the bills they discussed and what they ultimately passed, what do you think will have the most impact on people's lives five, ten years from now?

[Bente Birkeland]

The thing that really comes to mind for me isn't a done deal yet, but it's very, very interesting. Important. In the final days of session, Democrats agreed to ask voters to make a big change to state finances. Basically, they're hoping that people will agree to give up their TABOR refunds. That's the taxpayers bill of rights for the foreseeable future to increase school funding.

[Jesse Paul]

Right. And lawmakers say that refund money would actually increase education funding by about 90 million in the first year. That's if voters approve the ballot measure.

[Lucas Brady Woods]

Yeah, I hard agree that that's going to have a big impact, but only if the state Economy starts doing a little bit better. And Colorado is collecting a lot of taxes. Right. If there's no TABOR refund, there isn't extra money for schools. So even if it's approved by voters, we might not see a lot of direct impacts for a little while. But Dems gripe a lot about how TABOR screws them on the budget. So this is their big chance to come out from under the weight of that legislation.

[Jesse Paul]

You make a really good point there. And I also think it's pretty safe to say that it's pretty questionable whether voters will even agree to this.

[Ray Solomon]

I think that's right. I mean, there have been efforts in the past to let the state keep more of the TABOR refunds. Those have all failed by pretty wide margins. And a recent poll that a lot of us covered, it was bipartisan and a reputable polling firm shows that more than 60% of likely voters for this November have a positive view of tabor.

[Lucas Brady Woods]

Yes, but this initiative could be a little bit different from past years. I seen some polling commissioned by the Colorado Education association that makes it seem like this year it might stand a better chance than those past efforts. Backers say that this measure is a lot more specific than we've had in the past. It says exactly where the money would go to education, to kids. And because there's some built in accountability

[Bente Birkeland]

on this measure, Democrats have failed at passing these ballot measures around TABOR in the past just because they've been so brave. They've kind of Christmas treed these proposals where they've stacked on education funding and property taxes, and people just don't understand it. This one is pretty simple as far as TABOR goes.

[Ray Solomon]

Since this is still up in the air, let's talk about some things lawmakers passed that are pretty concrete. These are bills we expect the governor to sign and they're going to really start directly impacting Coloradans pretty soon. So when it comes to impact, I'm going to be watching to see what happens with this new program to reimburse homeowners for installing hail resistant roofs. This was a top priority for the governor and it comes from a fee on insurers that supposedly will not get passed on to consumers. The goal, if it lives up to backers hopes, is it will eventually help slow the growth in people's premiums. Now this may not happen immediately, but it could be a very big deal. Colorado is has some of the highest homeowner insurance rates in the country and hail is by far the biggest driver of that. Even if you live in a part of the state that doesn't get hail. It impacts people across Colorado.

[Jesse Paul]

Yeah, that's a huge priority for lawmakers and Coloradans. I mean, huge problem in Colorado. I also want to talk about a few bills that may have, you know, some real impact down the line and some that I don't think got a lot of attention this year. One of them sets the stage for a statewide strategy on reducing homelessness, and it would let local governments collaborate on the issue on a more regional level. Two things that homelessness advocates have been calling for for years for how homelessness is addressed in the state. And another one real quick is this bill that expands what ambulance services can bill. And this is really an effort to create more sustainable funding for EMS in Colorado, which is something I think we all need and want.

[Ray Solomon]

And on a different front, I think we have to talk about the AI disclosure law. This bill doesn't go as far as consumer rights and workers rights groups wanted. Lawmakers have been grappling with it the last few years, but it will ultimately impact a lot of people.

[Bente Birkeland]

Yeah, I'm calling it more of an AI notification law than disclosure. I think the first original law was more of a disclosure law. This one, which is going to take effect in January, would require information or notices when AI systems are used to make consequential decisions in areas like banking or hiring or health care. And then the law would let you appeal the decision. So let's say someone gets an adverse action so you don't get the loan you applied for the job, or something like that, that you'd first be notified that AI was used in the decision. And then you can appeal a decision. And there's a whole process that's set up in this piece of policy.

[Lucas Brady Woods]

Yeah. And then on a more banal note, we can't forget about ketchup packets.

[Jesse Paul]

Ketchup packets?

[Lucas Brady Woods]

Ketchup packets. What are we all going to do with all the extra space in our drawers that are no longer taken up by takeout condiments.

[Bente Birkeland]

Yeah, that's right. The Democrats, they're coming for your ketchup and mustard.

[Lucas Brady Woods]

And so I think.

[Jesse Paul]

Okay, so in the case this doesn't ring any bells for you yet, Democrats passed a bill that would require restaurants to ask patrons before giving out condiments and single use utensils and all that stuff. So if you want that soy sauce or ketchup, you're gonna have to ask for it. If the governor signs it, of course.

[Diana DeGette]

Yeah.

[Ray Solomon]

Governor Jared Polis. Is he a little too Libertarian to tell restaurants what to do with their condiments.

[Bente Birkeland]

Yeah, this could be some bad news for Lucas and the ketchup sandwiches I see him eat at least once a week, week at the Capitol.

[Jesse Paul]

For the record, I don't even really like ketchup all that much.

[Ray Solomon]

Well, getting to something a little bit more serious, I want to mention the automated speed cameras. Those are popping up across the state. And thanks to this session, if a local community uses cameras to ticket speeding drivers, they will have to put up very clear signs to notify drivers. And they can't ticket people if they're just going 5 miles per hour over the speed limit or less. You just get a warning.

[Lucas Brady Woods]

That is good news for me and my lead foot. So I think if there's something that's really important from the session, it's the, you know, kind of the structural deficit that lawmakers had to deal with, and they're going to have to keep dealing with in the years to come. I think it's going to reshape the state in a lot of ways. You know, lawmakers had to cut a lot of important programs from the budget this year. Budget was one of the biggest stories of the year from this legislative session, in my opinion. You know, they had to cut health care and people with services for people with disabilities. And these cuts were so difficult for these lawmakers. They cried their way through these cuts. But they're gonna have to be back next year making the same kinds of cuts, and they're gonna be back next year and the year after that and the year after that because it's a structural deficit. And so not having enough money to actually do new things or even continue some of the things the state has been doing seems like a really big deal that's going to be relevant a decade, decade and a half from now, potentially shaping people's lives for years to come.

[Ray Solomon]

We started talking about policy, and now it is time to hit the politics. I know, Ray, you're especially excited about this.

[Jenny Brundeen]

I just want to spar with Jesse.

[Ray Solomon]

We will give you that chance. Going into this session, the Democratic caucus, who have this wide majority at the Capitol, was pretty bitterly split. There were ethics complaints flying around, policy disagreements. And I know all of us were wondering how this would impact the work that ultimately got done and what policies lawmakers passed.

[Bente Birkeland]

Well, I'll try to mustard up the courage to kind of explain what happened here.

[Ray Solomon]

I mean, I think, Jesse, there has been this ongoing divide for a while, right, between the moderates and progressives.

[Bente Birkeland]

Totally. As long as I'VE been covering the Capitol. This kind of dynamic has existed, but it only got more pointed when a new caucus was formed. The Opportunity Caucus. That group is made up of some of the more moderate Democrats at the Capitol. Some of the money behind the group has been involved in the party's primaries to help more moderate candidates beat their more liberal challengers. Liberal members of the legislature have criticized the caucus for not revealing their donors. It looked like things could be really bad because coming into this session.

[Ray Solomon]

So now that we've had four months all together at the Capitol, how do you think this feud divide factored into everything? I mean, I think we did see a lot of divides pop up in policy decisions.

[Lucas Brady Woods]

Definitely. You saw both sides, the moderates, the progressives, airing their differences on the chamber floors out in the open with things like competing bills around overtime for ag workers. There were lawmakers who. Who took me aside and privately told me about their beef that they had with the Opportunity Caucus that they said were hoarding power.

[Ray Solomon]

You mentioned the ag worker bill. That was one that a lot of people had some hurt feelings over. Progressives wanted to make it easier for agriculture workers to get overtime. What ultimately passed was a bill to make it harder for them to get overtime. So I think that was a tough pill for a lot of progressives to switch.

[Lucas Brady Woods]

And there are plenty of other progressive priorities that didn't make it through either. Bills related to the Democrats affordability platform, the no Kings act, the worker protections, and heck, Democrats couldn't even pass data center regulations, which the public is really clamoring for.

[Ray Solomon]

Jesse, we've been at the Capitol for a while. How much of this do you think is just normal left versus moderate Dems? Or how much of it was kind of mixed, made worse by or impacted by this new caucus and the ethics complaints and everything?

[Bente Birkeland]

Yeah, and the ethics complaints you're referring to were filed against members of the Opportunity Caucus over a retreat they had last year. Look, let me try and condiment on this situation. Democrats disagree on bills every session. I didn't personally feel like there was a ton of change this year at the Capitol between the two sides. I think I was kind of expecting some knife fighting in the aisles based on how bad the vibes were ahead of session. Session that didn't happen. I mean, I think there were members of the Opportunity Caucus who were frustrated at the Colorado sun over some of our coverage, but Democrats did a pretty good job of mostly keeping their drama behind the scenes. The one thing that did spill out into the public had to do in an attempt to force nonprofit caucuses at the Capitol, like the Opportunity Caucus, to reveal their donors and their spending as non profits. They're not legally responsible for doing that right now. They can completely keep their donors hidden in and basically don't have to report their spending either. It seemed like it was going to be this big kumbaya moment. I actually called it the Kumbaya Democrats bill to my colleagues, but it fell apart very publicly at the end of session, and ultimately nothing really passed.

[Ray Solomon]

Jesse, you know, as soon as you call something a Kumbaya moment, it'll all fall apart. That's true. Democrats did have one opponent, though, to unite them all, and that is President Donald Trump. Pushing back against the Trump administration was a big priority for the party, but we really saw a mixed bag on that, which I have to say kind of surprised me, given the national mood among Democrats and given that Democrats have wide majorities in our legislature, I think

[Lucas Brady Woods]

that's evidence for some more sharply divided caucus than Jesse seems to think there is. But, you know, the Democrats definitely tried, and I just don't think they were able to make as much impact here as they had hoped.

[Jesse Paul]

Yeah, and a big one was immigration policy. And I know the entire last episode was about this, but by the end of the session, the immigration bills were pretty much watered down, and there weren't

[Bente Birkeland]

even that many of them. There were only two. When we did our 101 bills list, I put a whole section aside for immigration bills, expecting to fill it up. And there were only two immigration bills in there.

[Jesse Paul]

Right. And these two bills, what they do do, One lets people sue immigration agents for civil rights violations, and the other creates new rules around detention center inspections and law enforcement training.

[Ray Solomon]

Immigration, obviously, big discussion nationally, but not a ton of state policy in that area. Democrats did pass bills to shore up Colorado's election system. This is in response to Trump's negative comments about mail in ballots and a measure to make sure Colorado's vaccine policies and research stays in line with what doctors in the medical community think, even as the CDC is watering down federal vaccine guidance.

[Lucas Brady Woods]

Yeah, that was the big theme here, I think, was that lawmakers want to protect how we do things here in Colorado at the state level, even as the federal policies change under Trump. And another key issue they tried to do that on was worker safety.

[Jesse Paul]

Right. Democrats definitely feel that osha, which is the federal agency that protects workers, is being rolled back under the Trump administration. And they made an effort and really wanted to replicate some of what is being lost on the federal level when it comes to worker protections.

[Lucas Brady Woods]

Yeah, they actually wanted to basically create a state level OSHA in case the federal government fully repeals it. But that bill ended up dying on the very last day of session and that was the fate of a lot of their workers bills.

[Jesse Paul]

Yeah. And one last thing to bring up on this topic is Democrats did manage to pass a bill in response to the Supreme Court ruling on conversion therapy that ruled against Colorado's ban on conversion therapy. Democrats are trying to sort of continue this ban or de facto ban on therapists using the approach with minors with a different legal approach. And that's even in spite of the Supreme Court ruling.

[Ray Solomon]

Okay, so that's Democrats push back against Trump. Wanna wrap up with Republicans in both chambers, House and Senate. The GOP caucuses had new leaders. How do you rate their performance this session?

[Bente Birkeland]

Well, the Senate Republicans continued to keep their caucus united and on track and the House Republicans continued to be a mess.

[Lucas Brady Woods]

Yes, they bills read at length. That's where they have a robo voice read the entire every last word of of a bill. And that slowed down the state budget for days because the leaders couldn't get Brandi Bradley, a Republican from Littleton to fall in line at a cost of. Jesse, what did you calculate it?

[Bente Birkeland]

It's north of $10,000. It was a ton of money and it was probably a lot more than that. It's really difficult to figure out like how much it costs to flush the toilets every day at the Capitol. But north of $10,000 is we feel good about the 10,000 plus number.

[Ray Solomon]

I do want to add though that I talked to at least one Republican House member who thought this session went very well. Matt Soper told me it was the smoothest, most organized session he's ever experienced. He's had eight years at the Capitol. He's term limited. He is the longest serving House Republican. He thought Republicans had a lot of success even though they're in the minority. He mentioned helping defeat the legalized prostitution bill in the Senate. And then there was a big oil and gas bill that was going to be introduced to try to defeat a ballot measure and that didn't end up happening.

[Ryan Warner]

Then to birkeland, ray solomon, lucas brady woods and jesse paul with a catch up on the session. Purplish comes from cpr news and the colorado capital news alliance. The the alliance includes kunc news, the colorado sun and rocky mountain pbs. And that is colorado matters for now. I'm ryan warner with special thanks to chiara damari who produced our cd1 series. You're with cpr news and krcc.

[Jenny Brundeen]

Sam.