Tony Exum

Comment: In 2018, the local El Paso County Young Democrats group developed a legislative agenda for enacting changes in Colorado to help young people specifically, and one item on that agenda was for amending the Colorado Constitution (Article XVIII, Section 15), and related Colorado Revised Statutes, to remove the lower “tipped” minimum wage, establishing one consistent minimum wage for all jobs. They presented that agenda to me, and I supported it, because it’s the right thing to do. In the state legislature, we have not yet been able to pass legislation fixing this wage discrepancy issue; but if a bill were put before me, I would support it.

Comment: For decades in Colorado, school districts were funded mostly by local property taxes, with some money coming from the State. But for years now, school districts have been funded mostly by the State, with some money coming from local property taxes. These funding ratios have effectively reversed, and that’s been bad for public school funding. The State simply cannot afford to be the primary payer for all public education in Colorado. We need to find ways to better balance these funding dynamics – and fixing TABOR, Gallagher, and Amendment 23 are three very obvious and effective ways to begin improving the funding situation for public education, as well as for transportation, infrastructure, and other critical needs.

Comment: Every Coloradan deserves access to high-quality, affordable health care to help support his or her well-being and economic security. To achieve these goals, Colorado has successfully implemented provisions of the federal “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” which have helped expand access and increase affordability to thousands of Coloradans, including expanding Medicaid coverage to more low-income adults and creating the Colorado health benefit exchange. Despite this success, in several regions of the state, health insurance is not affordable due to high healthcare costs and limited or no competition among insurance carriers as well as other marketplace factors, and Coloradans cannot afford the health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses. Specifically, Coloradans in fourteen counties have access to only a single health insurance carrier participating in the Colorado health benefit exchange, and the number of uninsured Coloradans in those counties is rising. Colorado has historically been a national leader in health care innovation. However, uncertainty at the federal level requires Colorado to be proactive and explore and implement its own innovative solutions to provide greater access to affordable, high-quality health care coverage for Colorado residents; and a state option for health care coverage that uses existing state health care infrastructure may decrease costs for Coloradans, increase competition, and improve access to high-quality, affordable, and efficient health care.

Comment: I do not want to burden small businesses with onerous regulations, and I also do not want to shield bad actors from taking needless risks with the lives of their customers and employees.

Comment: Since the rollback of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, it is particularly important to stay vigilant about disenfranchisement. Thankfully, Colorado's mail ballot system does a lot to prevent suppression, but we can always do more.