The West Steps

What happens after a bill becomes a law? In the case of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee legislation, a whole lot. Shivani Bhatia, Maternal Health Coordinator for the Colorado Department of Pu…

Our summer episode of The West Steps includes the diverse voices of leaders in our statewide It’s About Kids Network. Each year we gather with them at a two-day retreat to examine progress for kids d…

We go deep into what really happened under the Gold Dome for our official season finale (expect special editions throughout the summer). Riley Kitts spent hundreds of hours this session lobbying legi…

Bills to provide dental benefits to pregnant women and fight trends in maternal deaths have failed in recent years. In the past few weeks, both proposals—and many others—have successfully passed the …

One of the biggest public health successes in Colorado in the past decade has been the drastic drop in the teen pregnancy rate. We examine barriers that remain—and new obstacles at the federal level.…

There’s no time like tax season to better understand how advocates use our federal and state tax codes to remove barriers to financial security for Colorado families. Bill Jaeger joins us to explore …

The U.S. Constitution requires an “enumeration” of every person living here every 10 years. It takes you a few minutes to fill out your census form, but it takes our federal government a full decade …

Our Government Affairs Director, Riley Kitts, explains how six people decide to spend Colorado’s entire $30 billion public budget in one year. You’ll be surprised about how long it takes for the “lon…

Advocates and legislators in favor of full-day kindergarten have secured $185 million to ensure every child who wants it can access a full day of the foundation year in their K-12 education. Now that…

Go behind the scenes of our advocacy day, Speak Up For Kids, and hear directly from advocates as they navigate the marble halls of the Colorado State Capitol looking for legislators to lobby. Their e…

We know how many Colorado children live in poverty, and what causes family economic security. Sarah Barnes, Manager of Special Policy Initiatives, joins us to illuminate some of the emerging policy s…

Educators and child behavior expert, Dr. Rosemarie Allen, joins us this week to explore the racial disparities in decisions to remove young children from school. Young black children and boys are muc…

In-person advocacy is the most effective way to make change, but it can also be the most intimidating. Advocacy Manger Jacy Montoya Price shares with us how the real and authentic experiences of Colo…

Stephanie Perez-Carrillo joins us to unpack the complicated layers of policy that make it hard for some low-income high school kids to get a school lunch in Colorado without going into debt. Fortunat…

This week survivors and family of unnecessary deaths of new mothers join Beza Taddess to recount their tearful testimony before legislators. Amanda Curtis of Fort Collins, a survivor of a near-death …

Riley Kitts returns to updates us on the lightening progress of proposed legislation impacting kids, and demystifies the budget blueprint that legislators will be putting together in the coming weeks…

This week on The West Steps we untangle school finance in Colorado. It starts in an unexpected place: huge variations in local property tax rates that no Coloradan has ever voted on or had a say in. …

In Episode 3 we dive into a mysterious rise in maternal mortality in Colorado in recent years with Erin Miller, Vice President of Health Initiatives at the Colorado Children’s Campaign. We have a sha…

This week we sat down to talk to our Vice President of Early Childhood and Policy Initiatives about Colorado’s ambitious plan to provide full-day kindergarten to all Colorado kids. We were surprised …

The West Steps of the Colorado State Capitol belong to advocates. Yes, tourists stop by to take selfies with the “mile high” marker and politicians often make speeches there. But the rest of the year…