In The News
Joe Neguse to hold online town hall Thursday to focus on housing, homelessness
by STAFF
U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse will hold a town-hall-style discussion of the affordable housing crisis online at noon-4 p.m. Thursday. The event will include two public listening sessions focused on affordable housing and homelessness across Colorado. "We are at an inflection point for affordable housing, and it's critical that we find creative solutions that meet this moment," Neguse said in a news release. Those interested in participating are asked to RSVP at NeguseEvents.com to receive login … Continue Reading
September 13, 2021
Neguse’s Climate Corps funding gets nod in budget reconciliation plan
by Jacob Fischler
The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee late Thursday approved its first piece of Democrats' sweeping $3.5 trillion spending blueprint on a party-line 24-13 vote. Among the highest priorities for President Joe Biden in the plan was addressing climate change, and the panel included initiatives ranging from oil and gas reform to offshore wind ventures. The House action was only the starting point for the bill, which will be combined with those of several other House committees to form a … Continue Reading
September 11, 2021
As Colorado Announces Its Own Climate Corps, Democrats Push For A Far More Expansive National Version
by Sam Brasch
Carly Sorenson knew she wasn't a fit for college after less than a year at Metro State University in Denver. After trying two majors, the 22-year-old from Niwot dropped out with a sinking sense of dread about her future. She knew she felt stifled in a classroom, but couldn't imagine what would amount to a satisfying career. Today, Sorenson thinks she's found it in a job with Mile High Youth Corps. Armed with a chainsaw named after a Pokemon creature (Bonsly, if you were wondering), she … Continue Reading
September 09, 2021
Congressman Joe Neguse secures $50 billion for proposed Climate Conservation Corps
by Joey Bunch
U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse of Lafayette is taking credit for landing more than $50 billion in stimulus money for the proposed 21st Century Climate Conservation Corps. The first $10 billion would go to hire thousands of young people and veterans starting out at $15 an hour, followed by $40 billion for local resilience and wildfire preparedness projects and other work to cut emissions, administered by the Department of Interior and the U.S. Forest Service. "For over a year, we've been working to … Continue Reading
September 01, 2021
Rep. Joe Neguse proposes legislation to complete Continental Divide Trail
by Lindsey Toomer
After 40 years in existence, 160 miles of gaps still separate parts of the trail Rep. Joe Neguse proposed legislation directing the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to work together to finish the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail in time for the trail's 50th anniversary in 2028. The trail spans 3,100 miles from Montana to New Mexico going through Colorado and Summit County, but the trail has about 160 miles of incomplete routes due to gaps in public lands. The … Continue Reading
July 31, 2021
We Need a Civilian Climate Corps to Take on Today’s Crises
by Heather Hansman
Democrats in Congress are pushing for a federal jobs program that would tackle climate, land use, infrastructure, and more. Here's why it's so urgent. Colorado representative Joe Neguse says the reality of climate change hit hard when he was in the burn zone of the Cameron Peak Fire last year. He was wading through the wreckage of the largest fire in the state's history with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Colorado senator Michael Bennett. It had ripped through Neguse's district, … Continue Reading
July 30, 2021
Guest Commentary: Voting rights can’t wait
by Congressman Joe Neguse
A few weeks after I was first elected to the U.S. Congress in November of 2018, I travelled to Washington D.C. for congressional orientation. Amidst the many panel presentations, policy discussions and introductions to my new colleagues, there was one experience that I will simply never forget - meeting civil rights hero, and my future colleague, John Lewis, for the very first time. I didn't fully appreciate how nervous I was to meet him until we shook hands. I couldn't believe it - here he … Continue Reading
July 29, 2021
Camp Amache Preservation Bill Overwhelmingly Passes US House
by Caitlyn Kim
The House passed a bill Thursday that would make Camp Amache, a former Japanese American internment camp located in southeastern Colorado, part of the National Park System, on a 416-2 vote. Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse, who introduced the Amache National Historic Site Act, said he was "extremely excited" that the bill passed. He described it as an "important step in terms of ultimately ensuring that this important story that is told by the Amache internment camp is preserved for future … Continue Reading
July 27, 2021
Rep. Neguse encourages vaccinations in African American community in new video
by Julia Fennell
Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat from Colorado's 2nd Congressional District, released a public service announcement video this week to encourage members of the African American community to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The video included messages from Neguse and several Black community leaders in Colorado. "The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and extremely effective," Maya Wheeler, the executive director of the African Chamber of Commerce of Colorado, says in the video. "You are doing a good deed … Continue Reading
June 25, 2021
Colorado lawmaker warns of fire season becoming year-round
by Sharon Udasin
Colorado residents and their representatives in Congress are bracing for another summer of raining ash and uncontrolled blazes as wildfires rage along the state's Western Slope. Smoke is billowing across the Centennial State, but it's the duration and frequency of the fires that is causing the greatest alarm. What was once a seasonal occurrence is now extending beyond a few months each year. "We have transitioned from having fire seasons to now having fire years," Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) … Continue Reading
June 21, 2021
Colorado Reps Buck And Neguse Find Common Ground In Desire To Reform Big Tech
by Caitlyn Kim
Rep. Ken Buck never thought he'd be leading an antitrust charge. The Windsor Republican, who represents much of the Eastern Plains, said if you had asked him about sponsoring antitrust bills 18 months ago, you would not have gotten a positive response. "I was very much a market person. I looked at this and said, the market will take care of this. At some point, Amazon will start fading and, and other companies will rise and the marketplace can handle this," he recalled. In 2019, the House … Continue Reading
June 18, 2021
MAPLand Act Would Provide Digital Map Records For Public Land Use
by Harley Barnes
The newly proposed federal MAPLand Act would provide resources to digitize map records as part of an effort to improve access to public lands. Representatives Blake Moore (R-UT), Ross Fulcher (R-ID), Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Kim Schrier (D-WA) recently introduced the Modernizing Access to our Public Land Act to digitize federal land mapping records. "There are people that desperately want to know where they can go and enjoy these public lands," Congressman Blake Moore said. He said the … Continue Reading
June 16, 2021
Effort To Designate WWII Site, Preserve 400,000 Acres Of Colorado Land Finds More Support At Congress
by Caitlyn Kim
A new senator, a new Congress, and a new administration all added up to a warmer reception for the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act in a key Senate subcommittee hearing. The CORE Act had its first Senate hearing of 2021 on Wednesday in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The bill would protect 400,000 acres of public land in the Continental Divide, Thompson Divide, the San Juan Mountains and the Curecanti National Recreation Area. It includes 73,000 acres of new … Continue Reading
June 16, 2021
Neguse Stresses Support for Climate Action, Civilian Climate Corps
by James O'Rourke
During a congressional hearing on Friday, U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) emphasized the importance to communities in Colorado of taking action to address climate change. "In 2020, we had a devastating and historic year for wildfires. Three of the five largest fires in state history occurred in the last year, and two of those were in my congressional district," said Neguse during the hearing, referencing the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires. The American West has been impacted by severe … Continue Reading
June 14, 2021
Neguse Bill Would Prohibit Jurisdictions From Using Ketamine In Law Enforcement Situations
by Caitlyn Kim
Rep. Joe Neguse is introducing a bill that would ban the use of the sedative ketamine during arrests and detention. Use of the drug in non-hospital settings has been under intense scrutiny after the death of Elijah McClain. Paramedics injected McClain with ketamine after Aurora police tried to arrest the young, black man. McClain went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital. It was McClain's death that drove Neguse to act. "His death underscored for me, and I think many others, the … Continue Reading
June 14, 2021
Neguse bill would ban law enforcement from using ketamine in arrests
by Ernest Luning
A bill introduced Monday by U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse would prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from using the powerful sedative ketamine during the arrest or detention of suspects. The legislation comes on the heels of a Colorado bill to restrict use of the drug in law enforcement encounters. That bill, which awaits Gov. Jared Polis' signature, was in response to outrage over the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who was injected with the drug while under arrest … Continue Reading
June 14, 2021
Rep. Joe Neguse pushes for better access, funding for federal lands
by Sawyer D'Argonne
Rep. Joe Neguse is pushing to improve access and funding for public lands in Colorado and around the country. Last week, Neguse, who chairs the U.S. Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, presented the subcommittee with three bills targeted at improving access to public lands and supporting Colorado's outdoor recreation economy. By and large, the bills would help to simplify the permitting process for allowing guide services and individual parties to access public lands, … Continue Reading
June 12, 2021
Colorado’s federal forests are overrun. Ski fees and Congress could help.
by Justin Wingerter
A few years ago, the U.S. Forest Service sat down with Eagle County officials and delivered some bad news: The federal agency was short-staffed and would be closing campgrounds in the mountainous county that includes Vail, where outdoor recreation is king. Eagle County responded by spending its own tax dollars to pay USFS employees, an unusual arrangement that has become commonplace in Colorado's high country, where waves of tourists have poured into some of the most-visited forests in the … Continue Reading
June 10, 2021
Ski area fee retention legislation ‘moving fast,’ seeing bipartisan support
by John LaConte
The SHRED Act appears to be aptly named. It made a rapid run through a U.S. House subcommittee hearing Tuesday and is primed for a full send in Congress. And Rep. Joe Neguse says if the conditions are right, he'll have the act at apres by the end of summer. Short for Ski Hill Resources for Economic Development, Neguse said the SHRED Act is a response to the permitting needs and backlog that exists for improvement projects in the White River National Forest. "For White River National Forest … Continue Reading
June 09, 2021
Earmarks list for states in U.S. House infrastructure bill tops $5.7B
by Laura Olson
WASHINGTON - U.S. House Democrats' highway funding bill is poised to include roughly three out of five transportation projects submitted by members, as legislators vie for their share of federal dollars through the resurrected congressional earmarks process. The 1,473 projects that made the cut were out of 2,383 that Democratic and Republican legislators requested for inclusion in a federal infrastructure bill, at a time when infrastructure is the subject of prolonged, high-profile … Continue Reading