Disability Issues in the Colorado Legislature

We live in a divided world.

I’m referring to the divide between Coloradoans who are entirely unaware of the Legislative General Session and those who follow legislation like a sports fan follows their favorite team.

Like every year, the Colorado legislature is considering several bills that have direct impacts on people with disabilities and older adults.

Several of these bills are focused on increasing protections for people with disabilities, such as HB26-1100, which limits the powers of guardianship and helps ensure that people with disabilities can exercise their civil rights. The bill targets both the overuse of guardianship when other, less intrusive methods of supporting decisions exist, as well as the potential abuse of power by someone who is granted guardianship over another person.

HB26-1040 addresses protection from forced sterilization. Although it is generally regarded as one of the worst Supreme Court decisions of all time, Buck vs. Bell has never been overturned. This decision from the early 20th century supported medical professionals’ and state governments’ ability to force a person with a disability to be sterilized without their consent. Although Colorado has historically had protections against forced sterilization in statute, HB26-1040 strengthens them.

I imagine we all know someone who has been targeted by a financial scam. HB26-1110 is titled Vulnerable Adult Financial Exploitation Banking. The intent of the bill is to make it easier for banks to intervene and pause transactions that appear to be financial exploitation (think $40,000 being transferred to a Nigerian Prince).

HB26-1045 addresses protections for people with disabilities in housing, and SB26-125 intends to protect students with disabilities’ access to school programs.

A few other bills address system issues, such as a bill that is intended to fix barriers in the process of transitioning from a nursing home into supported community living. A bill on host homes for people with disabilities has already gone through several iterations. In its current form, it requires the state to track certain information on host home providers that can be made available to people with disabilities who are considering entrusting that host home with their care.

The elephant in the room at the Capitol is the state budget and growing Medicaid expenditures. About 38% of the state budget goes to Medicaid, and of that, approximately 40% goes to the long-term care services accessed by people with disabilities. There is no scenario in which disability services emerge from this legislative session unscathed.

This is putting the legislature in an impossible position. The Joint Budget Committee that creates the annual budget is weighing terrible options against terrible options, all the while knowing that the cuts they have to consider will destabilize the system of services built over decades and likely leave people with disabilities without essential services.

In coming months, I suspect that Colorado residents will have to grapple with these same difficult decisions as we all work together to create a sustainable state system where all people can thrive.