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Colorado lawmakers reversed course on Wednesday and decided to keep in place a 20-year-old program that gets teens involved at the Capitol — with a big caveat. The Colorado Youth Advisory Council will no longer have the power to draft bills for the legislature’s consideration.
COYAC never had the power to send bills directly to the legislature for consideration. Instead, their policies — a handful each year — were vetted through the Executive Committee of the Legislative Council, a panel of top statehouse Republicans and Democrats.
March 12, 2025
Colorado May End Program Promoting Teen Participation in Lawmaking
Source: Westword
"Young people have a hard time connecting with state policy; it feels so far away and out of reach. COYAC brings it down to a level you can relate to," [alum Aimee] Resnick says. "Young people already feel really disinvested in politics right now across the political spectrum. If we lose COYAC, it's just further telling young people that politics is not the place that they belong.
"It's also a loss for the state of Colorado," she adds. "It's divesting in young people who are interested in public service and want to work to better our state."
March 10, 2025
Bill would require Colorado schools to provide gun violence prevention material to parents
Source: Denver7
Most school shooters get their guns from the home of a parent or relative. The bill would require Colorado school districts to provide information to parents about safe gun storage at the beginning of every school year.
March 7, 2025
Colorado legislature’s executive committee cancels 10 committees, citing budget concerns (Paywalled)
Source: Colorado Politics
The Colorado Youth Advisory Council Committee: Eliminating the council in 2025 and 2026 will save about $50,000 in general funds annually. The council's members, made up of high school students around the state, will be allowed to make a scheduled presentation to the legislature in July but will not be allowed to meet after that nor offer legislation to the General Assembly for its consideration.
March 5, 2025
Snacks, anyone: This one hit Capitol M in the feels. (Paywalled)
Source: Colorado Politics
Rep. Ron Weinberg of Loveland is on a quest to reduce food waste this year. He's got two bills that have already cleared the House on the issue. This pertains to the bill he and Rep. Lisa Feret of Arvada are carrying on behalf of the Representative Hugh McKean Colorado Youth Advisory Council Review Committee (that's the feels part). Weinberg first got to the House and was appointed by a vacancy committee after the death of the respected House Minority Leader in 2022.
House Bill 1059 is about reducing food waste in public schools, but it’s dubbed the "snack bill" by some of his colleagues.
In honor of its recent passage through the House Education Committee, Weinberg's colleagues decided to turn his desk into a snack station. The photo shows a small sample of the stuff they dumped on it.
The bill won a 60-3 vote from the House on Feb. 19 and is now waiting to be taken to the Senate snack bar. There, it will be up to the Janices—Sens. Rich of Grand Junction and Marchman of Loveland —to get it to the checkout line.
March 4, 2025
Opinion: Dear Colorado legislators: Don’t cut your youth advisory council just for a $50k savings
Source: The Colorado Sun
The money allocated for the teen program that connects youth to state policymakers has led to monumental change and success. I am 16 years old, a junior in high school, and I’ve been a member of the Colorado Youth Advisory Council, or COYAC, for two years. I have become a more confident and driven person because of my time in COYAC, which connects teens with state legislators to give youth a direct voice in creating policy.
March 4, 2025
Source: The Colorado Sun
Pausing or cutting the program would require legislation.
February 21, 2025
Effort to reduce food waste in schools clears Colorado committee
Source: Fox31/CW2 TV
“We have a problem where people are not getting fed and we have schools where they are just throwing stuff in the trash can. And we had good-intentioned bills that put into place measures that want us to do good things like feed people, but we have no measure or protection in place for that food that goes in the trash can,” said Rep. Ron Weinberg of Loveland. The new bill encourages public schools to establish a program where students can return whole food or drinks, an idea presented to lawmakers by the Colorado Youth Advisory Council — the group of young people that presents ideas for laws every year.
February 13, 2025
Students look forward to a second year on Chief’s Youth Advisory Council, applications now open (Paywalled)
Source: The Colorado Springs Gazette
Ayush Vispute, a sophomore at Rampart High School, said he hopes to talk more about the issue of vaping in schools. "One thing that I want to advise the chief on and make him more aware of is the amount of vapes and drugs that are used in schools on a daily basis," Vispute said. "When you walk into a school bathroom, there's often just a hoard of people vaping, and that's something that's inherently a problem." Vispute also is a member of the Colorado Youth Advisory Council, where he said several other members say vaping in schools is also one of their major concerns.
August 28, 2024
Rep. Vigil Statement on Colorado Youth Advisory Council Committee Meeting
Source: State Representative Stephanie Vigil
Statement from Representative Stephanie Vigil, Colorado Springs:
“As a member and Vice Chair of the Colorado Youth Advisory Council Committee, I have the honor of engaging with Colorado youth about their most pressing issues. These hardworking students are Colorado’s future leaders, and I am impressed with their interest in the legislative process and all of the work that they put in to present their ideas to the committee. It is an honor to work alongside them to draft potential legislation that can make a real difference in our schools and communities, like reducing food waste in our schools and ensuring our school buildings are accessible for people with disabilities, and I am excited to see what we can accomplish together.”
August 15, 2024