Ethics Commission Jurisdiction
HB25-1079
“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.”
Write Emails.
Learn what IS and IS NOT in the IEC’s jurisdiction. Our Ethics Bill Toolkit(TBA) and the 2025 Sponsors’ Fact Sheet are good places to start. Sign up for our Info Session/Office Hours on HB25-1079 here.
Get ready to write an email to legislators by thinking about WHY you support the bill. How would this bill impact you and your community? Decide whether it’s most effective for you to email Democrats and Republicans or just members of one party. This is a personal decision. For example, consider your political affiliation and whether you are a constituent of any legislator on a committee. Our spreadsheet of the legislative committee members is here, pulled from publicly available information on the CO Legislature’s website.
Access these quick and easy letter templates for ideas.
Email template to Bill Sponsors: MS Word PDF
Email template to the CO House TLGH Committee: MS Word PDF
Email template to the CO House Education Committee: MS Word PDF
Write your emails. Be clear about your audience. Keep it concise and relevant.
Send your emails. We appreciate if you cc us on the email: info@pro-co-network.org . We’ll pay attention to the patterns and pain points.
Keep tabs on next steps. Learn about how Bills move through the CO Legislature here.
The Problem:
Colorado parents, educators, students, board members, and community members have experienced a rapid increase in ethically questionable behavior of elected officials over the past few years under the protection of local control and lack of oversight. While Colorado does have an Independent Ethics Commission in our State Constitution, school boards were explicitly excluded even though other forms of local government are included. Special districts are also excluded.
Currently, for the general public, such as parents, students, staff, and community members these recourse actions are impractical, expensive, and thus, exclusionary.
The Solution: Pass HB25-1079
Expanding the jurisdiction of the IEC to include elected school board officials, their direct employees (ie, superintendent or executive officer), and related contractors/service providers will provide a deterrent to ethically compromised behavior, visibility to the public, and insight from outside parties, the IEC, into how the situation should be remedied.
Calls to Action: Write Emails and Give Public Testimony
“People forget facts, but they remember stories.”
Public Comment/Testimony: Tell Your Story to the Committee.
Register for public comment. You can register for in-person, virtual, or by emailing public comment by a certain time. All of these options become part of the public record. Testimony is generally in the order that you sign up. There is contact information on the sign-up page if your circumstances change or if you have questions. Tips: Bills often have multiple opportunities to provide testimony as they move through the legislature. Dates and times can change at the last minute; you can email Rep. Story’s office to let them know and ask them to send you email updates directly: tammy.story.house@coleg.gov
Learn what IS and IS NOT in the IEC’s jurisdiction. Our Ethics Bill Toolkit and the 2025 Sponsors’ Fact Sheet are good places to start. Sign up for our Info Session/Office Hours for support.
Get ready by thinking about WHY you support the bill. How would this bill impact you and your community? Decide whether it’s most effective for you to email both Democrats and Republicans or just members of one party.
Review the Legislators on the Committee. The Ethics Bill is being heard first in the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee. If you are a constituent of anyone on the Committee, you might want to mention it in your introduction, make eye contact, and mention them by name.
Write your comments and practice in a way that works for you. You can use the email templates in the previous section as a guide. Review the public comment guides posted on the State’s registration link. Come to our Virtual Office Hours if you’d like some help or a confidence boost. Monday, Jan. 27, 11:30 AM-12:30PM and Tuesday, Jan. 29, 6-7PM
Send a follow-up email - especially if the Bill is not passed by the Committee in that particular session.
Keep tabs on next steps. Learn about how Bills move through the CO Legislature here. We received this from the CO State Legislature in a prior year but were unable to locate where it is currently linked on the State’s website.