Candidates differed on reproductive rights, with Rep. Meghan Lukens saying she is ‘proud’ to be the pro-choice candidate while Nathan Butler said he believed Colorado’s abortion laws were ‘extreme.’
Affordable housing dominated questions posed to candidates for Colorado House District 26 in a meet and greet event hosted at the ranch of Chuck and BJ Vale on Tuesday evening.
After delivering opening statements, both Rep Meghan Lukens, the incumbent Democrat from Steamboat Springs, and Nathan Butler, a Republican from Craig, fielded a number of questions from North Routt Residence in attendance.
Lukens started by touting her education background as a teacher and the work she has done to support education since being elected in 2022, specifically eliminating the budget stabilization factor that has long curbed school funding and advocating for rural schools when state leaders rewrote school funding formulas.
“The past two years at the state legislature, we have delivered results,” Lukens said, pointing to investments in public education as the biggest result. “We ensured that rural schools are getting their fair share of the funding as well.”
Additionally, Lukens pointed to work she has done in affordable housing, childcare access, protecting water resources and supporting agriculture.
“I have been steadfast in advocating to (Colorado Parks and Wildlife) and the Governor’s Office to ensure that the wolf that is chronically depredating is lethally taken,” Lukens said. “As well as additional legislation that could be passed to support our ranchers and farmers as we are navigating the negative ramifications of wolf reintroduction.”
In his opening statement, Butler said his big issues are the economy and inflation, saying that inflation is up 21% since President Joe Biden was elected. That inflation is hurting Colorado taxpayers and is making it hard for some people to put food on the table, Butler said.
“This is the economy that we are in when we’re making decisions to close down sectors of our economy like coal plants,” Butler said, adding that the rush to build affordable housing now could leave property owners in a difficult position once power plants close. “We have to slow down on some of our transition projects and try to do what is best for the workers in the communities that are going to be hurting if we move forward.”
Butler then talked about education as well, saying he wanted to see a stronger emphasis on teaching the trades in school.
“I want to bring plumbers in to your classrooms, I want to bring electricians into the classroom, teach kids how to do basic plumbing, basic electrician work,” Butler said. “You can set up a pipeline for these workers for them to come in and know that they have people that are willing to step up into these jobs.”
Caption: Republican Candidate for Colorado House District 26 Nathan Butler makes his opening statement at a meet and greet even in North Routt on Tuesday, July 30. (Dylan Anderson/The Yampa Valley Bugle)
Affordable housing
The first audience question was about affordable housing, with a focus on how you can build affordable housing when the cost to build has become increasingly high.
Lukens answered first, pointing to a bill she sponsored that created a grant program to help workforce development in the construction industry. The lack of workforce is part of the affordable housing crisis itself, which the legislature has worked to address by making it easier to build accessory dwelling units and by allocating money to projects across the state.
“The idea there is to support the development of construction workers because one of the issues within the construction industry is lack of workforce,” Lukens said. “We also have been passing bills to increase funding to affordable housing projects.”
Butler responded to say while he is not a developer and is still learning more about the issue, his experience is that housing billed as affordable is not always that way. He said he feels some costs can be brought down with deregulation.
“We got to get these contractors to a place where they are able to work and operate without all the cumbersome restrictions,” Butler said. “We want it to be safe, we want it done correct but we also want it to be done in a manner that we can keep the costs down, so that people can actually afford to move in.
The next question shifted to support for the Yampa Valley Housing Authority’s Brown Ranch project in Steamboat Springs, which was rejected by voters in March and is currently being reworked in a process led by the city of Steamboat Springs.
Lukens said she voted to support the Brown Ranch Annexation in March, but that voters made clear that the plan needs changes. When a “innovative, forward thinking plan” comes forward, Lukens said she would do what she could at the state level to support the project and secure funding.
Butler, who lives in Craig and therefore was not part of Steamboat Springs’ vote in March, said he feels the voters have spoken about Brown Ranch — “They said they don’t want it,” Butler said. In general, Butler said he feels a large part of the housing crisis is because “an entire new class of people that need homes” are moving to Northwest Colorado.
“We need to address that issue, and that will help to address some of the housing issues as well at the same time, so we don’t have to force these projects on communities that don’t want them,” Butler said.
In response to a question about whether the need for workers to build affordable housing fuels the need for more housing, Butler said he believed it did. The high demand for housing and pressure to address the issue now may be hindering potential solutions, Butler said. He also said that other issues like illegal immigration are making current housing issues worse.
“The demand saying that we have to do this now, now, now, is really hurting the cause,” Butler said. “I’d like to see us address the illegal immigration problem first, then see what is left. Then we can start worrying about the housing solution.”
Lukens said she has supported efforts to help people who already live in Northwest Colorado get the training they need to work in construction industries to build more housing. There are also a lot of open jobs locally that are not filled because of a lack housing, indicating a need for more housing to support the current workforce, Lukens said.
“A lot of these workers do already live here,” Lukens said. “This is certainly a multifaceted issue and it certainly takes that partnership between local, state and federal government, as well as our private partners.”
Caption: Rep. Meghan Lukens listens to a question at a meet and greet even in North Routt on Tuesday, July 30. (Dylan Anderson/The Yampa Valley Bugle)
Reproductive rights
The final question referenced a state Constitutional Amendment question on the ballot in November that would enshrine Colorado’s legal right to an abortion in the state constitution, a move that would prevent future legislatures from reversing laws pass in 2022 affirming a legal right to an abortion in state law.
The ballot measure will appear on the ballot in November after organizers were able to collect more than the needed 125,000 signatures. It will require 55% of the vote to pass.
While noting that a citizen effort, not the legislature, placed this constitutional amendment on the ballot, Lukens said she supported the measure.
“I’m proud to be the pro-choice candidate, I believe healthcare decisions should be between a woman and her doctor,” Lukens said. “I am supportive of the constitutional amendment on the ballot. … The voters will have the final say.”
Butler said he feels Colorado has “some of the most extreme abortion laws in the country.” Colorado is one of seven states that don’t place a limit on when an abortion can take place during a pregnancy, but it is illegal to end a baby’s life after it is born, according to an article published by the Colorado Sun in May.
“You could have a baby that’s been born, the moment before they cut that umbilical cord you can still abort,” Butler said, a comment that drew several disapproving groans from the audience. “The state’s argument is that it’s never happened and that a doctor would never go through with it. However, my question is, if that is the case, why do we need to codify it into law that that is acceptable?”
“It hasn’t happened yet, but all it takes is one person to come here from another state that outlaws it to say, ‘My boyfriend broke up with me, I can’t take care of this baby.’” Butler said. “Then they go into labor. Well, what is that doctor supposed to do, tell her no I’m not going to give you an abortion? … I’d love to see [that case] because I don’t think that would stand up to what the Colorado Law says.”
Top Photo Caption: Rep. Meghan Lukens, a Democrat from Steamboat Springs, left, and Nathan Butler, a Republican from Craig answered questions at an election forum in North Routt on Tuesday. (Dylan Anderson/The Yampa Valley Bugle)