By Dylan Roberts.
This piece highlights the importance of holding in-person town halls, the major legislation we passed this year on issues like affordable housing, water conservation, education, and the state budget, and how these policies will impact Western Colorado. It also includes reflections on the diverse concerns I’ve heard from constituents and how those shape my work as a legislator for a politically diverse district.
My 2025 Town Hall Tour
In a time of immense political division and toxic online conversations, it’s more important than ever to gather in person. While too many elected officials are refusing to hold in-person town hall meetings with their constituents, I see them as one of the most important and productive parts of my job as a legislator. They’re an opportunity to connect face-to-face with the people I represent, share updates about the work we’ve accomplished during the legislative session, and to hear directly from constituents – ideas, concerns, and yes, criticism. Engaging in these conversations is essential for a healthy democracy, and that’s why, as your state senator, I have always prioritized holding town hall meetings with my constituents.
Just a few days ago, I completed my annual Post-Session Town Hall Tour of Senate District 8. This tour took me to all 10 counties in the district, where I held public meetings alongside several of my colleagues from the Colorado General Assembly who also serve those counties.
We hosted great crowds in Frisco, Idaho Springs, Granby, Walden, Rifle, Avon, Craig, Steamboat Springs, Meeker, and concluded in Central City. Over the course of the tour, we gathered with hundreds of community members and discussed the major bills from this year that will benefit Western Colorado, including measures to conserve water, make housing more affordable, invest in education, lower healthcare costs, and pass a balanced budget – and then let the questions and answers guide free-ranging, interesting, and productive discussions.
In Frisco, Speaker Julie McCluskie and I highlighted our work on HB25-1115, which aims to improve water measurement and reporting systems across the state to better manage our precious water resources, what we did to help lower homeowner’s insurance rates, and the measures we passed to make our mountain highways, including I-70, safer by preventing more commercial and passenger vehicle crashes and spin-outs.
In Walden and Granby, the Speaker and I once again heard from many of you about the ongoing impacts of wolf reintroduction, especially the challenges posed by livestock depredation. We shared details about our SB25-038, a new law based on suggestions directly from Grand and Jackson County ranchers that protects the personal information of ranchers who file claims for livestock losses caused by wolves and other wildlife, and the several ways we have continued to urge Colorado Parks and Wildlife to improve the program for the ranching community.
In Avon, Craig and Steamboat, Rep. Meghan Lukens and I talked about how we worked to bring more funding to our rural schools, our shared work on HB25-1056 that will help expand cell phone coverage in rural areas, and what we are doing to lower the cost of living by addressing housing, child care, and health care costs.
In Idaho Springs and Central City, Rep. Lesley Smith and I talked about our bill, HB25-1039, which will require all commercial vehicles to have properly functioning mufflers by July 2027 and increase fines for violations to help reduce noise pollution and improve quality of life along I-70, efforts we are taking to improve rural living for seniors, and ways to help our county and local governments provide crucial local services.
At every stop, I heard about affordability. This remains my top priority, especially when it comes to our housing crisis. I pointed to one of my bills, SB25-006, which allows the State Treasurer to invest $50 million in below-market bonds to finance the construction of for-sale housing for locals. Additionally, we passed HB25-1272, which will allow developers to build more affordable, for-sale condos and townhomes by cutting unnecessary red tape and creating more opportunities for hardworking Coloradans to purchase their first home.
We also talked a lot about our state budget and the challenges we may continue to face now that the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” has been signed into law by the President. As legislators, we have a constitutional obligation to pass a balanced state budget, and this year, I was proud to share that we worked to ensure it reflected the priorities of our communities. We boosted K-12 education funding by $150 million, prioritizing rural districts and avoiding any cuts. We increased Medicaid provider reimbursement rates by 1.6% to help improve healthcare access, especially in underserved areas, and we preserved funding for conservation initiatives, including crucial wildfire mitigation efforts, to protect our communities and natural resources. You will continue to hear from me about how federal actions will impact us here in SD8, and I’ll keep fighting to protect the programs that keep our communities safe and healthy.
Thank you to everyone who attended a town hall; I genuinely appreciate your interest, questions, criticisms, and hopes for the future, and I look forward to seeing how those ideas create opportunities for further conversation and potential legislation. I welcome continued feedback as the year goes on: SenatorDylanRoberts@gmail.com or 970-846-3054.
Dylan Roberts is the State Senator for Clear Creek, Eagle, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson,
Moffat, Rio Blanco, Routt and Summit Counties