DIANNE PRIMAVERA

GENERAL

What issue areas will your first five bills address? Provide as much detail as possible. My focus will continue to be on health care reform, providing a top notch educational system, economic development and protecting our environment through energy conservation and clean energies. I get the best ideas for legislation from walking my district and meeting with constituents. I am collecting ideas as I go door to door. I won’t have definite bill ideas until after I have spoken with voters. To me, that is representative government.

Your Support of Progressive Issues and Candidates:
Which parts of the current Colorado Democratic Party Platform do you support? I am a proud Democrat and generally support the ideals of the Colorado Democratic Party. I would be happy to discuss specific issues as you would like.

Explain why you do or do not support the planks that you consider most important. As a member of the House Committee on Health and Human Services, I am especially dedicated to achieving access to quality, affordable health care for all Coloradoans. I am also particularly interested in growing our economy through investments in education and clean renewable energy technologies.

Have you supported the issues articulated in the current platform in previous elections, either as a candidate or a supporter or opponent of other candidates? Yes, both as a candidate in 2004 and 2006 and as a member of the House of Representatives.

TABOR/TAXATION

Do you support the platform plank advocating simplification of the tax code and revocation of the TABOR amendment? Colorado’s Constitution is moving toward a fiscal breaking point under TABOR, and it must be reformed and replaced with a system that works.

Do you support more progressive taxation in Colorado? How will you persuade TABOR supporters that there are better and more just possibilities for limiting taxes? TABOR has proven to be an unsustainable method of regulating government finance. Voters must be made aware of the dire consequences that will come sooner rather than later in the fields such as transportation, education and health care if we cannot find a solution. The detailed points of government finance may not resonate with voters, but we all care about preventing unpassable roads, subpar schools and the denial of access to health care.

PUBLIC EDUCATION
Where do public education and children's issues fit into your priorities for the state budget? Providing high quality education and a safe and healthy environment for our children is not only an important priority for Colorado families, but a crucial step in ensuring economic growth. My voting record indicates that these are a priority.

HEALTH CARE

What is your stand on single-payer universal health care, one in which health care is publicly financed and privately delivered? Please elaborate. Access to health care shouldn’t depend on the wealth of a person or their job status. I support universal health care and single payer in which all Coloradoans have access to quality, affordable health care. As a member of the Health and Human Services committee, I am open to all ideas that will lead to this result. Having worked for a government run health care system, I know single payer could be an efficient system.

ELECTORAL REFORM

The Colorado Democratic Party platform develops specific planks in the areas of election reform including the requirement that the paper ballot become the official record of voter intent, that any electronic voting machine produce a voter-verifiable paper record, and that proprietary software programs by vendors be eliminated. Will you support these planks? Every vote in Colorado must be recorded in a way that is completely accurate and verifiable. Any technology that stands in the way of this process must be eliminated.

Will you resist efforts to scrap precinct polling places and move Colorado to a mandatory all mail-in ballot? I do not support a mandatory all-mail ballot system. I support the ability to vote in-person whether it be by individual precinct or by an adequately-prepared vote center system like the one currently used by Broomfield.

IMMIGRATION

What measures do you propose to reduce abuses of undocumented immigrants and detainees in Colorado? Every person should be here legally and every person in Colorado has the right to be treated humanely regardless of race, color or national origin, and any abuses should be investigated and prosecuted.

LABOR

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned the United States for suppressing workers' rights to unionize and bargain collectively. Governor Bill Ritter vetoed an attempt to change the Colorado Labor Peace Act (which restricts these rights). How would you guarantee the right of Colorado workers to form and join unions and bargain collectively? I firmly support the right of workers to unionize and voted in favor of HB 1072 in 2007.

GLOBAL WARMING

What would you do to promote new technologies and infrastructures to bring Colorado into a new sustainable energy economy? I fully support Governor Ritter’s efforts to bring about a new energy economy. We must tailor our state’s economic incentives to promote the development of 21^st century clean-energy technology that will provide a foundation for our economy that will last for years to come. Moreover, Colorado has unique and irreplaceable natural resources. We all have the responsibility to become the best stewards of these resources as possible. My voting record supports this belief.