Commuting Solutions and the Northwest Mayors & Commissioners Coalition (NWMCC) hosted the 14th Legislative Breakfast on Thursday, January 5, 2023.
The full-house event gathered public, private, nonprofit and transportation agency staff and elected officials to address regional, state and federal transportation planning, public policy, and advocacy efforts in the region. Highlights of accomplishments that advance the Northwest Area Mobility Study (NAMS) were also shared in advance of the 2023 Colorado legislative session.
Breakfast Speakers
The speakers included video remarks from U.S. Representative Joe Neguse and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet; Colorado Governor Jared Polis; J.J. Amett, CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce; Robert Kinney, CEO of Xcel Energy; Senator Faith Winter, Chairperson of the Senate Transportation Committee; Broomfield mayor, Guyleen Castriotta and Commuting Solutions board chairperson, Chris McShane.
Working Together for Good Change
At the meeting, Governor Polis spoke about the need to merge transit and housing in future transportation planning, the importance of working together to mitigate housing costs by creating more housing units, and focusing transit on densely-populated places.
Colorado Senator Faith Winter discussed the importance of improving air quality, transit systems in need of change, housing affordability, and climate. Senator Winter stressed how the future of transit depends on everyone from Colorado’s advocacy organizations and government agencies working together to create a network of smaller commuter buses.
Affordable housing is a big focus of the 2023 legislative session, with a need to connect transportation to land use. Local governments have done a great job on this; now the state is interested and wants to be a part of the solution.
The 14th Legislative Breakfast not only informed but inspired the audience to get involved in and stick with the often complex process of creating a sustainable environment through responsible legislation at the national and, especially, at the state and local level.
Your advocacy makes good change happen! Thank you for all that you do and continue to do, Legislative Breakfast speakers, our CS members and partners, and of course our terrific sponsors!
