Morgan Carroll: the first SquareState Small Donor Committee candidate

by: johne

07/01/08 @ 11:08:51 PM MDT

Some of her key bills have been:
HB 08-1389 FAIR Act (Fair Accountable Insurance Rates) which requires insurance companies to justify and get approval of rate increases by the insurance commissioner.

HB 07-1074 requires 527 groups to provide the same donor information and financial reporting as political committees in Colorado.

HB 06-1149 Lobby Reform Bill fills in disclosure requirements and conflicts of interest loopholes.

You could call her the sunshine representative.  It's for this reason that this week the SquareState Small Donor Committee is making its first large expenditure of $500 to Morgan Carroll's state senate campaign.  When I told Morgan I'd finally be writing this announcement she replied:

Receiving the endorsement of Square State means a lot to me.  I am proud of the in depth thinking and writing done on Square State and the accessibility it represents to become engaged and involved."

Remember that this isn't my contribution, it's our contribution to elect more and better representatives of the people of Colorado.  It's from your $10 and $50 contributions that this is possible.  Morgan is in for a tough fight as are a number of other deserving candidates.  With more help, we can trade the corrupt for the honest, the wackos for the reasoned.  Just click on the blue box.  Thanks!

And for the record, yes, we are the first blog with a small donor committee.

If you want to know more, our platform and Rep Carroll's responses are after the fold.

Update - I should have mentioned this before, but this progressive movement is long term.  If we want positive change, change that lasts, we have to start from the bottom, locally.  This state representative may be governor someday, or who knows.  Some of the other candidates we support may be able to go on to the US Senate.  They say all politics is local.  It really is, but not without your help.

Here are her responses to our platform statement:

Economic Justice: Prosperity should be accessible to everyone, not merely the few.

Support Earned Income Tax Credit (State & Federal), Affordable Housing, Served on Work Force Development Board, Support restoration of need and merit-based financial aid for higher ed, loan forgiveness programs, mentoring projects, workers' rights, labor protections, right to organize, secure pensions, support tax reform in CO including repeal of TABOR, progressive tax structure, subsidy for daycare for low-income single parents who want to work, repeal corporate welfare, tax subsidies for wealthy.

Civil Rights: Every individual's civil rights must be protected; discrimination and harassment based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or physical and developmental ability should be banned.

Support full equality for all, voted for GLBT workplace and public accommodations equality, equal pay resolution, ran legislation on disability accommodations in HOAs (HB 08-1135), to codify Advisory Council to Governor for Persons with Disabilities (08-165) civil and consumer rights attorney in other job, member ACLU, serve on Constitutional Rights sub-committee Colorado Bar Association, support strong separation of church & state.

Health Care: Every individual should have affordable, quality health care.

I support single payer health care.  In the meantime I have carried bills to provide whistleblower protections for health care workers reporting substandard medical care (HB 07-1133), create medical homes for children in Medicaid & CHP (SB 07-130), allow injured workers to choose / change their doctor (HB 07-1178), creating public notice of all insurance rate hikes (HB 07-1234), the Michael Skolnik Medical Transparency Act (HB07-1331) and to bring prior approval and transparency for ALL health insurance rates in Colorado (FAIR ACT HB 08-139).

Education: It is essential that we invest in quality public education for all.

I oppose diverting public funds to private schools, oppose vouchers and support public education.  I oppose No Child Left Behind, support the Dream Act, and oppose no-bid, no result privatized testing companies (i.e. McGraw Hill) siphoning needed funds away from the classroom and into CSAPs.  I would support allowing local districts to determine their preferred method of testing.  I support increased pay and benefits for educators, smaller class sizes, bilingual education, strong after school programs, public preschool, full day kindergarten.  I would support teacher loan forgiveness programs to target by region and area of need (i.e. special ed).  I believe an excellent public education IS a civil right essential for a functional democracy.  I support academic freedom of all grade levels.

Environment: We must commit to restoring and protecting our environment.  In addition, our new energy economy must favor less and non-polluting energy production instead of 19th century technology.

I support a carbon tax, expanded LEAP, renewable standard(s) for all new energy plants, net-metering, country of origin labeling for food, increased air, water, food inspections, conservation incentives, peak use utility billing, low cost conversion loans for individuals, families businesses to improve technology or go renewable, oppose drilling in the Roan, oppose the Lowry Land Bomb Development, support smart growth, oppose developer handouts for sprawl, support PUBLIC mass transit.

Reproductive Freedom: Women and men - not politicians - deserve the right to make personal decisions about their reproductive health in accordance with their own personal and moral beliefs.

I am pro-choice, support privacy of medical records and decisions, oppose government intrusion into sexual decisions between consenting adults or into matters of family planning.  I believe birth control should be available upon demand (sliding scale) for those who want it so it is accessible for poor too.

Immigration:  We must reform our immigration laws in a way that recognizes the economic contributions and basic human rights of all immigrants, regardless of legal status, and oppose punitive or "enforcement only" approaches to immigration control.

I support full equal worker protections for all workers regardless of national origin or immigration status.  I strongly oppose building any wall.  I oppose immigration policies that divide families. I oppose unreasonable expense or wait times for immigrants through the legal process.  I believe we should expand a hardship exception to deportation and status infractions should be administrative and civil NOT criminal.  I have supported giving priority of Colorado's very limited funds to citizens or immigrants lawfully present.  State services needed to recognize basic human rights should be afforded to all:  (police protection, K-12, emergency medical). Deportation as a retaliatory measure for exercising other basic rights should be prohibited. *The identification requirements passed are now fraught with unintended consequences and should be revisited.

Netroots:  Grassroots activism on the internet (thus, netroots) should be encouraged.  Citizen participation in politics on the internet only makes our democracy stronger.

The netroots has been an integral part to both my campaigns and critical to passage of key legislative reforms in Colorado (including my lobby reform bill (HB 1149), 527 disclosures (HB 07-1074), and the FAIR Act (HB 08-1389).  The Netroots has proven to be an exceptional tool to fight back against undue influence of lobbyists and special interests at the capitol.  It has also played a critical role as watch-dog to the traditional media and a tool to help mobilize people for populist issues.  I blog regularly, hold 2 townhall meetings every month, and do e-newsletters monthly to keep people informed.

And if you're not familiar here's Senate District 29