Senate Education

Monday, February 9, 2026·2h 4m·▶ Watch / Listen

Senate Education split along party lines to advance SB26-034, giving Auraria students and faculty actual votes on the tri-institutional board, while unanimously moving the privately funded nuclear workforce bill SB26-045 to Appropriations after a spirited round of nuclear pro-and-con testimony.

Key Actions

·Auraria Board Student & Faculty ParticipationPassed

+ 2 more actions

Notable Quotes

“People once claimed that women were too emotional to vote or that black Americans weren't educated enough. These weren't fringe arguments.”
Diana White (Immediate past Chair, Faculty Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board) · witness — A faculty advocate framing the fight for voting seats as part of a longer history of expanding the franchise — the core argument of the bill's supporters.

+ 4 more quotes

Votes

Referred to Committee of the WholeAction

Yes (4)Iman Jodeh, Dafna Michaelson Jenet, Cathy Kipp, Chris Kolker

No (3)Scott Bright, Lisa Frizell, Janice Rich

Referred to Committee on AppropriationsAction

Yes (7)Scott Bright, Lisa Frizell, Iman Jodeh, Dafna Michaelson Jenet, Janice Rich, Cathy Kipp, Chris Kolker

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TranscriptPreview

Miss Grisfield, please call the roll. Senators Bright. Excuse. Frizzell. Present. Judah. Excused. Michaelson. Genae. Present. Rich. Here. Kip. Here. Mr. Chair. Here. And thank you all for joining us today. We're going to start off with our confirmation hearings before we get to our bills, just to give everyone a heads up, we're going to be doing the confirmation hearings, then Senate Bill 45, then Senate Bill 34. First confirmation here is for the Adam State University Board of Trustees. President Tamberg's here, I believe. Want to come on up. And I think you have, what, two people in person and one remote. And when you're ready, you can start your introduction right next to the sign where see it? There you go. Right where the big red arrow is. There you go. Yeah, there we go. Chair, members of the committee, it's a real honor to be in front of you all. Again, some of you, we've done this a few times and so I really appreciate the opportunity to introduce three new board members that have been nominated by Governor Polis and strongly supported by me and the rest of the trustees. Jonathan Barba recently retired from…

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