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Friends,
I’d like to start this update by thanking the firefighters, first responders, and community leaders who are responding to the Pine Gulch and Grizzly Creek Fires on the Western Slope. These are rapidly evolving situations––for the most up-to-date information on road closures and evacuation orders, visit the Facebook Pages for the Pine Gulch Fire and the Grizzly Creek Fire.
For real-time air quality monitoring, you can visit Purple Air’s website.
This week, the president openly admitted to blocking funding for the U.S. Postal Service to undermine mail-in voting, something we have pioneered in Colorado. This is unambiguous voter suppression, and it follows the Trump Administration’s broader efforts to starve USPS of funding to make it harder for Americans to vote-by-mail in November. To protect our democracy, Congress should return to Washington immediately to fully fund our elections and USPS––overriding the president if necessary.
I’m also alarmed by the Trump Administration’s decision to cut the 2020 census a month short, which will make it next to impossible to conduct an accurate count. This too threatens our democracy by potentially depriving Colorado of the resources and representation we deserve.
There is no shortage of work ahead.
As always, please reach out to my office with any questions or feedback—especially as we continue to contend with the pandemic’s profound effect on our health and economy.
Best,
Michael
FUNDING USPS AND ENSURING AMERICANS CAN VOTE-BY-MAIL
President Trump went on national television earlier this week and said he was blocking funding for the Postal Service to keep states from expanding vote by mail. In other words, he’s put his political future above our democracy and above the safety of the American people.
I joined my Democratic colleagues in urging the U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to provide answers regarding reports of recent changes to long-standing practices at USPS that would result in increased delivery times and costs for election mail, and called on him not to take any further action that makes it harder and more expensive for states and election jurisdictions to mail ballots.
KEEPING THE CENSUS FAIR AND EFFECTIVE
The Census Bureau announced in early August that it would end its counting operation a month early citing the pandemic. Left unchecked, this decision will jeopardize a decade of vital federal resources for communities across Colorado.
I led a letter with Representatives Diana DeGette, Jason Crow, Joe Neguse, and Ed Perlmutter to Congressional leadership expressing serious concern over the Trump Administration’s decision to end census field data collection activities by the end of September. I’ll keep pushing back to ensure this year’s census is fair and accessible for everyone in our state and country.
FIGHTING FOR COVID-19 RELIEF FUNDING
The only way to adequately fight the pandemic and provide real support to the people across Colorado and the country, is through bipartisan legislation. It’s time for President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to stop the political stunts and come back to the negotiating table so that we can provide much needed relief to families, small businesses, and state and local governments, and boost our public health infrastructure to face this pandemic.
I’m focused on passing bipartisan legislation that extends the expanded unemployment benefit; provides sustained support to our hardest-hit Main Street businesses; allocates funding for state and local governments, so they can continue to provide critical services to our communities; and improves our public health infrastructure to boost testing and contact tracing efforts across the country.
GOVERNOR POLIS EXTENDS STATE MASK MANDATE
I was pleased to see that Governor Polis is extending the state mask mandate through September 13. So I wanted to quickly remind you to keep your distance and wear your mask!
I hope you, your friends, and your families are healthy and safe. Have a great weekend.
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