Senator Johnston sent an email update today, which included this video update from outside his community office in Northeast Denver.

You can read the entire email update below. To receive our updates, click here to sign-up.

Dear Friend,

Happy March and here is our latest update from the Capitol. Read below for an update on life with a family of five, our Latino community forum, a new program to recognize outstanding students in the district, and check out our video updates on bill progress as well as info on our first bill signing.

And Ava Makes 5
People often ask how we are surviving with three kids. I think this story pretty much sums it up: We recently took Ava Grace to Mississippi to meet her namesake, Courtney's grandmother Ava. The boys spent their last day building a bridge of leaves from the backyard to the fireplace in the kitchen. Because we insisted the leaves couldn't come inside the house, the fort stopped at the door. When we finally packed up to clear security on the way home, we were hauling three car seats, one car seat-base, two strollers, seven carry-ons, and 13 security buckets. Courtney miraculously got everything through except Emmet. She was standing on the other side holding Ava and Seamus's hand, while Emmet — with a long line of people waiting for him — kept walking through the security screener again and again, setting off the beep every time. The two pilots and long line of travelers waiting behind him couldn't stop laughing as Emmet took off shoes and his Spiderman watch and his rubber Batman bracelets.

Finally, after about seven trips through, the nice agent said, "Son, do you have anything in your pockets?" Emmet looked at the man, then looked at his mommy, not wanting to answer. Giving up he quietly said, "Only leaves," and pulled out of his pockets two huge fist-fulls of dried leaves and dropped them in the security bucket. There, buried in the leaves,  were the four batteries he needed for his toy motorcycle. The TSA officer smiled, and Emmet said sheepishly, "Oh yeah, and batteries."

Legislative Update
Here is our latest video update, this time "on location" from our community center in Park Hill. Check out the video to find out some great news regarding our efforts to redevelop the area burned down by gang arson. 
 
 
Here are some of the latest developments from the State Capitol:
  • Our first big success of the session was Governor Hickenlooper signing HB 12-001, the bill implementing the rules for our historic Great Teachers and Leaders Bill from 2010 (SB 191). It is exciting to see that in Colorado, our coalition for reform is broader and deeper than it was when SB 191 first passed. The new rules, which were created by a council of students, educators, and parents, were passed with 99 out of 100 votes in the Colorado General Assembly. What was once a controversial issue has now become one of the most bipartisan and deeply supported issues in the Colorado legislature. Click here to read my blog post on how this collaborative success shows that ed reform is the new 99%.
  • As mentioned in the video update, the Senate State, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee approved SB 12-109, our bill to fix current ballot rules that mark voters as inactive if they miss just one general election. This means more than 300,000 Colorado voters won't get ballots in 2012 and won't know why. This will punish elderly Coloradans who can't make it out to vote, active duty military personnel who may have missed an election while serving our country overseas, or anyobdy who just decided they were going to skip the last election. Voting is not just a fundmental right, it is the fundamental right, and it is our job to do everything we can to make the voting process fair, secure and accessible to all. Click here for more information. 
  • Together with Senator Roberts, we passed HJR 12-1004, a joint resolution on teen suicide prevention. The testimony in the Senate Education Committee had every senator in tears. One particularly powerful testimonial came from Gretchen Cheverton, who started with this opening line: "On my 8th birthday I stood in front of a homemade cake, surrounded by loving family, and made my wish as I blew out the candles. I wished to die." Her testimony was the most powerful call-to-action on teen suicide that I have heard. As befits her heoric courage, she agreed to let me share it with you in the hope that it will encourage more open dialogue about the warning signs and prevention of teen suicide. I hope you can take a few minutes to read Gretchen's testimony here (I'd recommend getting some tissues before you start).

Community Events
  • Last week, we held a town hall for members of the Latino Community at Montbello High School. We talked about our efforts to pass SB 12-015, which would create standard-rate tuition for undocumented students, many of whom are at the top of their high school class. One of the students we heard from is the president of his student body and maintains a stellar grade point average, in addition to working three jobs to save money for college – yet it still remains out of his reach.
  • One of my favorite things about being a legislator is the chance to speak with young people at the Capitol, which is why we recently launched our “Kids at the Cap” program to reward outstanding students from schools in District 33. This program allows teachers and principals to nominate exemplary studetns from their school to come to the capitol where we buy them breakfast and bring them onto the senate floor to shadow me for the morning.  Our first week we welcomed Yesenia Saucedo from Bruce Randolph High School, and this week we had Stephanie Jones and Sarah Valdez from Martin Luther King, Jr., Early College (pictured below). If you are a teacher or principal in the district and want to nominate a student reach out to Leslie Colwell at lcolwell@mikejohnston.org.

New Website and Social Platforms
Despite my early predicution that it would go the way of my 7th grade M.C. Hammer pants, it appears the Internet is here to stay. So, in addition to trying out these video updates, we've also launched a new website with an updated look and features, including a blog that will have the latest updates from our work in the Capitol. Check out it here. 
 
We also have a new presence across social media websites. On the advice of some social media svengalis, I've changed my personal Twitter handle to @MikeJohnstonCO. They say it's easier to find me that way, but I think it's probably because they figure once people throw me out of office, at least I'll still have the Twitter handle left. We've created a brand new handle, @JohnstonOffice, which my staff will use to tweet more regular updates on our bills' progress, our events, meetings, and media. We also have a new Facebook page and a new Google+ page. 
 
Our main goal is to provide more opportunities for you to connect with me and our team. We always love feedback, so, as always, please don't hesitate to send in your comments through these sites or our main website.  

Finally, Happy March Madness Eve! By next newsletter, we should be celebrating an unprecedented three Colorado basketball teams in the big dance. Stay tuned…
 
Mike Johnston
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