“ Colorado and our nation cannot afford to have a Congressional Senator who shrugs off the threats we face to our forests, air quality, watersheds and public lands.”
— Stephany Rose Spaulding
We need a viable, coordinated, popular and immediate response to runaway climate change, which threatens agriculture, coastal cities, human health, biodiversity and global security. We must aim for implementing the Green New Deal and take back the public conversation and control from those who place record-breaking profits for their fossil fuel donors over the lives of the people they are elected to represent.
Solving this problem starts with working across the aisle on a Carbon Dividends Plan developed by self-identified conservative Republicans. I will support this plan to place gradually increasing fees on carbon emissions and return all proceeds to the American people as a regular dividend. Something like this has worked in Alaska for the past 35 years. This market-friendly, small government policy option also opens a path to help conservatives understand the science.
I will also push to develop an energy infrastructure that relies on balancing energy independence in the U.S. with comprehensive use of wind, solar, and hydroelectric and developing technologies. Incorporating more renewables will help our country move towards energy-independence while creating good jobs and economic stability. In the past five years, the solar industry alone has created nearly 80,000 living-wage U.S. jobs.
Additionally, I will fight against opening our precious Rocky Mountain parks, wild lands and open spaces to drilling or other resource extraction. I will fight to block corporate lobbyists huge influence through campaign contributions and to eliminate tax subsidies those companies get in return, known as ‘pay for play.” I will also fight to make it illegal to promote inaccurate information concerning energy and environmental impacts; Colorado and our nation cannot afford to have a Congressional Senator who shrugs off the threats we face to our forests, air quality, watersheds and public lands.
“My work as an organizer/activist emerges from a deep space of faith and commitment to the belief that not only are we capable of transforming the world”
— Stephany Rose Spaulding 
My work as an organizer/activist emerges from a deep space of faith and commitment to the belief that not only are we capable of transforming the world, we are purposefully required to do the work. Since I was a youth, I’ve been actively involved in community transformation through one-on-one, communal, and institutional processes.
Human dignity is under attack. From dehumanizing immigration policies, threats to civil rights, to demoralizing efforts to roll back gains in women’s reproductive justice our humanity in civil society is at stake. I am committed to redressing the moral injuries that marginalized communities consistently face due to a lack of criminal justice reform, voter protection, immigration reform, income equality and protections against all forms of discrimination.
“With the rapid rise in housing costs, we cannot continue to cut voucher programs, limit the ability of HUD to enforce its Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule and assessment tool, or tie the hands of states to invest federal funding.”
— Stephany Rose Spaulding 
Affordable housing is increasingly a challenge that is directly connected to economic development and job opportunities throughout Colorado. As home prices and rents continue to soar, many people – including our large population of military members, past and present; their dependents; others with disabilities; and seniors – are forced to make choices between housing and other necessities like food and medicine. Some are forced to live on the street.
With the rapid rise in housing costs, we cannot continue to cut voucher programs, limit the ability of HUD to enforce its Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule and assessment tool, or tie the hands of states to invest federal funding. We must also continue vigilant protection of the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing. Other federal programs, such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, can be streamlined and strengthened to continue assisting states and developers to provide affordable housing.
Housing trust funds can also help preserve and add to the stock of affordable housing. Affordable housing trusts can not only provide housing options but are also directly connected to economic development and job opportunities. Sustainable wages, new job opportunities, and an affordable housing market—with opportunities for low-income housing—provide the foundation for viable communities. I will work collaboratively with others to fund affordable housing, first time home ownership and community development programs.
“No full-time worker should live in poverty.”
— Stephany Rose Spaulding
No full-time worker should live in poverty. Colorado seems remarkable with some of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. But when you look closely, rural residents, single women with children and people of color are unemployed and underemployed at far greater rates than their city-living white, male counterparts. I will uphold and strengthen employment laws that guarantee equal wages and prevent discrimination, that support paid family leave and access to affordable childcare.
As Senator, I will also oppose big tax cuts to big corporations while I push banks to provide loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses, especially those that are underrepresented- and/or women-owned. I will work to protect the jobs of teachers, nurses and other healthcare providers, farm workers and service workers, and to create additional jobs that improve our infrastructure for the future.
Communities throughout Colorado are dependent on agriculture, coal/fossil fuels, and tourism. As I work to support different aspects of these economic drivers, I will also promote legislation to assist communities to shift from outdated industries into sustainable alternatives such as clean energy and cyber security, in which Colorado is already heavily investing.
While individual states are increasing their minimum wage, we must ensure wages remain a livable wage rates. Colorado home prices and rents are among the fastest growing in the nation. The minimum wage has to be connected to the cost of living. I will fight to make sure that everyday people and working families make enough money to afford to live and support their families.
“I assure you I will be on the front lines of fighting for comprehensive, affordable, accessible health care for all people, not just for the privileged few.”
— Stephany Rose Spaulding
Health care should be a right for all Americans, not just a privilege for some. The incumbent voted for all of Donald Trump’s failed plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Had this worked, everyday Coloradans – especially those with pre-existing conditions – would be left at risk of losing jobs, going bankrupt to afford medical treatment or even dying, while the wealthiest 1% would get huge kickbacks. No one in this country should be afraid that they will lose their life or their homes just because they got sick.
More than 20 million Americans, including 500,000 Coloradans, now have health coverage because of the ACA. The law also requires insurance companies to spend their money on patient care, not administration and marketing. Young people and low-income earners have had the greatest gains, and are most at-risk if this coverage goes away. Since 2010, the ACA has improved our health care coverage.
Yet many people – especially in Colorado’s rural areas – still struggle with high health care, medication, and insurance costs. Accessible health care isn’t really accessible if you can’t afford it or readily see providers. I will work to reform and improve the ACA, lower prescription costs and make sure we move towards achieving universal health care in the United States.
Cutting back essential health care services to women, children, veterans, rural and underserved communities in order to return favors to big donors is not morally responsible.I assure you I will be on the front lines of fighting for comprehensive, affordable, accessible health care for all people, not just for the privileged few.