DENVER - vA new law that would bring Colorado up to date with federal policies for changing a person's gender on their birth certificate won bipartisan support to clear the state House, and proponents are pulling out all stops after the bill was assigned to the Senate's "kill committee."
Daniel Ramos, executive director of the group One Colorado, said eliminating barriers for changing gender is important because when someone's identity doesn't match what's listed on their birth certificate, it can lead to discrimination.
"It's important for transgender people to also have the freedom to live their lives, to be treated with dignity and respect, to be able to access employment, housing and access to businesses and other services, just like everybody else," he said.
Ramos said the current policy is unnecessarily burdensome and a violation of privacy. Under Colorado law, people must undergo surgery and then make their case before a judge in order to win a court order allowing the change. The "Birth Certificate Modernization Act" would only require a letter from a health professional. Opponents of the bill warn that it could encourage fraud or allow people to get out of criminal or credit history.
The U.S. Passport office and Social Security Administration follow the same procedures proposed in HB 1046, Ramos said, arguing that concerns about fraud are unfounded.
"With criminal and credit history, that is tracked by Social Security number, not birth name," Ramos said, "and so, the Social Security number, regardless of the gender, would still stay the same."
Similar measures have died in the past three legislative sessions. The Colorado Senate's State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee is scheduled to hear the bill today.
The bill is online at leg.colorado.gov.
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The world's richest 1% took home almost twice as much wealth as the bottom 99% combined during the pandemic, according to a new Oxfam International report.
Morris Pearl, chair of the group Patriotic Millionaires, said current tax codes are not cutting it anymore. The rich keep getting richer while people who work for a living are making daily sacrifices on essentials such as food, which is not good for families, or for investors who want to make money.
"Because money does not trickle down, money trickles up," Pearl pointed out. "As people pay their bills, for their iPhone and their rent every single month, that is how rich people make money and get richer. And if people don't have enough money to do that, that's not good for any of us."
The report said a 5% tax on the world's multimillionaires could raise enough money to lift 2 billion people out of poverty. Wyoming tax codes are pointed in the opposite direction. The state does not tax corporate or individual income. Wyoming has a higher sales tax, which falls hardest on low-wage earners, than at least forty other states. And only eleven states collect lower property taxes.
While families in Wyoming struggled with rising gas and grocery prices, the report found profits for 95 top energy and food corporations more than doubled in 2022, with 84% of those gains going directly into the pockets of wealthy shareholders.
Pearl argued people who earn their living by working for wages, with taxes taken right out of their paychecks, have been left behind.
"The system is rigged against them, and we have to unrig the system," Pearl stressed. "We have to change the system so they are not holding the bag for everything that the government needs to do. And we need to make the rich pay some of the taxes too."
Three-quarters of the world's governments plan on making nearly 8 trillion dollars in cuts to public-sector funding, including health care and education, over the next five years.
Pearl noted taxes make it possible to provide for the nation's common defense, hire firefighters and police, and build schools, hospitals and highways.
"And things like that have, for the history of this nation, been done by people putting their resources together, and doing things together that they just can't each do individually by themselves," Pearl added.
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January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and Iowa is working to address the problem by educating businesses about the potential signs and dangers.
Although officials say it is hard to pinpoint exact numbers, the frequency of reported trafficking cases is on the rise. Half of the calls to a human trafficking hotline are reports from minors asking for help.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate has enlisted businesses in an aggressive awareness campaign. He said because they come into contact with so many people every day, they can often be the first line of defense.
"They have eyes and ears everywhere," said Pate. "The idea that they can reach out to their own employees - so they, too, can be watching for trafficking and they, too, can help prevent it, or intervene - or whether it be their customer base, how many people a typical business might interact with in a day."
Pate said fast-food restaurants, gas stations and truck stops are especially important partners because they're so busy.
Iowa started the new year with 600 businesses as part of the coalition to combat trafficking, and Pate said he hopes to grow that number.
Pate's office also runs a confidential program for survivors of sex trafficking, domestic violence, assault and stalking.
Teresa Davidson, CEO of the Cedar Rapids-based anti-trafficking group Chains Interrupted, said when a person is recruited into a trafficking operation, it can be very hard for them to get out.
"First, they have to recognize that they are being exploited," said Davidson, "because so many times, human trafficking is manipulation and coercion, and they don't even realize that they're a victim. They think that they're in a relationship and that this is a partnership."
The group is having a webinar for businesses January 17 at 10 a.m.
Davidson says nationally, 74% of trafficking victims report having been in the foster-care system. She said the problem touches all 50 states and continues to grow.
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Some Nebraska judges are failing to follow state laws related to cash bail, court fees and court fines, according to a two-year study in Douglas and Lancaster counties.
The report by the ACLU of Nebraska found defendants are not always being asked about their ability to pay bail and court costs, nor are they being informed of alternatives if lacking the funds.
Sam Petto, communications director for the ACLU of Nebraska, said they noticed issues in about 40% of the cases they observed. He pointed out cash bail disproportionately affects lower-income Nebraskans and is, ultimately, a type of "debtor's prison."
"So, if you imagine someone with the exact same circumstance, charge, etc., and they just have an extra thousand dollars in a bank account, that person might be back out in the community at their job, with the support structure they need - while the other person sits in jail."
Petto also mentioned the "collateral consequences" when someone who can't afford to pay bail or fees spends time behind bars from losing a job, to not being able to arrange child care or fulfill caregiving responsibilities. The report recommendations include "bench cards" for judges, with specifics related to bail and fees, and legislative action including eliminating cash bail.
Petto noted the 2017 Nebraska bail reform law was aimed at keeping people charged with nonviolent crimes from spending time in jail due to their inability to pay for bail and fines.
"And many Nebraskans do not know that they have the right to say, 'Hey, I can't afford that,' or to request things like a payment plan, community service, or having the judge entirely waive that fee or fine," Petto outlined.
The study also found the largest number of people in jail in Douglas and Lancaster counties were there on a pretrial basis, with persons of color significantly overrepresented. Petto explained in addition to the human cost, the current system plays a large role in the overstressed status of Nebraska jails.
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