Last year in the Colorado Senate, we introduced the Healthy Meals For All Public School Students bill, which voters passed by 55 percent in November, funding a program to do 3 things:

• Reimburse every meal served by a participating school district
• Support the ability for schools to purchase healthy and local food
• Ensure fair wages for front-line food service employees

I’m happy to announce that every school district in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District opted into this program, meaning that thousands of students in our area will now be provided with a free healthy breakfast and lunch at school. Nutritious and filling breakfasts and lunches are especially crucial for our more vulnerable kids who might only be eating when at school. Colorado is only the third state to guarantee free, permanent healthy school meals for all – and for that, I could not be more proud.

Earlier this year, I introduced the School Safety Drill Research Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. I was at a neighboring high school during the Columbine massacre, and since then more than 350,000 students have experienced gun violence incidents in school. Naturally, schools have taken measures to prepare students for emergency situations, like lockdowns and active shooter safety drills. However, as they have spread across the nation, there has been very little guidance on how to adopt the drills and how to do so safely.

My bill would provide K-12 schools with best practices to standardize drills across the country to make them safe and effective. It would also study and examine the mental health effects of active shooter drills, lockdown drills, and other firearm violence prevention activities. This would not just protect students, but also the mental well-being of our teachers, administrators, and other school staff.

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Thanks for reading,