Priorities

Since taking office in January 2019, Congressman Joe Neguse has introduced 45 pieces of legislation—the most of any freshman lawmaker. These bills include priorities that have come straight from local communities in the 2^nd Congressional District to expand affordable housing opportunities, combat the existential threat of climate change, and lower the cost of prescription drugs and surprise medical bills.

In October, Congressman Neguse passed major Colorado wilderness legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, led by Senator Michael Bennet in the Senate, will preserve approximately 400,000 acres of public land across Colorado and designate the first-ever National Historic Landscape at Camp Hale to honor the storied legacy of the Army’s 10^th Mountain Division. The CORE Act is the culmination of over a decade of collaboration from county commissioners, Mayors, outdoorsman and environmentalists across the state.

In 2019, four of Congressman Neguse’s bills were signed into law by the President, including legislation to fund rural schools in Colorado’s mountain communities, legislation to protect wildlife in the Platte River Basin, a provision to ensure water access for the town of Minturn at the Bolts Ditch Headgate in Eagle County and a provision that incorporates approximately 124 acres adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park into Arapaho National Forest.

Other legislation introduced from Congressman Neguse include measures to invest in regenerative agriculture research, ensure helicopter safety, create a pathway to modernize federal labs in Colorado and across the country, end climate censorship at federal agencies and build the first-ever outdoor monument to honor the women’s suffrage movement in Washington D.C.