Boulder City Council Member and keynote speaker Junie Joseph speaks on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dreams and how they have evolved today. Jan. 20, 2020 (Casey Paul / CU Independent)
On Tuesday, Junie Joseph won reelection to represent District 10, which encompasses the city of Boulder, in Colorado’s House of Representatives for a second term. During her first term, Joseph focused on issues such as affordable housing, sustainable transportation and gun control.
“The work is not done,” Joseph said of her decision to seek a second term.
Joseph, like many of her constituents, is a renter in Boulder. Housing issues were a focal point during her first two years in the state legislature.
As the Vice Chair of the House Committee on Finance, Joseph sponsored a bill. She also passed House Bill 1272, which funded sustainable and economical means of transportation, including e-bikes.
House Bill 1120, another bill Joseph sponsored, expands the eviction protections of renters who receive financial assistance.
Joseph has worked on several other bills concerning issues of importance to students, including those at the University of Colorado Boulder. As a former student at CU Boulder’s law school, accessibility to education in House District 10 is a crucial issue for Joseph.
She worked on House Bill 1009, which requires early childhood education programs to provide information to families in prevalent languages other than English, including Spanish.
Another bill she sponsored allows the legal guardians of students with disabilities to file complaints with the student’s education provider if there is a lack of accessibility.
She is also concerned with the debt faced by students after graduation.
“I’m a proud alum of the law school, and that was one of the best experiences that I’ve had. I enjoyed being in law school, but also that left me with a massive, massive student loan bill that I have to think about paying every month, and it’s too much,” Joseph said.
Like inflation, Joseph’s constituents are concerned about immigration. Amid Former President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims about refugees in Colorado, Joseph says immigrants are a “benefit” to the community.
As an immigrant herself from Haiti, Joseph said that, once anyone becomes a resident of House District 10, it is her job to represent them.
“As a state representative, my role is to protect people here in Boulder whoever they are, no matter where they come from, and to stand up for them,” she said. “At the legislature, that’s what I do as well. I pass bills that protect all of us.”
Joseph says she is voting “yes” on Proposition KK, the Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax, this year. The proposition, which passed, will fund mental health services for veterans, youth and victims of violence by adding a tax to gunsales.
Joseph said that House District 10 has “a shortfall when it comes to victim services” and that using funding from arms sales is “a great way” of bolstering them.
This year, abortion is a major issue in both the presidential election and local ballot measures. Amendment 79, which passed, will create a right to abortion in the Colorado constitution and allow the use of public funds for abortion.
“I’m a strong, strong proponent of abortion rights and reproductive justice and I will definitely be voting yes on Amendment 79 this coming election,” Joseph said.
As voters cast their final ballots Tuesday evening, Joseph was already drafting bills.
According to Joseph’s senior legislative aide, Bre Miracle, this kind of workload is typical.
“I was told that when the session was over things would slow down and she has not slowed down,” Miracle said. “Even when it’s an election year she’s still reaching for the future and she’s still reaching for how to make people’s lives better.”
Contact CU Independent Guest Writer Jeanne Kilcullen at Jeanne.Kilcullen@colorado.edu.
