Know Your Legislator: John Kefalas

“I would say that my legislative priorities are going to focus on essentially extending or reflecting my campaign priorities,” says Kefalas, and that means an emphasis on healthcare, education and poverty.

The freshman legislator is looking into introducing a bill that would allow Colorado State University to offer health insurance to graduate students.

He also has plans for a law that would require healthcare workers who conduct kidney dialysis operations to be certified or licensed.

“This particular issue was brought to my attention by people in my district,” Kefalas says. “I believe that’ll be a second bill that I would be introducing because it does warrant attention.”

“Having worked down in Denver [as the director of the Colorado Progressive Coalition’s Tax Fairness Project] I see some of my allies as groups that focus on addressing poverty and self-sufficiency issues,” says the legislator.

Some of those groups include Housing Colorado, which advocates for affordable housing, and the Paycheck Away Project, a listening tour that wrapped up before the election and aimed to educate lawmakers about citizens living paycheck to paycheck. Kefalas will also work with and support the Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform. Lawmakers created the panel during the last session to examine and propose healthcare changes.

“We’ve done some mock sessions and committee hearings and have been on the floor of the chambers, so overall it’s going really well,” says Kefalas, who’s working his way through the legislature’s freshman orientation.

“It’s also been an opportunity to connect with the other freshman legislators, including Democrats and Republicans, so we’ve started to build some relationships there.”