{"id":22727,"date":"2025-04-11T19:11:48","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T01:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/sen-bennet-chalks-wins-and-misses-for-southwest-colorado\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:16:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:16:32","slug":"sen-bennet-chalks-wins-and-misses-for-southwest-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/sen-bennet-chalks-wins-and-misses-for-southwest-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Bennet chalks wins \u2013 and misses \u2013 for Southwest Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Michael Bennet leads a news conference on Wednesday with other Democrats to push for a permanent expansion of the child tax credit with the American Family Act of 2025. Expanding the child tax credit has been one of Bennet's priorities since 2015. (Kathryn Squyres\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

WASHINGTON \u2013 If Sen. Michael Bennet is successful in his bid for Colorado governor, he will leave the Senate with several accomplishments and much unfinished business \u2013 including as it relates to Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n

In a video announcing his candidacy, Bennet cited some of his successes in the Senate and spoke about challenges facing Coloradans, like cost of living and access to health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur best solutions to these challenges will not come from the broken politics practiced in Washington. They will come from us, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m running for governor,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 It\u2019s here we can best fight Trump\u2019s corruption while building a better future for our kids and our grandkids.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent months, Bennet has sharply criticized President Donald Trump\u2019s administration but has taken a different approach with confirming Trump\u2019s cabinet nominees. He voted to confirm several nominees, including fellow Coloradan Chris Wright as Secretary of the Department of Energy and Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture, saying he thought that approach was more productive, especially when it comes to building relationships with executive leadership on issues most pertinent to Colorado.<\/p>\n

With a slew of endorsements already piling up, Bennet joins Democrat Phil Weiser, the state\u2019s attorney general, in the race for the Democratic nomination for governor.<\/p>\n

Joining the Senate in 2009, Bennet is Colorado\u2019s second-longest serving member of Congress. He served alongside three other senators from the state: Democrat Mark Udall, Republican Cory Gardner and Democrat John Hickenlooper.<\/p>\n

During that time, Bennet often maintained a relatively low national profile, though he launched a short-lived campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. He drew attention more recently as one of the first Democratic senators to express concern about then-President Joe Biden\u2019s reelection prospects, who had a disastrous debate performance against Trump.<\/p>\n

He has made expanding the Child Tax Credit a priority, often citing his experience as superintendent of Denver Public Schools as a motivator to end child poverty. He authored the temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit in the 2021 American Rescue Plan, which expired at the end of that year but helped nearly halve child poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This week he introduced the American Family Act to permanently expand the child tax credit, but the bill is unlikely to muster the necessary Republican votes to clear the 60-vote filibuster.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at some of Bennet\u2019s legislative hits \u2013 and misses \u2013 for Southwest Colorado:<\/p>\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is pushing for passage of the CORE Act before the current Congress adjourns. The legislation would protect 400,000 acres of public land in the state, including 52,000 acres in the San Juan Mountains. (Courtesy of Mason Cummings)<\/span>Courtesy of Mason Cummings, The Wilderness Society<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
The CORE Act: Six years of trying<\/div>\n

In February, Bennet reintroduced the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, which would permanently protect more than 420,000 acres of public lands on the Western Slope. The bill combines four previously independent pieces of legislation, covering parts of the San Juan Mountains, the Thompson Divide, the Continental Divide and the Curecanti National Recreation Area.<\/p>\n

Closest to Durango, the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act \u2013 which has been in the Senate since 2009 \u2013 would impact 61,000 acres of federal public land. It would establish a special management area covering Sheep Mountain, including Hope Lake and the ever-popular Ice Lake Basin. It also would designate new wilderness areas between Lizard Head Pass and the Weminuche Wilderness, and create a mineral withdrawal at Naturita Canyon.<\/p>\n

The CORE Act faces an uphill battle in the 119th Congress, largely owing to the fact that it must clear the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which is chaired by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a steadfast critic of public lands.<\/p>\n

\"Kayakers
Kayakers Dan Steaves, Eric Parker and David Farkas talk with a group as they get out of the Animas River north of Durango on Aug. 6, 2015, following the Gold King Mine spill. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Gold King Mine spill compensation<\/div>\n

Bennet, Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd reintroduced legislation<\/a> in February to compensate those affected by the 2015 Gold King Mine spill, which sent 3 million gallons of acidic, heavy-metal laden water into the Animas and San Juan rivers.<\/p>\n

The spill forced recreation businesses to temporarily close and prompted some farmers and livestock owners to find alternative water supplies or relocate animals until water quality could be adequately tested.<\/p>\n

In the years after the spill, claimants heard conflicting and opposing answers on whether they would ever be compensated for lost business. Ultimately, the Environmental Protection Agency, which was responsible for the spill and part of the cost of the subsequent cleanup, denied their claims.<\/p>\n

The proposed bill would authorize up to $3.3 million to fulfill remaining claims.<\/p>\n

\"La
La Plata and Montezuma county residents fought for years to be included in the Denver television market instead of the Albuquerque market. (Durango Herald illustration)<\/span>Cliff Vancura\/Durango Herald illustration<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
The fight for Colorado television<\/div>\n

In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission issued a rule allowing counties to apply for in-state channels to be added to their media markets. That followed advocacy from Bennet and Udall, who worked to include language for the rule in the 2014 Satellite Television Extension and Localism Reauthorization Act \u2013 or STELAR.<\/p>\n

It was key for so-called \u201corphan counties\u201d like La Plata and Montezuma, which had been lumped in with the Albuquerque media market. Television viewers were often blocked from accessing Colorado broadcasts for news, weather, sports and emergency communications. At least once a year, residents in Southwest Colorado would miss out on a Denver Broncos game.<\/p>\n

After urging from Bennet, Gardner and former Rep. Scott Tipton, the FCC approved La Plata County\u2019s petition in 2017 to be allowed to view Denver\u2019s media market, but it wasn\u2019t until 2020 that residents first gained access to Colorado broadcasts. That February, DISH Network began carrying Rocky Mountain PBS, followed by ABC and Fox affiliates in Denver. DirectTV soon followed suit.<\/p>\n

By then, television markets had become so fractured that many residents had identified workarounds. However, some viewers still cannot access the media markets of their choice.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet leads a group of constituents interested in his proposed legislation to protect the Hermosa watershed in 2014. (Durango Herald file)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act signed into law<\/div>\n

The Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act<\/a> turned 10 in December 2024. Bennet, Udall and Tipton successfully brought it to the finish line in 2014.<\/p>\n

After years of grassroots advocacy, the bill created a 70,000-acre special management area and a 37,000-acre wilderness area that protects nearly the entire watershed. The legislation prohibits vehicles and bicycles within the wilderness, and the San Juan National Forest has since added new trails and enhanced conservation efforts for wildlife in the tributaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never met a person \u2013 literally not met a person \u2013 that said they wish that we had not passed the Hermosa Creek watershed bill,\u201d Bennet told The Durango Herald<\/em> in December 2024. \u201cI think there\u2019s universal agreement that it was good for Durango and good for Southwest Colorado, good for Colorado as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Majel
Majel Boxer, professor of Native American and Indigenous studies at Fort Lewis College, discusses the panels mounted in stone in the walk-through area of the FLC Clock Tower on Dec. 10, 2019. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Fort Lewis College tuition waiver<\/div>\n

Under the 1911 federal mandate tied to Fort Lewis College\u2019s original land grant in Hesperus, students from any federally recognized Native American tribe can attend the college tuition-free. The state of Colorado covers the cost of tuition for those students, including out-of-state Indigenous students.<\/p>\n

In 2010, Bennet, Udall and Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., introduced legislation that would require the federal government to pick up the cost of out-of-state students, citing the rising number of Native students and the growing financial burden to the state.<\/p>\n

The bill was reintroduced in subsequent sessions, but it has never received a vote.<\/p>\n

Kathryn Squyres is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at ksquyres@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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