Eight local legislators talked about their plans for the 2024 legislative session and took audience questions ranging from rent control to airport noise pollution at a Boulder event put on by the League of Women Voters of Boulder County Saturday.

“The legislative session is fast and furious,” said Sen. Steve Fenberg, who is president of the state senate, and a Boulder resident. “It’s 120 days, and we will touch upon literally every issue we possibly can.”

Fenberg said housing, transportation and education will be his central issues this legislative session. Rep. Junie Joseph, a former Boulder City Council member before she ran for the state seat, listed both affordable housing and early childhood development as her top priorities.

“In Colorado, we are lucky that we have a very progressive state with a progressive governor,” Joseph said. “But nonetheless, we have to make sure that all our kids are protected and school can be a place where everyone can learn.”

The Marshall Fire in December 2021, and its impact on homeowners, was a top priority for Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, whose district includes parts of Boulder, Broomfield and Weld counties, and Rep. Kyle Brown, whose district includes parts of Boulder and Broomfield counties.

“I’ve been really focused on how we can learn the lessons of the Marshall Fire, and make it better for people when catastrophic events like that happen so that it’s easier for them to rebuild and get home,” Brown said.

Sen. Janice Marchman, whose district covers parts of Boulder and Larimer counties, said that as a teacher, she’s focused on funding school-based health centers. Rep. Karen McCormick, whose distirct covers parts of Boulder County, singled out protection of the state’s water resources, including the Colorado River.

Rep. Judy Amabile, whose district includes parts of Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin and Larimer counties, named mental health and statewide jail standards as top priorities.

“We don’t really get that many opportunities to talk to people, to our constituents,” Amabile said. “So I really value the opportunity to answer your questions and to tell you what we’re up to.”

Rep. Jennifer Parenti, whose district includes Boulder and Weld counties, fielded a question about improving transit options within the Regional Transportation District.

“We have to work on the local transportation solutions,” Parenti said. “…Let’s look at restructuring RTD so that local communities have more control over the routes that they think serve their community.”

A few legislators discussed partisanship and how they work with legislators across the aisle.

“At the end of the day, we are servants for a couple of years in an institution that has to outlive our services,” Fenberg said. “And the way we do it, I think, is going to help inform if these institutions and our democratic principles can live on after us.”

Former Longmont City Councilmember Tim Waters moderated the Meet Your Legislators event, which was held in a room at Rule4, 3002 Bluff St. in Boulder.