Cathy Kipp is the Democratic candidate for the Colorado House of Representatives, District 52, in the Nov. 3 election.
Kipp has lived in Fort Collins since 1985 and served on the Poudre School District Board of Education for seven years before being elected by a committee as a state representative in January 2019 to fill a vacancy, according to her website.
On her website, Kipp’s focus points include education, health care, environment and transportation. In the Colorado General Assembly, Kipp currently serves on the House Education Committee and the House Energy & Environment Committee.
“When I was on the school board, I did a lot of advocacy for public education, and it became clear to me that what we have in our state are huge problems by having a lot of unnecessary stuff in our state constitution, some of which is preventing us from being able to adequately fund the things that we value, like public education,” Kipp said.
Kipp said one bill she is working on would give public colleges and universities in the state the option to no longer make a nationalized test score, like those from the SAT or ACT, a requirement for admission.
“If we want to get our life back to normal, … it’s going to happen by us practicing proper social distancing and doing the things we need to do to get through this pandemic.” -Cathy Kipp, State House District 52 candidate
As a former school board member, Kipp said she wants to ensure that public schools receive the funding they need to serve their students but would leave many other decisions up to the local districts, of which there are 178 in Colorado.
“I’m all about getting the funding, and I’m also not over-mandating what we do in our schools,” Kipp said. “I know I’m a Democrat and supposed to be all about big government, but that’s not really what it’s all about. … (We) like to make sure that our districts and municipalities and our counties have the authority to do what they need to do because usually they know their communities best.”
For environmental policies, Kipp says on her website that she stands behind Gov. Jared Polis’ goal of 100% renewable energy by 2040.
Kipp described a bill she is working on that would require buildings to adopt a recent International Energy Conservation Code, which gets updated every three years and addresses energy efficiency throughout buildings.
“Jurisdictions with the cities and counties throughout the state, they also review their building codes, typically every three years,” Kipp said. “For every area with a building code, every time they review them, they’re going to be required to adopt one of the most three recent levels of the IECC codes, and that’s really cool because (since) about 2012, you see that code go from (high) to (low) in terms of carbon emissions, so it really does have a big impact.”
On relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kipp said the most important thing people can do is continue to follow safety guidelines to stay healthy.
“If we want to get our life back to normal, it’s not just taking off your mask and going and hugging your friends, that’s not how it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen by us practicing proper social distancing and doing the things we need to do to get through this pandemic,” Kipp said.
Kipp said those struggling with mental health during the pandemic can call a free emotion support line at 970-221-5551.
Colorado ballots mailed out Oct. 9 and can be dropped off at ballot locations around the state through 7 p.m. on election day. Ballots that are mailed in must be sent in time to be received by 7 p.m. on election day.
Serena Bettis can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @serenaroseb.
