The Colorado Capitol saw Rams in the building as students visited Denver to advocate for their bill, meet with politicians and make change for Colorado college students.

Associated Students of Colorado State University members were not the only students in attendance at the Feb. 8 Day at the Capitol event, as any student interested in joining the organization for the day was welcome to sign up. The event aimed to encourage more student engagement with politics, emphasizing the university’s thematic Year of Democracy. 

The Day at the Capitol helps students understand the significance of student advocacy and political engagement. As higher education and housing become increasingly unaffordable, events like these are meant to show students that they can make a difference.

“The goal is connections. The connections hopefully go toward change. For example, we just walked out of the Senate, and we just talked to a senator.” –Derek Newberger, ASCSU co-director of graduate affairs

“Historically, Day at the Capitol has just been an opportunity for students to connect with a population that they would not typically come across on their day-to-day college experience, this being the politicians that set the laws and legislature of Colorado,” ASCSU Vice President Alex Silverhart said.

Extra emphasis was put on student engagement this year due to ASCSU’s work on a bill that could make university textbook sales tax-exempt.

“This year, we’ve kind of had a different focus of bringing specific bills and ideas that we have as students that will not only benefit our campus but also our community in Fort Collins, one of those being the textbook tax bill and then the other one being the housing occupancy limit, which has been a consistent problem within Fort Collins,” Silverhart said.

Students had the opportunity to speak to many politicians in the Capitol, including senators, representatives, lobbyists and even the governor. Meeting those politicians to create conversations and connections was an important aspect of the day to the students in attendance.

“The goal is connections,” ASCSU Co-Director of Graduate Affairs Derek Newberger said. “The connections hopefully go toward change. For example, we just walked out of the Senate, and we just talked to a senator, and Michael (Stella) and the chief of staff, Braxton (Dietz), just made a connection, and they’re going to work on a higher education bill.”

Students were given the opportunity to sit on the floors of both the Senate and House of Representatives during hearings to start off their visit. 

Upon adjournment of the house session, students gathered at the rotunda staircase to meet with Gov. Jared Polis. Students shook hands, conversed and took a photo with Polis. ASCSU and Polis spoke about issues such as the Fort Collins occupancy limit and ASCSU’s efforts to remove taxes on textbooks.

“The more we can exempt from the sales tax the better, that’s great,” Polis said. “(We can) save people money.”

After meeting with Polis, students attended a meeting with the House Finance Committee. Members of ASCSU were given the opportunity to testify on HB24-1018 — the bill that would remove taxes on textbooks — which ASCSU has been working on with the help of Rep. Andrew Boesenecker. 

After the hearing, students took a tour of the Capitol, including a trip to the dome of the building, which overlooks the Rocky Mountains and the city of Denver.

The final part of the day saw the students returning to the rotunda staircase, where they got to meet with representatives who answered their questions. Rep. Tim Hernandez and Rep. Steven Woodrow shared their advice to students both at the event and those who did not attend. Topics brought up included occupancy limits such as U+2 and the cost of living. 

“I’m totally in favor of getting rid of occupancy limits,” Woodrow said, calling it an arbitrary thing. “It’s unfair, it’s discriminatory and it makes everything more expensive for everybody. I think that people, adults, should be able to live together so long as health and safety is taken into consideration.”

Hernandez is the first member of Generation Z to hold state office in Colorado, making him one of the representatives closest in age to students at CSU.

“I’m the person in the state legislature that most recently paid for undergraduate college textbooks,” Hernandez said. “I’m the person in the state legislature that was most recently a college student.”

The event was a success for ASCSU in their goal to engage students with government and represented a huge win for them as their bill made it past the Colorado House of Representatives Finance Committee and will now move on to the next steps in becoming a law.

ASCSU Deputy Director of Health Jakye Nunley said the biggest part of the day was being intentional with the work they did at the Capitol and completing the work that people deemed necessary.

“I think that it’s very imperative that we’re doing this work simply because students have to be passionate about the work of students,” Nunley said.

Reach Tyler Weatherwax at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @twwax7272.