2026 legislative preview: Affordable homes, rural health care and community education – The Durango Herald

Legislative Priorities Report: Aligning with Sustainable Development Goals for the 2026 Session

Preparations for the 2026 legislative session are underway, with a focus on developing new bills that align with key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The following report outlines a series of legislative initiatives currently in development, with the understanding that provisions may evolve during the drafting process.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – Affordable Housing Initiatives

In response to the challenge of housing affordability in Southwest Colorado, legislative efforts are being explored to improve the distribution of affordable housing funds. This work directly supports SDG 11, which aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, with a specific focus on Target 11.1: ensuring access for all to adequate, safe, and affordable housing.

• Objective: To refine the allocation process of the State Affordable Housing Fund, established by Proposition 123, to better serve rural and mountain resort communities like Durango and Pagosa Springs.
• Collaboration: Active engagement is ongoing with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) and county commissioners to adjust funding benchmarks.
• Desired Outcome: To enable young families and essential service workers to achieve homeownership, thereby strengthening community resilience and economic stability.

SDG 4 & 8: Quality Education and Decent Work – Enhancing Career and Technical Education

Legislation is being developed to support K-12 education collaboratives, which are vital for delivering Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in rural areas. These initiatives align with SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) by equipping students with skills for future employment.

• Objective: To create a legislative framework that facilitates resource sharing among educational groups to enhance student outcomes and expand CTE opportunities.
• Collaboration: The development process involves the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, the Southwest Colorado Education Collaborative, and other partner organizations.
• Desired Outcome: To strengthen programs that prepare students for high-demand jobs and apprenticeships, contributing to SDG 4.4 (increase the number of youth and adults with relevant skills for employment) and SDG 8.6 (reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education, or training).

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being – Strengthening Healthcare Systems

A primary focus for the upcoming session is addressing funding and access challenges within the healthcare sector, in line with SDG 3, which seeks to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Statewide Healthcare Funding and Rural Access

Discussions are being held statewide to address systemic financial strains caused by federal funding changes and new requirements. Key strategies include:

1. Securing Hospital Funding: Developing measures to shore up Colorado’s hospital systems, particularly those serving Southwest Colorado.
2. Leveraging Telehealth: Investigating how telehealth can be better utilized to increase the availability of specialty care in rural regions, advancing the goal of universal health coverage (SDG 3.8).
3. Improving Provider Conditions: Addressing the working conditions of healthcare providers to ensure a sustainable and effective health workforce.

Emergency Response and Reproductive Health

Targeted measures are also being considered to support critical local health services.

• Emergency Services Billing: In consultation with local fire and EMS departments, efforts are being made to improve billing processes to ensure insurance companies provide proper reimbursement for emergency response services.
• Restoring Reproductive Healthcare Access: The planned reopening of the Planned Parenthood clinic in Durango is a positive development for regional health. This facility provides essential primary care, cancer screenings, and vaccinations in addition to reproductive health services, aligning with SDG 3.7 (ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services). State-level funding has been instrumental in helping restore these services to over 1,400 residents.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities – Mitigating Federal Impacts on Healthcare Costs

The potential expiration of the federal Enhanced Premium Tax Credit presents a significant threat to healthcare affordability, which could exacerbate economic disparities and undermine progress toward SDG 3 and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

• Identified Risk: Without an extension, low and middle-income families in House District 59 could face premium increases of 150% to 200%, with an overall increase of 38% across the Western Slope.
• Potential Impact: Such increases would restrict access to care and risk plunging families into medical debt, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations.
• Action: Advocacy is focused on ensuring that any federal resolution does not place these financial burdens on Colorado residents.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 1: No Poverty

  The article touches on economic vulnerability, particularly concerning the high cost of housing and health insurance. Efforts to create affordable housing and prevent massive increases in health insurance premiums for low and middle-income families are directly aimed at preventing financial hardship and poverty.

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

  This is a central theme. The article discusses funding for hospital systems, leveraging telehealth to improve specialty care in rural areas, ensuring proper reimbursement for emergency services, restoring access to reproductive and primary health care through the reopening of a Planned Parenthood clinic, and the critical issue of affordable health insurance premiums.

• SDG 4: Quality Education

  The article addresses education by highlighting the role of collaboratives in rural K-12 schools. It specifically mentions the importance of Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs that prepare students for jobs and apprenticeships, aiming to improve student outcomes and readiness for the workforce.

• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

  The focus on affordable housing directly relates to this goal. The article details efforts to improve the distribution of state funds to help young families and essential service workers in rural and mountain resort communities afford to buy a home, addressing the need for adequate and affordable housing.

• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

  The article consistently demonstrates the importance of partnerships. The representative mentions working with the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), county commissioners, educational collaboratives, local fire and EMS departments, and federal representatives to address the complex issues of housing, education, and health care.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 3.7: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services.

  The article explicitly celebrates the reopening of a Planned Parenthood clinic, which restores access to “reproductive and sexual health services” for over 1,400 people in the Durango area.

• Target 3.8: Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.

  This target is addressed through multiple points: the fight against a “150% to 200% increase in premiums” which threatens financial risk protection; the effort to “leverage telehealth to raise the level of specialty care available in rural areas” to improve access; and the restoration of services like “primary care, cancer screenings and vaccinations” at the reopened clinic.

• Target 4.4: Substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

  The work with education collaboratives on “Career and Technical Education programs” that “prepare our kids for jobs and apprenticeships after high school” directly aligns with this target of providing relevant vocational skills for employment.

• Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services.

  The article’s discussion of improving the process for distributing affordable housing funds (Prop 123) so that “young families and essential service workers can afford to buy their first home” is a direct effort towards achieving this target.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Proportion of population with large household expenditures on health as a share of total household expenditure or income (Indicator 3.8.2).

  This is directly implied by the concern over a “150% to 200% increase in premiums for many low and middle-income families.” An increase of this magnitude would drastically raise household health expenditures, and preventing it is a measure of progress.

• Number of people served by a specific health service.

  The article explicitly states that the reopened Planned Parenthood clinic will help restore health care access to the “more than 1,400 people it served before its closing.” This number serves as a direct indicator of restored access to health services.

• Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill (Indicator 4.4.1).

  While not explicitly an ICT skill, the focus on “Career and Technical Education programs” implies a measure of progress would be the number or proportion of students completing these programs and gaining relevant job skills for the modern economy.

• Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing (Indicator 11.1.1).

  The article implies a focus on the inverse of this indicator. Progress would be measured by the number of “young families and essential service workers” who are able to “afford to buy their first home” through the improved affordable housing fund distribution, thereby reducing the proportion of the population without access to adequate housing.

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: durangoherald.com