Memorializing Senator Faith Winter

SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 26-001

BY SENATOR(S) Cutter and Marchman, Amabile, Ball, Bridges, Bright, Carson, Catlin, Danielson, Exum, Frizell, Gonzales J., Hinrichsen, Jodeh, Kipp, Kirkmeyer, Kolker, Lindstedt, Michaelson Jenet, Mullica, Rich, Rodriguez, Simpson, Snyder, Sullivan, Wallace, Weissman, Zamora Wilson, Coleman; also REPRESENTATIVE(S) Willford, Bacon, Boesenecker, Brown, Camacho, Carter, Clifford, Duran, English, Espenoza, Feret, Froelich, Garcia, Gilchrist, Goldstein, Hamrick, Jackson, Joseph, Lieder, Lindsay, Lukens, Mabrey, Martinez, Mauro, McCormick, Nguyen, Paschal, Phillips, Rutinel, Sirota, Smith, Soper, Stewart K., Stewart R., Story, Taggart, Titone, Velasco, Woodrow, Zokaie, McCluskie.

CONCERNING MEMORIALIZING SENATOR FAITH WINTER.

WHEREAS, Faith Winter, our beloved colleague, passed away on November 26, 2025; and WHEREAS, A native, fifth-generation Coloradan, Senator Winter attended Littleton High School and the University of Redlands; and WHEREAS, That she would end up in the state legislature working on transportation and climate issues surprised few who knew her as a young organizer. She interned with the Colorado Environmental Coalition and trained with the Green Corps, eventually serving as National Program Director for EnviroCitizen, a sustainability focused initiative, and program director for Colorado Conservation Voters, which works to protect the state's climate and advance environmental justice; and , WHEREAS, Senator Winter was elected to the Westminster City Council in 2007; often the youngest woman and mom at the City Council's dias, she would spend her entire career opening doors and pulling out chairs for women, ensuring that they had a seat at the same table; and

WHEREAS, Senator Winter represented the people ofAdams County in the Colorado House of Representatives from 2015 through 2019 and the people of Adams, Broomfield, and Weld Counties in the Colorado Senate from 2019 until her death; and WHEREAS, A mentor and champion of women, throughout convention halls and at community centers and kitchen counters and with organizations like the White House Project, Emerge Colorado, and Vote Run Lead, Senator Winter encouraged women to take the microphone and then the ballot, training many future leaders to run for office; but her support didn't stop there: As a Progressive Governance Academy trainer, she shared her time and seemingly boundless energy to assist newly elected leaders across the country; and WHEREAS, Named one of Governing Magazine's public officials of the year in 2018 and one of 5280 Magazine's disrupters changing the local political landscape in 2019, while Senator Winter was often recognized for her individual contributions, she always worked to shine the light on others -- "we lift as we rise" was her mantra; and WHEREAS, One of her most important legacies, the "Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act", came to fruition in 2020. Senator Winter's advocacy and· legislative work helped pave the way for the successful initiative. She spent years "losing forward", as she called it: When she would introduce a bill, she knew that, even though it might not pass, its defeat would give organizers more time to build the coalition and refine the policy; and WHEREAS, But more than 200 of Senator Winter's bills did pass. In 2021, she was a Senate prime sponsor of House Bill 21-1266, the "Environmental Justice Act", which strengthened regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and centered communities disproportionately impacted by pollution; the next year, Senate bills she sponsored instituted "free fares for clean air" on public transportation throughout the state and created the rural health-care workforce initiative to financially support students in the health-care field so they could practice in, and better serve, the people of rural Colorado; and WHEREAS, Senator Winter worked with her colleagues across the

aisle to pass bipartisan bills on conservation easements, protection orders for crime victims and affordable housing programs for victims of abuse, soil health, and ballot access for candidates with disabilities; and WHEREAS, During her ten sessions under the dome, Senator Winter chaired the Transportation and Energy Committees in the Senate and the House, vice-chaired the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee and the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and served on many more, including Legislative Council, the Transportation Legislation Review Committee, and the Colorado Youth Advisory Council Committee; and WHEREAS, A longtime supporter of animal rights and former board member of Broomfield's Butterfly Pavilion, Senator Winter brought a special guest, the Pavilion's Rosie the Tarantula, to the Senate floor several years in a row; Queso, one of her four beloved dogs, could often be seen roaming the second floor, sometimes in a tuxedo; and WHEREAS, As caring as she was driven, the small stick of dynamite tattooed on Senator Winter's arm was a fitting metaphor for her spark, her potential, and the transformative power she wielded in order to make a lasting impact on, and to improve the lives of, every person in the state; and WHEREAS, She fought, often in flip flops, for Coloradans to breathe cleaner air and to spend more time with their families; she cared about and ran bills to help coal workers, working moms, and eating disorder patients; to empower legislative aides and tenants; to protect transgender people; and to make sure high school students had access to menstrual products. She was bold and resilient, grounded and persistent; and WHEREAS, Colorado is a better place because of a little girl who was grateful for "waterfalls and rainbows" and who grew up to dedicate her life to public service, helping to protect those precious resources as she championed renewable energy, electric vehicles, and public transportation; now, therefore, Belt Resolved by the Senate of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House ofRepresentatives concurring herein:

(1) That in losing Faith Winter, the people of the State of Colorado have lost a devoted public servant and invaluable friend and colleague who led, listened, legislated, and laughed with her whole heart; (2) That we extend our deep and heartfelt sympathy to her family and friends; and (3) That we pay tribute to a woman who believed that every Coloradan was worth fighting for, and we remember the caring warrior she was as we continue her work to create a greener, fairer, and kinder Colorado. Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Memorial be sent to Senator Winter's children, Sienna and Tobin, and their father, Mark Snook; her partner, Matt Gray, and his children, Ellie and Theo; her father, Michael Winter; and her sister, Dawn Stevens.

James Rashad Coleman Sr. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE

Julie McCluskie SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Esther van Mourik SECRETARY OF THE SENATE

Vanessa Reilly CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES