Mike Earns the Endorsement of Former First Lady of Colorado Dottie Lamm
Today, former State Senator and nonprofit CEO Mike Johnston released his policy plan to invest in access to affordable, high-quality childcare and protect reproductive rights across the city. As families across Denver continue to bear the burden of inaccessible child care and face the reality of attacks on abortion access nationwide, Mike’s policy plan invests in local families while protecting our rights.
Today’s plan to significantly invest in childcare access and protect reproductive freedom builds upon his Equity and Workforce plans, which lay the foundation to use federal and state dollars to invest in training and paying local childcare workers and incentivize more Denver businesses to provide onsite child care.
“Denver thrives when every single resident has the opportunity, resources, and support they need to succeed,” said Mike Johnston. “But right now, we know that women in Denver are facing significant challenges: reproductive freedom is under attack nationwide, child care is increasingly inaccessible, and women are disproportionately bearing the burden of our city’s failure to offer support. That’s why today, I released my plan to protect abortion access in Denver and invest in affordable, quality child care across our city, because for Denver to be a city for all, we must ensure that we protect everyone’s rights and guarantee access to the health care and child care that families need.”
Former First Lady of Colorado and women’s rights leader Dottie Lamm endorsed Mike for Mayor of Denver, commending his commitment to taking on Denver’s toughest challenges.
“Mike doesn’t back down from tough challenges, instead he works with community members and experts to develop the best plan of action,” said Dottie Lamm. “We’re seeing this today in Mike’s policy plan to protect reproductive freedom and expand access to high-quality child care. Mike has the experience, the vision, the leadership skills, the detailed plans, and the ability to bring people together to solve our city’s toughest problems and take Denver well into the next decade and beyond. This is the type of leadership we need from our next Mayor. I am proud to support him and to see him commit to addressing the issues women and families face in our city.”
Read highlights from Mike’s comprehensive, fully paid-for plan:
- Protect abortion providers and patients in Denver by vigorously implementing important reproductive health legislation just enacted by the state, SB 23-188, to ensure that city employees are not forced to cooperate in out-of-state proceedings that seek to impose liability or professional sanctions for abortion care. He will also enforce existing ordinances protecting private property and public access and work with City Council to pass a clinic safety ordinance to protect abortion clinics and the providers who work there.
- Expand access to reproductive health care by connecting Denverites to resources through a new public health portal with information on how to access abortion and reproductive health care.
- Close the child care gap by providing incentives for more workplaces to offer child care onsite, converting empty commercial space to child-care facilities, working with the State to raise the income limits for the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP), and ensuring that when the City makes zoning changes in certain neighborhoods, it considers the availability of child care.
- Invest in childcare workforce development to increase the number of childcare workers in Denver by providing more affordable housing and training so that Denverites can realistically become childcare providers.
- Expand access to after-school and summer programs to provide safe and rewarding opportunities for school-age children while their parents are at work.