Kathryn Green, House District 60 candidate, in her own words

With Election Day right around the corner, the Chieftain reached out to 17 local candidates running this November to represent Pueblo County residents as a member of U.S. Congress, the Colorado House of Representatives, the Board of Pueblo County Commissioners, or as the 10th Judicial District Attorney.

Each candidate received an email questionnaire consisting of questions generated by readers, along with a few questions of our own. Answers from the candidates are being published in advance of the November elections to inform voters of candidates' stances and priorities.

Kathryn Green, a Democrat, is running to represent Colorado House District 60. HD-60 includes a western portion of Pueblo West, along with communities in Custer, Fremont and Teller counties. Green is running against Rep. Stephanie Luck in a rematch of the 2022 race. Luck, a Republican, did not respond to the Chieftain's Q&A.

With a law background, Green has experience serving low-income individuals and senior citizens. Here are her responses to the Chieftain's questionnaire.

My top spending priorities are affordable housing, health (rural health and women's health especially), public schools, infrastructure, veteran's issues, senior issues and finding the best way to pay for everything and balance Colorado's budget.

Regarding abortion laws in Colorado, I believe that decisions involving a woman's body should be made by the woman, not the government. I support having health insurance pay for abortions. I do not support any bans or restrictions on abortions or birth control. As for using public funds for abortion, I believe that your health insurance should cover abortions, birth control pills and other birth control methods.

This may mean that some women on Medicaid might receive government funds. Women who are covered by military insurance should also have abortions and birth control covered.

I do not believe that any public schools in Colorado are adequately funded. The school districts and the Legislature are attempting to improve this funding, but there are laws and regulations that make this difficult. I do not support taxpayer funds for private schools, including vouchers.

There are problems with the cost of living in House District 60. Many residents of HD-60 are seniors on a limited income. Others are people just getting started in their careers who do not have the funds to support food, housing and other costs of living here.

Developing affordable housing will help. This will have to be a collaborative effort between HD-60, the counties and the Legislature. Increasing the minimum wage for entry-level jobs will also help. This is a multi-pronged problem that needs to be addressed with cooperation between many groups, counties and the Legislature.

Crime is an issue in House District 60. I know that law enforcement, the cities and the counties are all addressing the crime in HD-60. Some types of crime have gone down, and closely monitoring known areas with crimes and using groups like Neighborhood Watch help keep track of what is happening.

Homelessness has many causes. One cause is that there is no safety net for mentally ill persons. This must be addressed so that homeless people who have mental health issues can get treatment. Until that happens for these people, they will not change.

Helping those people who have the determination to end their homelessness to get jobs and housing is needed. There are other issues that cause homelessness, and to an extent, each homeless person has different reasons for their situation. Solving homelessness will require looking into all of the causes and changing the circumstances so that these people can be helped.

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Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at [email protected]. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.