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‘People First’ Language Legislative Advocate Departs State House

An Interview with Catherine Strode

‘People First’ Language Legislative Advocate Departs State House
Colorado Springs Representative Bob Gardner (House District 20) is leaving the state legislature after serving four consecutive terms. Throughout his legislative career, Representative Gardner has been an advocate for the support of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.
‘People First’ Language Legislative Advocate Departs State House
Colorado Springs Representative Bob Gardner (House District 20) is leaving the state legislature after serving four consecutive terms. Throughout his legislative career, Representative Gardner has been an advocate for the support of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. He sponsored the ‘People First’ language bill, requiring the language in Colorado statutes and regulations to change from referring to an individual as “a disabled person” to “a person with a disability.”
In an interview with Catherine Strode, Health Care Advocacy Program Consultant, Representative Gardner reflects back on his accomplishments in office. Among these, he cites his personal commitment to the issues of individuals with developmental disabilities as his most rewarding.
As you depart office, what do you think your legacy will be?
“That’s interesting. I think if you ask in the community – people with developmental disabilities, advocates, families, and providers – the answer you will get is that it’s the passage of the people first legislation. I have to say that when I was asked to carry it, I was happy to do so. But I didn’t feel that particular bill had an overall impact on the way services were delivered. However, it was incredibly meaningful to the community. The thing that I am proudest of is my work for people with developmental disabilities, followed by a close second with work for the rights of crime victims. Legislation for people with developmental disabilities was a topic and a legislative emphasis that I never planned to do, never anticipated when I was first elected that I would do. It’s very special to me because of that, sort of a life lesson about finding the opportunities that present themselves to you. I tell new legislators, ‘You’ll have the opportunity to do some things here that you don’t imagine, you don’t think about. They’re going to come across your path and you shouldn’t miss them.’”
What do you consider your most impactful legislation for individuals with developmental disabilities?
“I think for things that really had an impact in services and quality of life, the first was my bill that came out of the interim committee in 2007. The bill itself didn’t carry funding but forced a ten million dollar bump in funding in the long bill for long term care services and reduced the waiting list. That was more money in one chunk that had been put into the budget for services for developmental disabilities in 25 years at the time. The other thing that I’m really pleased about was my procurement set aside bill that sets aside certain state contracts for organizations, nonprofits, that employ people with disabilities. Those set aside contracts have provided jobs and opportunity for people with disabilities. That program has operated in a really great fashion more quickly and with less difficulty than I ever imagined it would.”
Is there any legislation you wish you had another chance to put forward?
“Everyone would tell you we need reform in the way services are done, that we need reform in our legislation. It’s an ongoing challenge in providing services in long term care, in the whole structure and scheme. It is something that I didn’t get done. The one thing I would have liked to have gotten done is some sort of regulatory reform, statutory reform, or at least a model for how to do some waivers to find out what worked and what we could do. I had wanted to create a structure that would have allowed Community Centered Boards to come forward with waivers of state law that were duplicative with federal law, make those proposals to an appropriate Board, and let those things be tried on an innovative basis around the state.”
What do you think is the future of long term care in Colorado?
“I don’t want to be too harsh about it but I think it’s naïve to think there won’t always be a waiting list. I think there’s growing demand for services; there’s going to be more and more citizens in our community that have a developmental disability who live later and longer and that means we’re going to have more needs. What I have seen in the legislature in the time I’ve been here, is a very strong bipartisan sense that we need as a state to provide services for those, who through no fault of their own, need services. There’s a lot of agreement on that; you get very little pushback on either side of the aisle. That part of the future is bright. That consensus seems to continue. I don’t think it got created when I got here. But I’m proud that I’ve been a part of that ongoing consensus and I see it continuing after I’m gone.”
Catherine StrodeCatherine Strode is the Consultant to the Health Care Advocacy Program. She holds a Masters degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Health Care Policy. Formerly the Coordinator of the Program, Catherine publishes the HCAP newsletter featuring interviews with state legislators and policy makers.