KC Becker

Kathleen Collins Becker is an American politician serving as the 39th and current Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she has represented the state's 13th legislative district since 2013.

KC Becker
60th Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office January 4, 2019
Preceded by	Crisanta Duran
Majority Leader of the Colorado House of Representatives
In office January 11, 2017 – January 4, 2019
Preceded by	Crisanta Duran
Succeeded by	Alec Garnett
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 13th district
Incumbent
Assumed office November 4, 2013
Preceded by	Claire Levy
Personal details
Born	1969/1970 (age 49–50)
Political party	Democratic
Children	2
Education	College of William and Mary (BA) Lewis and Clark College (JD) University of Denver (MS)

Becker was elected to the Boulder City Council in 2009.[1] When Claire Levy resigned from the Colorado House of Representatives in 2013, a vacancy committee selected Becker to replace her.[2] Becker acknowledged that she had planned to run for the seat in the 2014 elections, when Levy would have been unable to run due to term limits. She was sworn in on November 4, 2013.[3][4]

Education

Becker graduated from the College of William & Mary with a B.A. in government. She then earned a Juris Doctor from the Lewis & Clark Law School, where she was president of the Public Interest Law Project. Becker also earned a Master of Science in real estate development and construction management from the University of Denver.[5]

Career

Boulder City Council

Prior to her legislative service, she served on the Boulder City Council, where she was the council’s representative on the Boulder Urban Renewal Authority and was the city’s representative to the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG). Becker was elected to the Boulder City Council in 2009. She was one of 13 candidates running for five available seats.[6]

Colorado Legislature

During the 2014 midterm election, Becker defeated Republican candidate Michael James Hocevar with 67.7 percent of the vote.[7] Becker ran unopposed during the 2016 election cycle.[7]

Given Becker's time working for the Department of the Interior as an environmental lawyer, Becker has been a key voice on water and agricultural issues in the legislature. During the 2015 and 2016 legislative sessions, Becker served as the Vice Chair of the Agriculture Committee.[8] In addition to environmental legislation, Rep. Becker has focused her legislative efforts on affordable housing, women’s health care, and governmental accountability for special interest tax breaks.[9]

In 2017, Becker worked with State Rep. Jon Becker, State Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, and State Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman on the signature legislation of the session, a measure to stave off hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts to hospitals across the state. By exempting an obscure account called the hospital provider fee from the Referendum C cap on state revenue, the new law helps beleaguered hospitals, especially in rural areas, and allows Colorado to invest nearly $2 billion to repair and expand its crumbling, overburdened road network.[10] Additional benefits will flow to rural K-12 students, small businesses and Colorado’s seniors.[10] Becker and Sonnenberg spent nearly the entire legislative session negotiating the landmark compromise.[11]

References

1. "Boulder City Councilwoman KC Becker to run for state House District 13 - Boulder Daily Camera". Dailycamera.com. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
2. "Democrat KC Becker wins Colorado House seat". Blogs.denverpost.com. October 19, 2013. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
3. "7NEWS - KC Becker sworn in to Colorado House, replaces Claire Levy - Local Story". Thedenverchannel.com. February 19, 2010. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
4. "Boulder Rep. KC Becker elected Colorado House majority leader". Retrieved July 7, 2017.
5. "ABOUT". KC Becker for HD13. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
6. "Boulder City Council - Results: Elections: The Denver Post". Denver Post Election Results. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
7. "KC Becker - Ballotpedia". Retrieved July 7, 2017.
8. "Representative KC Becker K. - Colorado House District 13". www.leg.state.co.us. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
9. "Majority Leader KC Becker, Boulder". Colorado House Democrats. February 28, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
10. "Hospital Provider Fee reform signed into law in Colorado". durangoherald.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
11. Rittiman, Brandon (February 28, 2018). "Media, House leadership clash over release of sexual harassment report". 9News. Retrieved March 1, 2017.

External links

• Profile at Vote Smart

Colorado House of Representatives
Preceded by Crisanta Duran	Majority Leader of the Colorado House of Representatives 2017–2019	Succeeded by Alec Garnett
Political offices
Preceded by Crisanta Duran	Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives 2019–present	Incumbent