SJM 1

                                                                         2026
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
PAGE 2-SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 26-001
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:
PAGE 3-SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 26-001
   (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.  Julie McCluskie
PRESIDENT OF  SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
THE SENATE  OF REPRESENTATIVES
 sther van Mourik  ~~Reilly
SECRETARY OF  CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
THE SENATE·  OF REPRESENTATIVES
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