BRW Luncheon's September Speaker:
Rose Pugliese, Colorado Republican Minority Speaker
Rose Pugliese, the Republican Minority Speaker of the House, will be our guest speaker for the September 17th luncheon. She is also running for re-election in House District 14, which covers Northern El Paso County, including much of Colorado Springs. Rose bring us up-to-date on the Special Session called by Gov. Jared Polis which started on August 26th. The session’s purpose is to pass a property tax relief deal in order to avert deep tax-cut ballot initiatives 50 and 108. Lawmakers belief these propositions would bring “catastrophic budget cuts for local governments.”
Rose’s father immigrated to America from Italy when he was 18 along with her maternal grandparents. Rose’s parent raised her and her two sisters all while opening an Italian restaurant on Long Island. After the 2008 election, her father said to her, “I am sorry that I did not do more to save this country for you.” which motivated her to run for office. She calls herself an accidental politician. In 2008 she went to the party’s headquarters for a yard sign. Years later she was elected a Mesa County Commissioner where she served for eight years before moving on to the Colorado legislature in 2021.
She has two young children and is very involved in their education, volunteering for the PTA and doing pro-bono work as needed. She is an attorney, with a BA from Villanova University and a JD from St. John’s University.
On the special session bill she says, “It’s important to provide certainty to local governments, so they know what essential services they can provide....in public safety, public health, human services and all of the things county commissioners and local government and special districts do.”
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