Christine Scanlan
Encyclopedia
Christine Scanlan is a legislator in the U.S. state
of Colorado
.
A Democrat appointed to a vacancy in the Colorado House of Representatives in 2007, Scanlan represents House District 56, encompassing Eagle
, Lake
and Summit
Counties, including the skiing communities of Vail
and Breckenridge
.
, and graduated from Columbine High School
. Currently a resident of Dillon, Colorado
, and a resident of Summit County
since 1995, she holds a bachelor's degree in history
and a master's degree in nonprofit organization management from Regis University
. While in school, Scanlan worked as a ski lift
operator and children's ski instructor in Keystone, Colorado
to help pay college expenses.
Since 1994, she has worked for the Keystone Center, a nonprofit focusing on science education and dispute resolution, by 2007 becoming their Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In that capacity, Scanlan oversaw both Keystone's administrative offices and Keystone Science School's campus-based programs.
Scanlan, who had served with the Summit School District Accountability Committee, was appointed from among ten applicants to fill a vacancy on the Summit School District Board of Education in April 2004 and was elected to a full term in November 2005, taking the highest vote total among the seven candidates for three school board seats. She was named the board's vice-president in November 2005 and then named its president in November 2007. During her tenure on the board of education, Scanlan was critical of standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act, and was a proponent of greater engagement with the local Spanish
-speaking community. In 2007, Scanlan served on a state commission on education that provided recommendations to Gov. Bill Ritter on improving Colorado public schools. She also served (as of 2008) as president of the Mountain Boards of Cooperative Educational Services.
Scanlan is married; she and her husband, Tim, have three daughters, Catherine, Julia, and Elise, who attend Summit County public schools.
was appointed by a vacancy committee to the Colorado State Senate seat vacated by Joan Fitz-Gerald
, leaving his seat vacant. Scanlan was selected over five other applicants to fill the remainder of Gibbs' two-year term; a majority of the thirteen members of the vacancy committee present chose her on the first ballot. Her appointment made her the 21st woman in a 40-member Democratic House caucus that thus became majority-female. After being appointed to the legislature, Scanlan reduced her work load at the Keystone Center to a part-time position, but remained president of the Summit School Board through 2008.
, Interstate 70
, economic and education issues." She intends to run for a full term in the 2008 general elections, and to continue serving on the Summit School District board, although stepping down from her role as president. Scanlan was also appointed by House Speaker Andrew Romanoff
to replace Dan Gibbs on the Colorado Tourism Office Board of Directors.
For her first legislative session, in 2008, Scanlan was appointed to the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee and the House Transportation and Energy Committee. Scanlan has pressed for extension of the Colorado Forest Restoration Act, a program providing funding to local groups to mitigate forest damage and wildfire danger brought about by expanding bark beetle infestations in Colorado, and is sponsoring, with Sen. Gibbs, a measure to expand the program. In September 2008 Scanlan led a delegation of Summit County officials to Washington, D.C. to lobby for additional resources to combat bark beetle infestations.
Scanlan sponsored a total of 11 bills during the 2008 session, all of which were signed into law, including measures to create an income tax
donation checkoff for the Colorado Healthy Rivers Fund, to extend the Colorado Passenger Tramway Board, to restrict motor vehicle travel on public lands, and to bring safety standards for school bus
ses in line with federal requirements. She has also sponsored legislation to create incentives for businesses that harvest and make products from trees killed by bark beetles, and education reform legislation, and including proposals to replace Colorado's CSAP exams with national EXPLORE, PLAN
and ACT
tests in upper grades, and to align educational standards across grade levels. With Sen. Gibbs, Scanlan was a prominent opponent of several proposals to charge tolls along the I-70 mountain corridor within her district.
Following the legislative session, Scanlan was named the vice-chair of an interim legislative committee to study wildfire issues.
Later in the year, Scanlan was a prominent critic of Denver Water's decision to close the Lake Dillon
Dam Road for security reasons, calling the sudden closure and lack of prior notification "inexcusable," and praising the dam's partial re-opening several weeks later. Shortly after the road was reopened, Scanlan and Sen. Dan Gibbs
announced plans for legislation to prevent future unilateral closures and to encourage cooperation between agencies to share vulnerability assessments and emergency plans.
accompanied Scanlan on a "midterm progress report" tour of her house district.
Scanlan criticized Hasan's spending as "shameful" after he loaned over $40,000 to his campaign. By September, Hasan had outspent Scanlan by roughly 20-to-1, after donating nearly $200,000 to his own campaign, a move Scanlan characterized as "buying name recognition." Ultimately, Scanlan raised nearly $80,000 for her re-election bid, as compared to Hasan's $350,000. Colorado 527 group
Accountability for Colorado also distributed mailers in support of Scanlan, however, she expressed disapproval at their negative tone and over election laws that allow such groups to operate.
During a September debate on children's issues, Scanlan touted her legislative work on standards for educational assessment and her support for charter schools, but was criticized by Hasan for promoting "too many regulations" on education and for not supporting school vouchers. Scanlan was also critical of Hasan's plans to press for construction of a monorail
along the I-70 corridor, instead supporting a thorough and coordinated study of the impacts and costs of mass transit. In contrast with Hasan's advocacy of reduced regulation of national forests, Scanlan called for increased federal funding for local projects to mitigate pine beetle damage.
Although Hasan was endorsed by the Vail Daily
, for which he was a former columnist, Scanlan was endorsed by the Summit Daily News. and the Denver Post. Scanlan prevailed over Hasan in the general election, defeating the challenger with 53 percent of the popular vote.
Scanlan, with Sen. Gibbs, again led a delegation to Washington D.C. in February 2009 to lobby for funding to address fire dangers arising from the bark beetle epidemic.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
A Democrat appointed to a vacancy in the Colorado House of Representatives in 2007, Scanlan represents House District 56, encompassing Eagle
Eagle County, Colorado
Eagle County is the thirteenth most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado in the United States. The county is named for the Eagle River. The county population was 41,659 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is the Town of Eagle...
, Lake
Lake County, Colorado
Lake County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The highest natural point in Colorado and the entire Rocky Mountains is the summit of Mount Elbert in Lake County at 14,440 feet elevation. The county population was 7,812 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat...
and Summit
Summit County, Colorado
Summit County is the 19th most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 23,538 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Breckenridge...
Counties, including the skiing communities of Vail
Vail, Colorado
The Town of Vail is a Home Rule Municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,589 in 2005. The town was established and built as the base village to Vail Ski Resort, with which it was originally conceived...
and Breckenridge
Breckenridge, Colorado
Established in 1859, the historic town of Breckenridge is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Summit County, Colorado, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the town had a population of 4,540. The town also has many part-time residents, as many people have vacation homes in the area...
.
Early career
Scanlan was born in Littleton, ColoradoLittleton, Colorado
Littleton is a Home Rule Municipality contained in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and the 20th most populous city in the state of...
, and graduated from Columbine High School
Columbine High School
Columbine High School or CHS is a high school in unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado, United States.- History :Columbine High School opened in the fall of 1973. There was no senior class in its first year. The school's first graduating class was the class of 1975...
. Currently a resident of Dillon, Colorado
Dillon, Colorado
Dillon is a home rule municipality in Summit County, Colorado, United States. The population was 802 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Dillon is located at ....
, and a resident of Summit County
Summit County, Colorado
Summit County is the 19th most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 23,538 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Breckenridge...
since 1995, she holds a bachelor's degree in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and a master's degree in nonprofit organization management from Regis University
Regis University
Regis University is a private, co-educational Roman Catholic, Jesuit university in the United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1877, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
. While in school, Scanlan worked as a ski lift
Ski lift
The term ski lift generally refers to any transport device that carries skiers up a hill. A ski lift may fall into one of the following three main classes:-Lift systems and networks:...
operator and children's ski instructor in Keystone, Colorado
Keystone, Colorado
Keystone is a census-designated place in Summit County, Colorado, United States. The population was 825 at the 2000 census. The Dillon Post Office serves Keystone postal addresses....
to help pay college expenses.
Since 1994, she has worked for the Keystone Center, a nonprofit focusing on science education and dispute resolution, by 2007 becoming their Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In that capacity, Scanlan oversaw both Keystone's administrative offices and Keystone Science School's campus-based programs.
Scanlan, who had served with the Summit School District Accountability Committee, was appointed from among ten applicants to fill a vacancy on the Summit School District Board of Education in April 2004 and was elected to a full term in November 2005, taking the highest vote total among the seven candidates for three school board seats. She was named the board's vice-president in November 2005 and then named its president in November 2007. During her tenure on the board of education, Scanlan was critical of standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act, and was a proponent of greater engagement with the local Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
-speaking community. In 2007, Scanlan served on a state commission on education that provided recommendations to Gov. Bill Ritter on improving Colorado public schools. She also served (as of 2008) as president of the Mountain Boards of Cooperative Educational Services.
Scanlan is married; she and her husband, Tim, have three daughters, Catherine, Julia, and Elise, who attend Summit County public schools.
2007 legislative appointment
In December 2007, Rep. Dan GibbsDan Gibbs
In his first year in the legislature — the 2007 session of the Colorado General Assembly — Gibbs sat on the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee and was Vice-Chair of the House Transportation and Energy Committee...
was appointed by a vacancy committee to the Colorado State Senate seat vacated by Joan Fitz-Gerald
Joan Fitz-Gerald
Joan Fitz-Gerald was a Democratic member of the Colorado Senate, representing the 16th District since 2001. She served as President of the Senate, the first woman to hold that office....
, leaving his seat vacant. Scanlan was selected over five other applicants to fill the remainder of Gibbs' two-year term; a majority of the thirteen members of the vacancy committee present chose her on the first ballot. Her appointment made her the 21st woman in a 40-member Democratic House caucus that thus became majority-female. After being appointed to the legislature, Scanlan reduced her work load at the Keystone Center to a part-time position, but remained president of the Summit School Board through 2008.
2008 legislative session
For the 2008 legislative session, Scanlan stated that her legislative priorities include "the bark beetleBark beetle
A bark beetle is one of approximately 220 genera with 6,000 species of beetles in the subfamily Scolytinae. Traditionally, this was considered a distinct family Scolytidae, but now it is understood that bark beetles are in fact very specialized members of the "true weevil" family...
, Interstate 70
Interstate 70
Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...
, economic and education issues." She intends to run for a full term in the 2008 general elections, and to continue serving on the Summit School District board, although stepping down from her role as president. Scanlan was also appointed by House Speaker Andrew Romanoff
Andrew Romanoff
Harlan Andrew Romanoff is an American politician. A Democrat, he was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008, serving as Speaker from 2005 to 2008...
to replace Dan Gibbs on the Colorado Tourism Office Board of Directors.
For her first legislative session, in 2008, Scanlan was appointed to the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee and the House Transportation and Energy Committee. Scanlan has pressed for extension of the Colorado Forest Restoration Act, a program providing funding to local groups to mitigate forest damage and wildfire danger brought about by expanding bark beetle infestations in Colorado, and is sponsoring, with Sen. Gibbs, a measure to expand the program. In September 2008 Scanlan led a delegation of Summit County officials to Washington, D.C. to lobby for additional resources to combat bark beetle infestations.
Scanlan sponsored a total of 11 bills during the 2008 session, all of which were signed into law, including measures to create an income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
donation checkoff for the Colorado Healthy Rivers Fund, to extend the Colorado Passenger Tramway Board, to restrict motor vehicle travel on public lands, and to bring safety standards for school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
ses in line with federal requirements. She has also sponsored legislation to create incentives for businesses that harvest and make products from trees killed by bark beetles, and education reform legislation, and including proposals to replace Colorado's CSAP exams with national EXPLORE, PLAN
PLAN (examination)
The PLAN is a preliminary ACT test that is generally administered in the sophomore year. ACT, Inc. claims that it predicts success on the ACT. It is viewed as the ACT's equivalent of the PSAT.- Components :...
and ACT
ACT (examination)
The ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...
tests in upper grades, and to align educational standards across grade levels. With Sen. Gibbs, Scanlan was a prominent opponent of several proposals to charge tolls along the I-70 mountain corridor within her district.
Following the legislative session, Scanlan was named the vice-chair of an interim legislative committee to study wildfire issues.
Later in the year, Scanlan was a prominent critic of Denver Water's decision to close the Lake Dillon
Lake Dillon
Dillon Reservoir, sometimes referred to as Lake Dillon, is a fresh water reservoir located in Summit County, south of I-70 and bordered by the towns of Frisco, Silverthorne, and Dillon. It is a reservoir for the city of Denver, and its waters are under the control of Denver Water...
Dam Road for security reasons, calling the sudden closure and lack of prior notification "inexcusable," and praising the dam's partial re-opening several weeks later. Shortly after the road was reopened, Scanlan and Sen. Dan Gibbs
Dan Gibbs
In his first year in the legislature — the 2007 session of the Colorado General Assembly — Gibbs sat on the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee and was Vice-Chair of the House Transportation and Energy Committee...
announced plans for legislation to prevent future unilateral closures and to encourage cooperation between agencies to share vulnerability assessments and emergency plans.
2008 election
Early in 2008, Scanlan announced her intention to run for a full term in the state house in the November 2008 general election. She faced Republican Muhammad Ali Hasan, and, as of the end of the 2008 legislation session, trailed the largely self-financing Republican in campaign funds, running a lower-budget, "grassroots" campaign. In April 2008, House Speaker Andrew RomanoffAndrew Romanoff
Harlan Andrew Romanoff is an American politician. A Democrat, he was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008, serving as Speaker from 2005 to 2008...
accompanied Scanlan on a "midterm progress report" tour of her house district.
Scanlan criticized Hasan's spending as "shameful" after he loaned over $40,000 to his campaign. By September, Hasan had outspent Scanlan by roughly 20-to-1, after donating nearly $200,000 to his own campaign, a move Scanlan characterized as "buying name recognition." Ultimately, Scanlan raised nearly $80,000 for her re-election bid, as compared to Hasan's $350,000. Colorado 527 group
527 group
A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of American tax-exempt organization named after "Section 527" of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code...
Accountability for Colorado also distributed mailers in support of Scanlan, however, she expressed disapproval at their negative tone and over election laws that allow such groups to operate.
During a September debate on children's issues, Scanlan touted her legislative work on standards for educational assessment and her support for charter schools, but was criticized by Hasan for promoting "too many regulations" on education and for not supporting school vouchers. Scanlan was also critical of Hasan's plans to press for construction of a monorail
Monorail
A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...
along the I-70 corridor, instead supporting a thorough and coordinated study of the impacts and costs of mass transit. In contrast with Hasan's advocacy of reduced regulation of national forests, Scanlan called for increased federal funding for local projects to mitigate pine beetle damage.
Although Hasan was endorsed by the Vail Daily
Vail Daily
The Vail Daily is a free, 15,000 circulation newspaper in Eagle County, Colorado, published seven days a week. The Vail Daily is distributed in stores, coffee shops, restaurants, bars and workplaces and also has a comprehensive online website. The Vail Daily covers the Colorado communities of...
, for which he was a former columnist, Scanlan was endorsed by the Summit Daily News. and the Denver Post. Scanlan prevailed over Hasan in the general election, defeating the challenger with 53 percent of the popular vote.
2009 legislative session
For the 2009 legislative session, Scanlan was named to seats on the House Business Affairs Committee and the House Education Committee. She plans to propose an omnibus forest health bill during the 2009 session.Scanlan, with Sen. Gibbs, again led a delegation to Washington D.C. in February 2009 to lobby for funding to address fire dangers arising from the bark beetle epidemic.