Evergreen Democrat Tammy Story doesn’t march in lockstep with fellow Democrats at the Colorado Capital — or reject Republicans. Or wilt when lobbyists knock at her door.
Instead, she “marches with her constituents,” as she puts it, and isn’t scared to ruffle conservative or liberal feathers in the process.
Much of the oil and gas industry, for example, didn’t like Story’s work to help ensure the safety of gas pipelines, and the industry “doesn’t hesitate to push around their money,” she says.
But that didn’t stop Story, who says she took on the issue after a constituent, who worked in the oil and gas industry, left a message on her voicemail after the 2017 Firestone explosion saying, “I can’t sleep at night. When can we talk?”
That voicemail eventually led to, among other things, a path-breaking 2023 law, co-sponsored by Story, boosting pipeline safety. This year Story pushed a bill in response to an audit revealing that the state’s pipeline safety program still had “pervasive problems.” Story’s legislation, which died, would have increased fines and reporting requirements and provided more public information on pipelines. She’s not giving up on it, she says.
“They should not be getting away with what they’re doing, disregarding basic safety,” she says.
When Story first set out to try to fix pipeline problems in Colorado, she had little company, but she says that she’ll pursue issues, even if the chances of winning appear low.
“It’s about the people of Colorado; how we get there comes later,” she said of her approach to trying to solve problems. “I don’t turn down working on an issue because it looks like it’s going to fail.”
Wildfires
Story, who was elected first as a state senator in 2018 and as a representative in 2022, was among the first lawmakers in Colorado to sound the alarm about wildfires. She got started in 2002, in the wake of the Hayman fire, and hasn’t let go of the issue – which is of obvious importance to her tree-filled district.
A bill Story sponsored in 2022 ensures firefighters in rural districts across Colorado have access to what’s arguably most important to firefighting: water. It was signed into law, and this year, a new law Story pushed at the Capitol will fund an outreach campaign to help people understand how to protect communities from wildfires.
Along the way, some of her bills have died, and she’s angered realtors, fellow lawmakers, segments of the insurance industry, and others.
But she says it’s about public safety, pointing to the tens of thousands of people and homes that could be vulnerable in her district (House District 25), which was previously represented by a Republican whom Story defeated two years ago by one percentage point, even though HD 25 leans slightly Republican.
Schools
This year, the former chair of the Colorado Republican Party accused Story, who says her passion for public education inspired her to run for office, of wanting to “kill charter schools”
The accusation came after Story, who has two grown children, sponsored a bill that would have, among other things, required more financial transparency from charter schools and allowed for members of a community to appeal a board’s decision to approve a charter school. Some Democrats were upset too.
Story fought back saying she had no intention whatsoever of killing charter schools. “Charter schools are part of the fabric of our education system in Colorado,” she said. “That’s not going to change.”
“And families within charter schools deserve to know how their public tax dollars are being spent — the same as traditional public schools within public school districts and every government agency and department that we have,” Story was quoted as saying shortly before her bill was voted down in committee.
Aside from her legislative efforts, Story speaks up when many others don’t, most recently to complain that lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, were initially left in the dark about tax deal negotiated by liberals and conservatives at the legislature – or, also this year, calling on congressional leaders to endorse a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as the civilian death toll rose.
“It’s important that we bring issues forward,” she said, “and have conversations. We’re not going to solve problems unless we talk about them.”
“I’m a fighter,” she said. “These issues are so important.”
