Claire Levy (born July 3, 1956 ) is a former legislator in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

of Colorado. Elected to the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distr ...

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

in 2006, Levy represented House District 13, which encompasses Clear Creek, Gilpin, and western

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counties. Levy was named the Executive Director of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy on November 1, 2013. The Colorado Center on Law and Policy is a Denver-based nonprofit organization working to advance the health, economic security and well-being of low-income Coloradans through research, education, advocacy and litigation.

Early career

Raised in Indiana, Levy earned a bachelor's degree from

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...

in Minnesota in 1978, and then a J.D. from

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

, 1982. Moving to Denver in 1982, Levy worked as a deputy

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

in the Colorado State Public Defender's Office from 1983 to 1986, representing

indigent Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

s accused of

felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

. After moving to Boulder in 1986, Levy briefly worked in private practice with Buchan, Gray, Purvis, and Scheutze. In 1989, she took a job in the Jefferson County Attorney's office focusing on land use and planning issues. Since 1999, Levy has worked in private practice in Boulder. Levy has served as a precinct captain for the Boulder County Democratic Party, on the boards of PLAN Boulder County (where she has also been vice-chair and chair), the Boulder Arts Academy, and the Boulder Ballet, and as a member of the Boulder County Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee (including three years as its chair), the Boulder County Housing Authority, and the City of Boulder Planning Board. Levy has two daughters, Mara and Ellie.

Legislative career

2006 campaign

Claire Levy faced Jim Rettew, an instructor at the University of Colorado in the Democratic Party primary for House District 13 to succeed

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

ed Rep.

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. In the reliably Democratic district, the two candidates differed primarily on emphasis, rather than the substance of issues, with Levy placing her focus on global warming, schools and health care. Levy also accumulated an extensive list of endorsements from local organizations and Democratic Party leaders. Levy won 71% of the vote at the party assembly for the house district, forcing Rettew to petition onto the primary ballot. She again prevailed in the primary election, earning over 60% of the popular vote and the Democratic Party's nomination for the legislature. Having won her party primary and facing only a Libertarian opponent, Levy dedicated her political efforts during the remainder of the election season to promoting Referendum I, a statewide

domestic partnerships A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee r ...

initiative. In the general election, Levy defeated

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

Rand Fanshier with over 80% of the vote.

2007 legislative session

In the 2007 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Levy sat on the House Judiciary Committee, the House Transportation and Energy Committee, the Legal Services Committee, and was vice-chair of the Joint Rule 36 Complaint Committee. The Rule 36 complaint committee reviews allegations of misconduct by lobbyists, and, during the 2007 session, heard a case involving

robocall A robocall is a phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message, as if from a robot. Robocalls are often associated with political and telemarketing phone campaigns, but can also be used for public service or emer ...

s made by a lobbyist for business leaders; Levy voted with the majority of the committee, which found that the calls, although deceptive, were protected political speech. During the 2007 session, Levy was a prominent proponent of legislation related to

energy efficiency Energy efficiency may refer to: * Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process ** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed ** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...

standards. Successful legislation introduced by Levy included measures to require local governments to include updated energy-efficiency standards in building codes, to require utility companies to provide rebates to customers who use energy-efficient products, and to add a 50-cent fee to natural gas bills to pay for energy-efficiency programs. She was also the House sponsor of a Senate bill to impose new energy-efficiency standards on state buildings. Following the legislative session, Levy sat on the interim Transportation Legislation Review Committee. She received a total score of 4.0 out of a possible 100 for her votes that related to taxation from the Colorado Union of Taxpayers during the 2007 session.

2008 legislative session

In the 2008 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Levy sat on the House Judiciary Committee, the House Transportation and Energy Committee, and the Joint Legal Services Committee; she also sat on a special committee that recommended the censure of Rep.

Douglas Bruce Douglas Edward Bruce (born August 26, 1949) is an American conservative activist, attorney, convicted felon, and former legislator who served as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2008 to 2009. He is also known for being the ...

for kicking a photographer, and a special ethics panel investigating possible conflicts of interest for

Colorado State Fair The Colorado State Fair is an event held annually in late August in Pueblo, Colorado. The state fair has been a tradition since October 9, 1872. The fairgrounds also host a number of other events during the rest of the year. Organizationally, ...

engineering contracts received by Sen. Abel Tapia. She was also named assistant chair of the house majority caucus for the 2008 session of the Colorado General Assembly. In the 2008 legislative session, Levy introduced bills to prioritize transportation funds for communities that engage in

smart growth Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl. It also advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood sch ...

planning, to impose new fees on vehicles with low fuel economies to fund the state's Office of Smart Growth, and a bill to extend state tax credits for

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

. A bill to require electric utilities to devote 2 percent of sales revenue to energy efficiency programs passed the house over objections that it would prove costly to municipal electric authorities. Another of Levy's bills would have given judges, rather than prosecutors, discretion over whether minors can be charged as adults in criminal court. Although the legislation passed the state house, and was weakened in the Senate before final passage, it was vetoed by Gov.

Bill Ritter August William Ritter Jr. (born September 6, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the district attorney for Denver before his ele ...

, a former prosecutor. Levy's campaign treasurer, Edith Stevens, was the target of vocal public criticism in late 2007 after she and her husband, a former district judge, won control of a parcel of a neighbor's property through

adverse possession Adverse possession, sometimes colloquially described as "squatter's rights", is a legal principle in the Common law, Anglo-American common law under which a person who does not have title (property), legal title to a piece of property—usuall ...

. Levy stood behind Stevens and her husband under pressure to disassociate them from her campaign, but Stevens ultimately resigned from her position as Levy's campaign treasurer. Following the controversy, Levy signed on during the 2008 session as a co-sponsor on legislation to modify Colorado's adverse possession law, and introduced legislation that would prevent county and district court judges from presiding over cases involving another current or former judge from the same jurisdiction. Both measures were passed by the General Assembly and were signed into law by Gov. Ritter. In response to recommendations issued by a state commission on health care, Levy has expressed a desire to introduce legislation to create a

single-payer health care Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from p ...

system in Colorado, and has indicated that she may sponsor such a bill late in the 2008 session. Levy was also a prominent voice of opposition to increased spending on security measures for the state capitol following a 2007 shooting in the building, arguing that existing security was sufficient and that the capitol was not a high-profile target. Late in the 2008 legislative session, Levy announced that she would sponsor legislation to require disclosure by corporations of self-owned, or "captive"

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of commercial real estate, including office and apartment buildings, warehouses, hospitals, shopping cente ...

s, a practice she denounced as "a tax-evasion scheme" used by companies including

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. Although the measure passed the state legislature, it was vetoed by Gov.

, who cited problematic "technical aspects of the bill."

2008 election

Levy sought seeking a second term in the Colorado House of Representatives in 2008. She faced businessman Robert Houdeshell, who entered the race in June 2008. During the campaign, Levy cited energy efficiency, health care, and education as her top priorities for a second term. Levy's re-election bid was endorsed by the ''

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'', the ''

Boulder Daily Camera The ''Daily Camera'' is a newspaper in Boulder, Colorado, United States. It is owned by Prairie Mountain Publishing, a division of Digital First Media. History Frederick P. Johnson and Bert Bell founded the weekly ''Boulder Camera'' in 1890, and ...

'', and the ''

Boulder Weekly ''Boulder Weekly'' is an alternative newsweekly that publishes every Thursday in Boulder, Colorado. The paper is a member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) and is owned and published by Stewart Sallo. Overview Following the L ...

''. She won re-election with 74 percent of the popular vote. During the 2008 election cycle, Levy moderated a

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

-sponsored debate between Democratic

Colorado State Senate The Colorado Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Colorado. It is composed of 35 members elected from single-member districts, with each district having a population of about 123, ...

candidates Cindy Carlisle and

Rollie Heath Stratton Rollins Heath Jr. (born December 28, 1937) is an American politician and former state legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado who previously served as the Colorado State Senate Assistant Minority Leader. Elected to the Colorado State Sen ...

, and backed

Joan Fitz-Gerald Joan Fitz-Gerald is an American politician and attorney who served as a member of the Colorado Senate, representing the 16th district from 2001 until 2007. She also served as President of the Senate, the first woman to hold that office. Fitz ...

in the contested Democratic primary for

Colorado's 2nd Congressional district Colorado's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Colorado. The district is located in the north-central part of the state and encompasses the northwestern suburbs of Denver including Boulder and Fort Coll ...

. In this legislative session, she received a score of 11.11 out of a possible 100 from the Colorado Union of Taxpayers. She introduced HB-1033 Tax Credit for Historic Preservation, which extended income tax credits for ten years for qualified costs in preservation of historic properties. This shifted renovation costs of private property to the taxpayers, which resulted in less money in the Highway Users Tax Fund. The full cost of HB-1033 to the taxpayer was $565,000 in fiscal year 2009/10, and is estimated at $1,130,000 annually from 2010/11 through 2018/19.

2009 legislative session

For the 2009 legislative session, Levy was named to a seat on the Legislative Legal Services Committee and tapped to chair the House Judiciary Committee her selection was criticized by some House Republicans, who alleged that she was "soft on crime." After winning a second term, Levy was also elected Majority Whip by state house Democrats. Shortly before the beginning of the session, Levy was also named to a five-member ethics panel charged with investigating allegations of vote-buying on the part of Rep.

David Balmer David Balmer is a former legislator in the U.S. of State of Colorado. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Republican in 2005, he won election to the Colorado Senate in 2012. In late 2015, he resigned his seat representing Senat ...

in a house leadership election; the case against Balmer was dropped due to lack of evidence. In response to incidents of

distracted driving Distracted driving is the act of driving while engaging in other activities which distract the driver's attention away from the road. Distractions are shown to compromise the safety of the driver, passengers, pedestrians, and people in other vehic ...

in Colorado news, Levy first planned on sponsoring legislation to restrict

text messaging Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or another type of compatible compute ...

while driving; however, after a fatal Colorado accident in November 2008, Levy expanded the bill's scope to ban both texting and cell phone headset use while driving. However, the final version that passed the legislature was significantly weakened, banning cell phone use only by drivers under 18, but still banning

texting while driving Texting while driving, also called texting and driving, is the act of composing, sending, or reading text messages on a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle. Texting while driving is considered extremely dangerous by many people, includi ...

for adult drivers. Although criticized by some law enforcement personnel as difficult to enforce, the ban went into effect in December 2009. She introduced SB-051 Concerning measures to facilitate the financing of energy-efficient structures. This Bill significantly increased the role of the state in forcing citizens to use solar energy. The program administrators, who are unelected, will award the contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. In 2009, she received a score of 9.68 out of a possible 100 from the Colorado Union of Taxpayers based on her voting record in relation to government spending. Levy again sponsored legislation to close a tax loophole for captive

s, and a bill to allow voters to drop off mail ballots at polling places. Two environmental measures sponsored by Levy failed — bills to create a corridor capacity strategic plan for the state transportation system and a bill to allow rural electric cooperatives to implement energy efficiency programs. Near the end of the legislative session, Levy was the house sponsor of a failed

sentencing reform Sentencing reform is the effort to change perceived injustices in the lengths of criminal sentences. It is a component of the larger concept of criminal justice reform. In the U.S. criminal justice system, sentencing guidelines are criticized for b ...

measure which would reduce penalties for non-violent criminal offenders. Following the legislative session, Levy, a member of the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice, was a member of a commission task force charged with studying possible sentencing reforms.

2010 legislative session

During the 2010 Colorado General Assembly, Levy plans on sponsoring legislation to require jail time for repeat

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

offenders, and legislation to require additional disclosure surrounding board elections for rural electric cooperatives. In 2010, she received a score of 8.33 out of a possible 100 from the Colorado Union of Taxpayers for her voting record in relation to government spending.

2010 election

2011 legislative session

2012 legislative session

2012 election

In the 2012 General Election, Representative Levy faced Republican challenger Adam Ochs. Levy was reelected by a wide margin of 67% to 27% with an additional 5% of the vote going to libertarian candidate Howard P. Lambert.

Resignation from Colorado House of Representatives

Levy resigned her position in the Colorado House of Representatives on October 31, 2013 to become the Executive Director of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy on November 1, 2013.

References

External links

Legislative web page

Campaign web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Claire 1956 births American women lawyers Carleton College alumni Case Western Reserve University School of Law alumni Colorado lawyers Jewish American state legislators in Colorado Living people Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives Politicians from Bloomington, Indiana Politicians from Boulder, Colorado University of Colorado Boulder faculty Women state legislators in Colorado 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American Jews