Legislative Analyst

State of Colorado•Denver, CO

17h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Policy and Legislative Affairs work unit Advises offices and divisions developing the Department's legislative agenda and strategies by assuring alignment with the initiatives of the Governor's Office and approval from the Department's executive team. Analyzes proposed legislation by other state departments, agencies, and stakeholder groups, and identifies potential impacts to CDHS programs. Determines the approach to, and scripting for testimony (e.g. who, when). Negotiates with constituents, stakeholder groups, agencies, state departments and legislators to ensure that statutory changes accurately reflect efficient administrative capability. Manages constituent requests and legislative reports, processes, and responses. Responds to other duties as assigned. Position Summary: Actively keeps the Department aware and informed of legislative activities, maintains integrity at the Capitol and away from it by providing timely responses and representing the Department well. Keeps legislative calendars and hearing invites up to date. Coordinates the drafting, review, and submission of reports to the Governor’s Office and General Assembly. At the direction of the Legislative Liaison, expected to be at the State Capitol daily during the Legislative Session and covers relevant committee hearings, and other activities at the direction of the Legislative Liaison, including into the evening during session. Tracks all bills impacting the department throughout the legislative session. Works with the Legislative Liaison on daily coverage needs regarding meeting coverage and day-to-day delegation of duties. Subject matter expert on developing legislative communication materials and legislative tracking as well as assisting the Legislative Liaison in communicating with members of the General Assembly and internal customers. Relied upon by the Legislative Liaison and executive management to provide technical expertise on legislative process, written communication to legislators, and provide testimony training. Conducts and compiles technical research and analysis on existing programs; proposals for new legislation; the impact of proposed legislation and/or action based on analyses and collaboration with program staff to the Legislative Liaison, the Executive Director, Deputy Executive Directors, and Department management. Representative of the Department to members of the General Assembly and external partners and stakeholders. Responsible for assisting the Legislative Liaison on lobbying legislators to approve Department legislation and budget proposals, including preparation of materials. Responsible for streamlining communication of complex public human services assistance programs administered by the Department, and all related policies and changes between the Department, and legislators and stakeholders. These high-level communication responsibilities include but are not limited to legislative and budget proposals; human services program eligibility expansion and other enhancements; designing, developing and distributing executive level communication materials such legislative analysis and legislative request fact sheets. Legislative Analysis Establishes a process for assigning, tracking, and submitting internal analysis of proposed legislation for policy and fiscal impacts. Works with offices and subject matter experts to draft position request recommendations and potential amendments for proposed legislation for use by the Legislative Liaison and/or the Governor’s Office. Develop written communication and presentations for legislators, Governor’s Office, stakeholders, and Department staff to provide increased awareness and understanding of the Department’s legislative activities. Assists the Legislative Liaison in lobbying and representing the Department to members of the General Assembly and external audiences. Provides verbal communications on Department legislative activities as needed in a variety of public settings such as Department meetings, county meetings, and internal and external stakeholder meetings. Assists the Legislative Liaison in deciding how to coordinate and synthesize technical communications from Department staff concerning legislative inquiries. May also represent the Department and its position on policy in legislative hearings and in front of stakeholder groups on an as needed basis. Researches and prepares talking points and presentations for the Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director, Office Directors, and Governor’s Office. Drafts correspondence for audiences including legislators, the media, stakeholders, and clients. Assists program staff with procedures for testifying before the General Assembly and preps staff prior to hearings. Drafts internal communication on relevant legislative updates on a weekly – and sometimes daily - basis Legislative Process & Tracking Establishes a process for assigning, tracking, and submitting internal analysis of proposed legislation for policy and fiscal impacts. Tracks internal and external legislative initiatives from inception to passage and implementation. Listen to floor and committee work, caucus meetings, and other legislative engagements to help Legislative Affairs and other internal teams manage calendars, keep tabs on relevant bills, and generally understand the tone in the chamber. Coordinates with program staff on technical subject matters for legislative initiates and their implementation. Maintains subject matter expertise on the Colorado legislative process and communicates this to internal partners, including communicating on committee meetings and floor work. Responsible for tracking and coordinating all legislative reports submitted to the General Assembly. Legislative and Internal Relationships Directly lobby members when needed at the direction of the Legislative Liaison, schedule legislative meetings, organize legislator tours, develop and reproduce materials for legislative events, track and manage the legislative reports calendar and process, prepare materials for committee hearings, and maintain the legislative tracking database. Manage regular legislative check-in meetings with programs throughout the legislative session. Assists with organizing legislative tours at relevant CDHS and contractor facilities for elected officials and Capitol staff. Responsible for updating legislative coordinators with relevant information regarding bills and committees, including regular legislative check-ins and chat when bills are up in committee. Assists internal staff with testimony, including signing them up, getting talking points reviewed, and meeting them at the Capitol to help them navigate the committee process. Other Duties as Assigned Develop guidance documents for activities at the Capitol or with members of the General Assembly. Responsibilities in this position include: Analyze all introduced bills to determine which (if any) CDHS programs are impacted by the proposed changes to law. Assign bills to CDHS programs for subject matter experts to draft a policy impact analysis and fiscal impact analysis. Analyze and summarize amendment requests submitted by CDHS’ subject matter experts through the policy impact analysis process. Lead weekly, CDHS-wide meetings to brief staff on the upcoming schedule of bill hearings at the General Assembly. Coordinate testimony for bill hearings at the General Assembly. Attend or listen to bill hearings at the General Assembly, as directed by CDHS’ Legislative Liaison. Communicate directly to members of the General Assembly concerning legislation, as directed by CDHS’ Legislative Liaison. Track all statutorily-mandated reports in a database. Track all Joint Budget Committee requests for information in a database. Communicate timelines to CDHS subject matter experts for drafting and reviewing statutorily-mandated reports and Joint Budget Committee requests for information. Coordinate the internal review process of statutorily-mandated reports and Joint Budget Committee requests for information. Conduct a final review statutorily-mandated reports and Joint Budget Committee requests for information to ensure that the information meets the stated requirements. Write one-page summary documents, frequently asked questions documents for CDHS-authored legislation and bill summaries for all bills impacting CDHS following the legislative session. Develop and communicate the process and deadlines for developing policy proposals to CDHS’ subject matter experts. Track policy proposals developed by CDHS’ subject matter experts. Assist CDHS’ subject matter experts in drafting policy proposals in accordance with the standards outlined by the Department’s Senior Executive Team.

Requirements

Six (6) years of relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned to this position specifically public sector or community based experience working with public policy analysis and implementation, and development and review of legislation.
OR A combination of related education and/or relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned equal to six (6) years AND Two years of recent professional public sector or community-based experience.
Experience that provided the same kind, amount, and level of knowledge acquired in the required education, may be substituted on a year-for-year basis for the bachelor's degree.
A master's or doctorate degree from an accredited college or university can substitute for the two years of experience.
Must possess a valid, non restricted Colorado Driver's license or an non-restricted U.S Drivers License for positions within 30 miles of the CO state border.
Must possess a valid, non restricted Colorado Drivers License within 30 days of employment start date.
Must be a minimum of 21 years of age.

Nice To Haves

Proven expertise in the legislative and public policy process
Demonstrated ability to establish collaborative partnerships and effective working relationships with a variety of internal and external customers and diverse stakeholders
Outstanding skills and abilities in verbal and written communications; ability to adapt a style to fit audiences of varying technical levels, and at various levels within an organization, in large groups and individual settings
Ability to navigate in a complex political environment; ability to inspire trust in others and use influence and social capital to drive initiatives
Excellent skills in project management and facilitation, including establishing goals and timetables, tactical plans, securing and coordinating resources, monitoring progress, engaging and working with other personnel or teams, measuring results, developing contingencies, and reporting out
Ability and motivation to develop creative solutions to complex, interpersonal, process, and systemic challenges
Excellent judgment and decision making skills; makes decisions in accordance with upper management's philosophy, values and goals; perceives items and issues that are of great importance and initiates action proactively and within appropriate boundaries
Ability to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret data and information, and to identify the impact information may have on seemingly unrelated areas
Ability to adapt work behavior and methods in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles

Responsibilities

Advises offices and divisions developing the Department's legislative agenda and strategies.
Analyzes proposed legislation and identifies potential impacts to CDHS programs.
Determines the approach to, and scripting for testimony.
Negotiates with constituents, stakeholder groups, agencies, state departments and legislators.
Manages constituent requests and legislative reports, processes, and responses.
Keeps legislative calendars and hearing invites up to date.
Coordinates the drafting, review, and submission of reports to the Governor’s Office and General Assembly.
Attends the State Capitol daily during the Legislative Session and covers relevant committee hearings and other activities.
Tracks all bills impacting the department throughout the legislative session.
Works with the Legislative Liaison on daily coverage needs.
Develops legislative communication materials and legislative tracking.
Assists the Legislative Liaison in communicating with members of the General Assembly and internal customers.
Provides technical expertise on legislative process, written communication to legislators, and testimony training.
Conducts and compiles technical research and analysis on existing programs and proposed legislation.
Represents the Department to members of the General Assembly and external partners and stakeholders.
Assists the Legislative Liaison on lobbying legislators to approve Department legislation and budget proposals.
Streamlines communication of complex public human services assistance programs and related policies.
Establishes a process for assigning, tracking, and submitting internal analysis of proposed legislation for policy and fiscal impacts.
Works with offices and subject matter experts to draft position request recommendations and potential amendments for proposed legislation.
Develops written communication and presentations for legislators, Governor’s Office, stakeholders, and Department staff.
Provides verbal communications on Department legislative activities.
Researches and prepares talking points and presentations for executive leadership.
Drafts correspondence for audiences including legislators, the media, stakeholders, and clients.
Assists program staff with procedures for testifying before the General Assembly and preps staff prior to hearings.
Drafts internal communication on relevant legislative updates.
Tracks internal and external legislative initiatives from inception to passage and implementation.
Listens to floor and committee work, caucus meetings, and other legislative engagements.
Coordinates with program staff on technical subject matters for legislative initiatives and their implementation.
Maintains subject matter expertise on the Colorado legislative process.
Tracks and coordinates all legislative reports submitted to the General Assembly.
Directly lobbies members when needed at the direction of the Legislative Liaison.
Schedules legislative meetings, organizes legislator tours, and develops and reproduces materials for legislative events.
Maintains the legislative tracking database.
Manages regular legislative check-in meetings with programs.
Assists with organizing legislative tours at relevant CDHS and contractor facilities.
Updates legislative coordinators with relevant information regarding bills and committees.
Assists internal staff with testimony.
Develops guidance documents for activities at the Capitol or with members of the General Assembly.
Analyzes all introduced bills to determine which CDHS programs are impacted.
Assigns bills to CDHS programs for subject matter experts to draft policy and fiscal impact analyses.
Analyzes and summarizes amendment requests submitted by CDHS’ subject matter experts.
Leads weekly, CDHS-wide meetings to brief staff on the upcoming schedule of bill hearings.
Coordinates testimony for bill hearings at the General Assembly.
Attends or listens to bill hearings at the General Assembly.
Communicates directly to members of the General Assembly concerning legislation.
Tracks all statutorily-mandated reports in a database.
Tracks all Joint Budget Committee requests for information in a database.
Communicates timelines to CDHS subject matter experts for drafting and reviewing reports and requests.
Coordinates the internal review process of statutorily-mandated reports and Joint Budget Committee requests.
Conducts a final review of statutorily-mandated reports and Joint Budget Committee requests.
Writes one-page summary documents, frequently asked questions documents for CDHS-authored legislation and bill summaries.
Develops and communicates the process and deadlines for developing policy proposals.
Tracks policy proposals developed by CDHS’ subject matter experts.
Assists CDHS’ subject matter experts in drafting policy proposals.

Benefits

Strong, secure, yet flexible retirement benefits including a PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan www.copera.org plus 401(k) and 457 plans
Medical and dental health plans
Employer supplemented Health Savings Account
Paid life insurance
Short- and long-term disability coverage
11 paid holidays per year plus vacation and sick leave
BenefitHub state employee discount program
Employee Wellness program MotivateMe
Excellent work-life programs, such as flexible schedules, training and more
Remote work arrangements for eligible positions
Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.