Dear Ms. Claus,
As I’ve read through my letters to Santa over the years, I noticed that your spouse has been very good with things like an Easy-Bake oven or Barbie house. But so far, he is terribly lacking with larger wishes. I’m finally realizing that I’ve most likely been writing to the wrong person — someone who is focused on material presents to quench people’s thirst for the holiday spirit.
Unfortunately, my wishes have apparently fallen on deaf ears with your husband despite the number of times I’ve watched, “Elf,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” or prayed to God.
So, Ms. Claus, with you as a matriarch, I’m hoping that you’ll hear my pleas for wishes, not for people individually, but for our communities.
So here goes…
Woman to woman, let’s face it. We are still seeing people experience hate speech, property damage, physical and sexual assault, and lack of justice in spite of the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements. And regardless of any building security measures, deaths by mass shootings are still on the rise. What do we do? Who or what can help us enter our school, church, or public venue without paralyzing fear?
I first wish for people to acknowledge our connectedness with each other. You know, many claim that the woman is often the one who can drop the ego and “separateness” and embody our interdependence of each other. Knowing that we are all connected as human beings, animals and nature. If one of us is in pain, then we all feel pain in some way. If one of us is harmed, we all feel that harm somehow. Understanding that link to each other, how could anyone then harass, assault, or kill another, knowing that they’re harming someone who is connected to them at a very deep level?
I wish for compassion — for every person to treat each other with kindness. If we all could tap into our empathy before lashing out or reacting in judgment, can you imagine what it would look like in line at the grocery store, the copier, or the highway? What our homes would feel like if we actually listened to each other at the dinner table, rather than just trying to prove our own points or eating in silence watching TV?
I wish for people to feel comfortable with difference — with their neighbors who might look or behave differently than them. And that those differences wouldn’t stop them from waving hello on the way to work or the mailbox. Believing in the good of others rather than fearing each other. Maybe if we all remembered the basics of how to play well together on the playground. Or actually practiced the values in our faiths: to love and care for our neighbors.
So, Ms. Claus, are we ready for these wishes? May we all live year-round, not just during the holidays, with more connection, compassion, and kindness.

Linda Newell, of Littleton, has termed out as the state senator of Senate District 26 and is now educating people on how to understand and influence their government and managing conflict civilly. She may be reached at Senlindanewell@gmail.com, www.lindanewell.org, www.senlindanewell.com, @sennewell on Twitter, Senator Linda Newell or @TheLastBill on Facebook.

Read this article on The Englewood Herald here.

Colorado State University social work students listened to State Senator Linda Newell discuss her journey to move bills for suicide prevention and misrepresentation of service animals through the legislative process at the State Capitol.
Newell gave a screening and held a question and answer session for her documentary, “The Last Bill,” on Monday in the Lory Student Center at an event hosted by Colorado State University’s School of Social Work. She was joined by State Senator John Kefalas. 
Newell said she created the film in response to public misconceptions about the Colorado state Senate. Early on in the film, she mentioned how people would see her senator badge and assume that she was a member of the U.S. Congress. She intended for the documentary to be a form of civic education.
“Something’s got to be done. It’s time we take the government to the people,” Newell said. “I just wanted to make sure that we were able to get the education out there–so the people would know there’s a difference between a state Senate and the U.S. Senate.”
After the screening, Newell and Kefalas took audience questions about the film, the bills that were showcased and the state legislative process in general. The audience was primarily composed of social work students.
The film primarily focused on SB-147, a bill that would increase measures for suicide prevention in Colorado. The “zero suicide” bill is a response to high suicide rates in the state and gaps in data that show how over 30 percent of individuals are receiving mental health care at their time of death from suicide and 45 percent have seen their primary care physician within one month of their death.
Newell was the primary sponsor for the bill. It aimed to reduce suicide rates by providing training and strategies in a variety of health care systems.
The film documents the long process that Newell worked through to push the bill forward. After three months of a bipartisan effort, the bill passed. Governor John Hickenlooper signed the bill into law in June 2016.
Newell considers the bill to be one of her biggest accomplishments. She said that the bill was difficult to move because she was in the minority party at the time. Her first 6 years were spent in the majority, which made her last 2 years a “way different experience.”
Kefalas also worked on SB-147 as a co-sponsor, and he also mentioned supporting the bill as one of his best accomplishments.
“This issue of suicide prevention is really important to me,” Kefalas said. “What we’re doing now is working out legislation that we’ll introduce in January that’s building on this work, to look at some of the gaps that still are out there with how do we move the dial in the right direction, as far as not having more suicides, but having less suicides.”
Moving into 2018 with elections on the horizon, including the gubernatorial election and all of Colorado’s seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Colorado state government looks to be a “feeding frenzy” according to Newell. However, she doubts there will be any drastic changes for the state senate.
“I’m not sure a lot is going to happen because it usually is much slower during an election year but particularly with this election year being a gubernatorial…lots of in-fighting going on with primaries and all that stuff,” Newell said.

Collegian reporter Joe Manely can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @joemanely.

​Read this article on The Collegian here.

“The Last Bill, a Senator's Story” is a behind-the-scenes documentary of former state Sen. Linda Newell's real-life story carrying bills through the Legislature.
A screening of the film, presented by the Rotary Club of Five Points Denver, is planned for Wednesday, Oct. 11 at the Posner Center for International Development, 1031 33rd St., Denver. After watching the film, participants will engage in an open dialogue on peaceful problem-solving and healthy communication in government.
A meet-and-greet happy hour begins 6 p.m. The 27-minute film will start promptly at 7, and a Q&A session with Newell, a Democrat from Littleton, will follow until 8 p.m. Tickets are available at www.eventbrite.com/e/the-last-bill-a-senators-story-wsenator-newell-tickets-36873635035.
A portion of the proceeds will support Newell's civic education initiative, developing academically aligned film curriculum guides to be used in K-12 schools across the state. Additional proceeds will benefit the Rotary Club of Five Points Denver's local and national initiatives locally and nationally through the Rotary Foundation's End Polio Now campaign.
The Rotary Club of Five Points Denver prioritizes providing humanitarian services to Northeast Denver neighborhoods in and around the Five Points community, with a focus on youth engagement in local schools and support of community events and programs.
After eight years of public service, Newell recently termed out of the Colorado Legislature and is now producing mini-documentaries and events to educate people of all ages about our government - to see how it really works, from the inside.
The film follows Newell, joined by Sen. Kevin Lundberg, through the process as she works her suicide prevention and service animals bills. See how she is challenged from across the aisle and her attempts at bipartisanship, all with a bit of humor and fortitude.
View the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La2Jx2EPeEg&feature=youtu.be. Check out her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheLastBill/

Read this article on The Centennial Citizen here. 

On any given day in every neighborhood across the country, there are millions of people who watch television, online videos, and social media streaming. Seems harmless, right? People in their own homes just sitting watching a screen. Maybe it’s a show about a fictional character trying to save (or take down) the world, or a reality-TV star looking like an idiot as he tries to behave normally while inebriated. Others might be glued incessantly to 24-hour news channels, waiting to see crimes reported or the degradation of our political system.
Then on a Saturday less than a few weeks ago, millions turned to watching live the horrific violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. As a nation, we were transfixed to our tubes or computers, hypnotized by the spewing hatred and violence. Some of us were in tears of empathy for the peaceful protestors against bigotry, others in anger about losing our rightful white heritage, and still others in shock and disbelief that this was happening at all in a sleepy town in America.
Immediately, people flocked to social media making commentary on the events as noble, brave, or hate-filled, and even a few conspiracy theorists claiming it was all fake news. From that, the violence continued online verbally for days, turning against each other — our own family and friends.
So, what does this have to do with me?
Well in 1999, in the area of our small Littleton community, we had our own tragedy of senseless violence at Columbine High School, where 15 people lost their lives and even more were injured. Our world was rocked, shaken to the core. We banded together in brainstorming sessions with our neighbors and experts trying to figure out how this could have happened here and what we could to do heal as a community and prevent this from happening again anywhere. We began to make progress unified together in spirit and that common goal.
At that time, a mantra was born, “We are ALL Columbine,” a morphing of the high school’s cheer, claiming we were ALL responsible for the Columbine violence AND the healing. Together, we realized that we as a collective had created a culture where this was possible. Whether we had intentional or unintentional actions or subconscious thoughts, we were sewn into each other’s lives morally and were now taking responsibility for consciously creating our future community culture.
Now is the time to recognize that again. That no matter what numbing show or video you watch to try to separate yourself from reality, you too are complicit in the prejudice, ignorance and yes, even violence. We are all connected as fellow human beings in our grocery stores, neighborhoods, workplaces, schools and places of worship. And we each have our own part in creating and sustaining a culture of increasing isolation, anger and violence.
It’s time to be conscious and aware that every thought and every action, no matter how small, has an effect on others locally and globally. It’s time to remember that we are all Columbine. And now, we are all Charlottesville. Let’s do something about that, not as members of particular ideological groups, but as fellow citizens of our village, collectively responsible for our humanity.
Linda Newell has termed out as the state senator of Senate District 26 and is now educating people on how to understand and influence their government. She may be reached at senlindanewell@gmail.com, www.lindanewell.org, www.senlindanewell.com, @sennewell on Twitter, Senator Linda Newell or @TheLastBill on Facebook.
​
Read this article on The Littleton Independent here.

As we've seen over the past few months, (if paying attention to any headlines), the leadership in the U.S. Congress has been struggling to pass a variety of versions of bills to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in order to please the base voters in their home districts. Even adding in the vice president as a tie-breaker with some of those votes, still no bill has passed both chambers.
Why? And what can we do as seemingly insignificant individual citizens to help?
Why haven't any of these attempts worked? The party in leadership has the presidency and leadership in both chambers. Why can't they get anything through? Well, as Einstein said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
So let's look at how unhealthy the process has been.
Thus far, we've seen little to no protocol followed that we know works at the state level. Unlike Washington, in the state Legislature, we can often (not always) get things done because we do what we know works - we use civility, the chamber procedural rules and bipartisanship.
But what we've seen in D.C. recently is none of those.
There have been countless jabs, pokes and sneers right under the Capitol dome, modeling to the whole country how uncivil many of our congressional members have become. Breaking with decades of history, there have been political games abusing procedural rules to sidestep the usual voting procedures and avoid transparent public committee policy hearings. And, sadly, there has been no attempt to reach across the aisle and work with the other party to come up with win-win viable solutions to our healthcare coverage challenges.
Maybe naively, I used to believe that all of the people in Congress were fully acting in the true spirit of public service of the common good. Now I'm not so sure. But I can't believe they actually want to see people suffer or die, right? Have their egos or desire for getting re-elected taken over their respect for the process put in place by our forefathers? Or their common sense or civility? Is the congressional leadership really that "sick?" We'd never be able to get away with this in the private sector. We'd be fired by now, or at least reprimanded for this type of behavior.
So what can we do as lowly citizens?
We can (and should) demand that just as a doctor starts with her patient, they need to get to the root causes of the symptoms with a diagnosis and then come up with a treatment plan, conferring with their colleagues for second and third opinions thoughtfully. It's hard to see a good prognosis possible if the process you're using is ill itself.
It's time congressional leaders drop their egos and apparent need to do "something" and just do the "right thing" for the health of all Americans, not just a few.
If our communal goal is to have a healthy society and fiscal responsibility, then we need to operate with healthy processes, and that includes all voices at the table for transparent brainstorming and listening to each other respectfully. Only then will we be able to truly heal the sick and begin to restore our dignity as a nation.
Please call your senators today, and let's start the healing process together.
Linda Newell termed out as the state senator of Senate District 26 and is now educating people on how to understand and influence their government. She may be reached at senlindanewell@gmail.com, www.lindanewell.org, www.senlindanewell.com, @sennewell on Twitter, Senator Linda Newell or @TheLastBill on Facebook.

Read this article on The Highlands Ranch Herald here.

​We've heard about fake news lately, but what about what's left out of our politically correct history books? As I've been re-learning our country's history over the last few years, I've discovered some hidden truths that are not taught in our books or classrooms. It's time to shed some light. Recently, my eldest daughter graduated with her master of divinity from Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University. Yes, I'm very proud, thank you. So, my daughters and I traveled from New York to Virginia to move her to her next adventure. Once down there, we went to Jamestown Fort, "America's Birthplace in 1607." I had been to that historical area before as a kid and loved it, but that did not prepare me for what I would soon experience. This time as I visited Jamestown and the plantations, I was in tears. I now know a fuller truth of that history so it was hard to hear the usual story told in our history books from a white man's perspective. Now, don't stop reading. I know this might seem controversial to some, but stick with me, please. This time, I knew that when the 104 English settlers arrived onto a "new" land, they dismissed the fact that it was already home to thousands of natives here. And that Capt. John Smith, the handsome cartoon character with Pocahontas, was actually part of the beginning of the white male patriarchy in our country. Yes, these allegedly courageous Englishmen who traveled the seas and braved the elements of this new land actually claimed someone else's land (and sometimes their wives) as their own. But if that weren't enough, then they literally bought or stole people from another continent (Africa) and brought them over and enslaved them to do their own work and make themselves profitable. So the history film's narrator in the visitor's center might have delicately and politely said, "these three cultures came together," but there was not much politeness or delicacy about it. It was actually horrifying this time as a conscious adult to walk the land where so many people were injured, killed or enslaved for power and profit of the white man. And as a white person of English descent, this was particularly hard history to relive and feel the guilt of what my ancestors had done. But it was also healing and transformative for me, and my family. Now I know this might feel awkward, but it's time to own our whole American history, not just the marketed glamour of the red, white and blue cups and plastic ware. We need to also acknowledge that our country was founded on white men dominating people of color. Sadly, looking at today's statistics in business or government, that hasn't changed enough. I believe it's now necessary to learn from the untold stories in history in order to heal our divides and better understand how to truly transform us into a society worthy of this land. So as we're celebrating the Fourth of July this year, we may want to look at the full history of our country and figure out how to do our personal part in the continuing liberation of the peoples we white folk have oppressed for hundreds of years. It's time to own and acknowledge the whole truth. Linda Newell is termed out as the state senator of Senate District 26 and is now educating people on how to understand and influence their government. She may be reached at Senlindanewell@gmail.com, www.lindanewell.org, www.senlindanewell.com, @sennewell on Twitter, Senator Linda Newell or @TheLastBill on Facebook.
 Read the article on The Parker Chronicle here.

Have you ever wondered how Colorado's legislature works? Or perhaps you don't care, because you're convinced that all politicians are corrupt.
In either case, former state senator Linda Newell, a Democrat who recently finished an eight-year term representing Littleton at the State Capitol, hopes that a video documentary series she's producing will educate and change perceptions about the people and mechanics behind Colorado's state and local governments. 
Newell debuted the first installment of her series, a documentary titled The Last Bill: A Senator's Story, on March 18 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Littleton. The roughly thirty-minute film follows Newell and Republican Senator Kevin Lundberg as they collaborate and parry around bills they sponsored during 2016's regular legislative session — Newell's last before she termed out.

Newell says that the goal of the documentary — and the series as a whole — is to show how government works from the inside and to humanize politicians like herself and Lundberg who make decisions that have far greater consequences than many people realize.
"What people don't know is that the majority of the laws that affect them on a day-to-day basis happen at the state and local levels," says Newell. "But I also know that before this [last election] — with Trump and Clinton and Sanders — only 5 percent of the nation paid attention to politics. And only 5 percent of that 5 percent paid attention to local or state politics."
Additionally, Newell adds, approval ratings of elected officials at all levels of government are at historic lows.
“People are skeptical about politicians,” she says. “And I have gotten perceptions that we're all hateful people and are in it for ourselves or for money or for our egos."
The Last Bill, which was made in collaboration with the Colorado Film School and Indie Denver Media Productions, aims to change those perceptions by showing what life as a legislator was really like for Newell; in the film, the former senator and her two daughters describe their family life and the sacrifices Newell made as a single mom, including working for about $2 to $3 an hour for eight years (she did the math) in the legislature.
Now, Newell will be working with the same production team at Indie Denver to capture the inner workings and personalities behind other parts of Colorado's state and local governments.
This week, the governor's officeagreed to participate in Newell's film about the role the governor plays in state politics. Other ideas for future installments of the series include exploring life on the campaign trail as candidates vie for local seats, explaining how lobbyists fit into Colorado's political machinery, and putting together a how-to guide for constituents interested in having effective dialogues with their elected representatives.
Another plan for the series is to have the films available for educational purposes. Newell says that she's already working with high school and primary school teachers to create a curriculum around The Last Bill so that it can foster in-depth conversations in the classroom. She also hopes to distribute the film through libraries and Rocky Mountain PBS.

“The Last Bill was my story, but what we really want to incorporate are all different types of races, ethnicity, sexual orientations, faiths, economic classes.... Those are the stories that we are really looking forward to telling," says Newell.
She credits the first film's young director, Aaron Koehler, and editor Matt Baxter for adding a refreshing younger perspective that helps the film appeal to inter-generational audiences. As outsiders, the filmmakers also kept things honest, giving viewers the feeling that they're getting a candid peek into the inner workings of the political system.
"I'm not trying to tell superficial, nice little stories," says Newell. "I want to show the good and the bad, including the dichotomy, the hypocrisy, and the masks behind the scenes of what politicians are really going through."
To find out more about Newell's film series, visit her website, lindanewell.org 

Read this article on Westward here.

As a freshman state legislator in the summer of 2009, Linda Newell had a lot to learn about a lot of things—and as it turned out, so did everyone else.
Some onlookers wondered, just who was that unknown blonde and her two lovely daughters waving from a passing car in Littleton’s Western Welcome Week parade?
As Newell jumped from the cavalcade, two women approached her, noticing a nametag that identified the mystery lady as some sort of “state senator.”
Former state Sen. Linda Newell stands in front of the Littleton Municipal Courthouse, where she plans to eventually tape an episode of her planned television series on the workings of state and local government. The Last Bill: A Senator’s Story, which serves as the series pilot, will have its premiere March 18 at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Littleton.Photo by Peter Jones
“We don’t have a state Senate, do we?” a woman asked.
“Yes, we do,” Newell responded with her trademark smile.
“We don’t pay for that, do we?” the second woman followed up.
“Poorly, but yes,” Newell quickly rejoined.
As a political novice and a newly elected Democrat who was never expected to win the once-Republican-safe District 26 in the 2008 Obama wave, Newell would turn out to be an unlikely educator on the ways of state government.
“I would get questions like, ‘How do you like D.C.?’ And I would need to explain to them that I’m a state senator. I work at the Colorado State Capitol. I’d have to explain the difference between federal and state,” the 59-year-old former lawmaker said. “These were not young people. These are people my age who have voted.”
Newell would eventually try to fill those embarrassments in ignorance with educational town halls, not just focused on her own legislative priorities, but on the mechanics of making state laws—legislation that many assumed come from thin air.
“It became very clear that I had to do more to educate people in a nonpartisan way,” she said. “In my last session, I had this idea—let’s take the government to the people so they don’t have to come and find us.”
With a background in theater and television, Newell knew one of the best places to find her constituents was in front of their TV sets, or maybe in a movie theater.
The result: The Last Bill: A Senator’s Story, a new half-hour PBS-style documentary that has its world premiere Saturday, March 18, at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Littleton.
The film is essentially a senator’s eye view on an unseemly process that is often compared to making sausage. It is also a primer on the “ups” of bipartisanship as an idea becomes law, and the “downs” of a second bill that inexplicably dies in committee.
The Last Bill follows Newell as she runs about the dome, making friends, influencing people, advocating her position, compromising on it and eventually finding common ground with her Republican co-sponsor, Sen. Kevin Lundberg of Berthoud.
“We’re very apart on many things, but we really enjoy working with each other when we can get that sweet spot of policy we agree on,” Newell said.
Their bill—passed by the Senate and House of Representatives and signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper last year—essentially encourages multi-tiered collaboration in proactive suicide prevention with nonpunitive language easier to sell across the aisle.
A movie subplot surrounds a second bill that dies in committee after Newell is unable to garner Republican support for criminalizing the fraudulent use of service animals.
To hear Newell tell it, the lawmaking process onscreen is not so different from that famous sausage analogy, with a bit of childbearing thrown in for good measure.
“It’s ugly. It’s pretty. It’s beautiful. It’s heart wrenching,” she said of her work as a senator. “It’s difficult, but it’s also a wondrous thing. We’re so lucky to live in a country and a state that still has the integrity of that process.”
Despite its title, The Last Bill may not be the last of its kind. The documentary will serve as a pilot as Newell and her production team pitch a proposed public-television series that would take similar case studies on all three branches of government in Colorado, from city councils to the governor’s office, from municipal judges to the state’s Supreme Court.
“You will see the process through a human story,” Newell said.
Plans would be for each episode to be re-edited for use in schools, with accompanying curriculum to enhance the learning experience.
Newell stresses that the project is nonpartisan, a natural move, she says, after representing the purple District 26, which is evenly split among Democrats, Republicans and independents in its stretch from Littleton and Englewood to Cherry Hills and Greenwood Villages.
“When you are purple, you are constantly voting against somebody, but I was elected to represent and that was my job,” she said. “It’s a really hard place to be, which is why I wish more districts were purple, so that we didn’t get the extremes. It should be harder.”
Read the full article on the Villager here

You can take the lawmaker out of the Capitol, the old saying goes, but you can’t take the Capitol out of the lawmaker.
Maybe that isn’t precisely how the old saying goes, but it describes former state Sen. Linda Newell’s path since the Littleton Democrat faced term limits last year.
As her eight-year legislative career neared its end, Newell returned to her roots — she worked in the theater and produced television shows in California years ago — while still at the Capitol, producing a short documentary film that takes a behind-the-scenes look at the legislative process during the General Assembly’s 2016 session.
“The Last Bill, A Senator’s Story” premieres Saturday, March 18, at the Alamo Drafthouse Littleton in the Aspen Grove shopping center. Fortuitously, Newell notes, the movie theater is within the boundaries of Newell’s old Senate District 26. Tickets to the two scheduled showings — at 12:15 p.m. and 2 p.m. — went on sale Friday, March 3. Newell and members of her production team will answer questions after each showing.
Former state Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, is pictured in the trailer for “The Last Bill, A Senator’s Story,” a short film she produced depicting a behind-the-scenes view of the fate of two bills in the 2016 Colorado legislative session. The film premieres on Saturday, March 18, 2017, at the Alamo Drafthouse Littleton. (Courtesy Linda Newell)
In addition to getting viewers acquainted with how the Legislature operates, the documentary traces the fate of two bills Newell sponsored in her last session.
The first bill, to create a suicide prevention plan, co-sponsored with state Sen. Beth Martinez-Humenik, R-Thornton, and state Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, was signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper.
The second bill, to make it a crime to represent a pet as a service animal, co-sponsored with then-state Rep. Daniel Kagan, D-Greenwood Village, however, was torpedoed by Republicans in the Senate Judiciary committee after passing unanimously out of the House. Kagan was locked in a tight race against Arapahoe County Commissioner Nancy Doty for Newell’s open Senate seat, and it’s a good bet Republican legislators didn’t want to give him a win.
But in the kind of twist no one could have scripted, Newell and Kagan’s legislation was resurrected in another bill, this time sponsored by state Sens. Jack Tate, R-Centennial, and Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge, and state Rep. Yeulin Willett, R-Grand Junction, and then-state Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield. It was signed into law by the governor. While Newell and Kagan signed on as co-sponsors, the popular legislation didn’t carry their names.
State Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, and Newell’s daughters, Kate and Brittany Newell, all figure prominently in the production.
Former state Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, right, and state Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, confer in the trailer for “The Last Bill, A Senator’s Story,” a short film Newell produced depicting a behind-the-scenes view of the fate of two bills, including one co-sponsred with Lundberg, during the 2016 Colorado legislative session. The film premieres on Saturday, March 18, 2017, at the Alamo Drafthouse Littleton. (Courtesy Linda Newell)
“I miss being there,” Newell told The Colorado Statesman this week. “It’s such a unique opportunity and when you love it, like I did, there’s nothing like it. On the other hand, with my documentary project, it’s like I’m still there — because it’s about the Legislature, and it’s about educating people for civic engagement.”
In a trailer for the film released this week, Newell sums up her time as a legislator.
“In some of the work I’ve been able to do, I’ve been so proud I’ve been able to save — literally, able to save lives,” she says. “Every day I could make a vote was for the future of women in the state of Colorado, of our environment and helping those that are less advantaged than we are. It’s my job to help people ease their pain, if I can in a legislative way. But also, I owe it to my family to make sure we’re doing everything we can.”
In the same scene, an off-screen interviewer asks her if she’d do it again.
“Yes, I would do it again,” she responds. “On the other hand, I think I would do it a little bit differently, but I would definitely do it again.”
Newell told The Statesman she wouldn’t change how she approached “policy and process externally” but would handle things differently internally.
“I really was a workaholic,” she said. “I really did work not just during the session but in the interims. I found out that it seemed like I was working harder than I needed to, working harder than some of my colleagues, because I was on so many interim committees every year.” After pausing for a moment, she added, “I think I would learn to say ‘no’ better.”
Former state Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, discusses the legislative process in the trailer for “The Last Bill, A Senator’s Story,” a short film she produced depicting a behind-the-scenes view of the fate of two bills in the 2016 Colorado legislative session. The film premieres on Saturday, March 18, 2017, at the Alamo Drafthouse Littleton. (Courtesy Linda Newell)
Newell, who produced the documentary in collaboration with the Colorado Film School and Indie Denver Media Productions, said it’s timed at just over 26 minutes because that’s the ideal length for public television broadcasts. She says the production team plans to transform the footage — perhaps adding more graphics — into a shorter version tailored for students and pair it with a curriculum guide.
In the long run, Newell and her associates want to produce a series of documentaries taking viewers behind the scenes throughout government, including in the executive and judicial branches.
She says she’s confident there’s an audience for the documentaries.
“Over the last few months,” she said, “I’ve gotten so many questions about how government works — how to get in touch with legislators, how to track their voting records. People want to know how to become more civically involved.”
The film is directed by Aaron Koehler and edited by Matt Baxter; Brittany Newell is the associate producer, and Gary Weir composed music for the documentary.
Tickets to the premiere showing are $15, and special VIP tickets with access to a Hollywood-style red carpet are $30. Sponsorships are also available.
— ernest@coloradostatesman.com
To view the full article click here.