Sara Elizabeth Gagliardi (born March 9, 1958) is an American nurse and politician who served as a legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. A career nurse, Gagliardi was first elected as a Democrat in 2006 to the Colorado House of Representatives. She represented House District 27, which encompasses most of Arvada, Colorado, until her defeat in the 2010 election by Republican Libby Szabo. During her time with the House of Representatives, Gagliardi served as vice-chair for two legislative committees and successfully carried 22 bills into law, predominantly on health care, state services and education, and state fiscal issues. Following the recall attempt and subsequent resignation of Senator Evie Hudak in November 2013, Gagliardi announced her intention to be appointed to the office by the Democratic vacancy committee. The committee ultimately appointed Rachel Zenzinger.
Biography Born in Estherville, Iowa, Gagliardi graduated from high school in 1976 and attended Iowa Lakes Community College beginning in 1976, where she earned certification as a licensed practical nurse, a certification which she holds to this day. Gagliardi, at the time a single mother, worked full-time as a surgical nurse in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the Emmetsburg Community Hospital (now the Palo Alto County Hospital). Gagliardi moved to Colorado with her boys and worked for the Children's Hospital in Denver. In 1982, she also worked for the Wallace Village for Children, before beginning a 28-year career with Kaiser Permanente.
Involvement in Arvada A resident of Arvada, Colorado, since the mid-1980s, Gagliardi has been a member of Spirit of Christ Catholic Church since 1989, where she frequently taught Sunday school. After marrying Jack Gagliardi and having her third son, Sara Gagliardi served on boards and committees in Arvada such as the accountability committee at Vanderhoof Elementary, the parent advisory committee at Drake Middle School, and the Arvada High School Boosters. She has been involved with education policy and has worked as a Cub Scout leader, a volunteer in the city, and as the chair of the Arvada Northwest Business and Professional Women's Committee. Gagliardi's joined the Service Employees International Union Local 105 during her professional career with Kaiser, as SEIU represented 5,000 similar workers in that industry. Later in her time with Kaiser, Gagliardi worked as a union steward for Local 105, monitoring and enforcing the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement between the company and the workers.
Political and professional career Gagliardi entered politics working with Colorado State Senator Martha Ezzard in petitioning for the extradition of convicted murderer Daniel Arevalo. She volunteered with Gail Schoettler's gubernatorial campaign in 1998 and as senate district coordinator for Colorado State Senator Sue Windels in 2000, before running for the State House herself unsuccessfully in 2002. She has also worked on Denver and Arvada city council races, and campaigned for protecting or expanding education funding through Colorado's Amendment 23, and later Referendums C and D. Gagliardi was elected in 2006 and served four regular sessions, spanning the 66th and 67 General Assembly of the State of Colorado, from her swearing-in date in 2007 until her successor's in 2011.
Gagliardi has continued her employment as a nurse during her time at the statehouse. As Colorado's General Assembly operates between the extremes of a "citizen legislature" and a "professional legislature", a non-government job is often necessary to supplement the state's pay scale.The Colorado General Assembly: Second Edition, John A. Straayer, p. 329–333 Regular legislative sessions begin annually in January and constitutionally, they must last no more than 120 days. Though some committees do work through the interim, the period from mid-May until December allows members to keep seasonal jobs. Kaiser allowed Gagliardi to take a five-month unpaid leave of absence each year to discharge her legislative duties with the understanding that she would return after the session. Through most of her time with the House of Representatives, Gagliardi worked in a Denver-area dermatology clinic, although in 2010 she was moved into the field of oncology, where she has remained through the entire campaign season and post-election until the present.
Legislative career
2006 election In 2006, Gagliardi aided by campaign manager Allen Weisheit, faced incumbent Republican Representative Bill Crane, in a rematch of the 2002 legislative elections, in which Gagliardi had received 46% of the vote against Crane and Libertarian Gregg Miller. During her 2006 run, however, she was endorsed by the Denver Post, and, in an exceptionally close election which was not decided until provisional ballots were counted, Gagliardi eventually was declared the winner, having narrowly defeated Crane by 111 votes. This was less than one half of one percent of the total votes cast in the district. The race, being the narrowest legislative election in Colorado that year, set the stage for a series of close uphill elections for Gagliardi in a district with more registered Republicans than Democrats.
2007 legislative session In the 2007 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Gagliardi sat on the House Health and Human Services and the House Local Government Committee. Gagliardi was the prime sponsor for 8 bills in the House and 3 in the Senate during her first session.
Gagliardi's most high-profile bill during the 2007 session was also her most controversial. HB-1303 was a measure to create a statewide "no-junk-mail" registry, similar to the successful National Do Not Call Registry. After opposition by some Colorado businesses and the U.S. Postal Service, the bill was killed in a House committee, at her request, to allow the measure to be revised and reintroduced in future sessions. Following the session, Gagliardi also joined an effort to deter purveyors of spam email from operating in the state of Colorado.
Gagliardi also offered an amendment to the state budget to provide additional funding for veterans homes in Colorado, and was one of the few Democrats to vote against a plan pushed by Gov. Bill Ritter to freeze property tax rates to provide additional public school funding. Rep. Gagliardi was also a co-sponsor of Senate bills to provide legal immunity to school staff who intervene to stop disruptive behavior, and an unsuccessful measure to revise rules regarding the expiration of frequent flier miles. Gagliardi sponsored a few health care measures which overlapped her personal experience, but most of her remaining bills were sunset reviews and statutory cleanup bills, as is common for incoming legislators who are learning legislative procedure.
Near the start of the 2007 legislative session, Gagliardi also adopted an "open door" policy for the Capitol and invited any resident of her district to visit her office at the Capitol or shadow her during floor and committee work. She developed email and print newsletters, similar to those offered by members of Congress, for distribution to her constituents each month during her time with the House of Representatives.
2008 legislative session
In the 2008 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Gagliardi returned to the committee assignments from the previous session, sitting on the House Health and Human Services and the House Local Government Committee. Gagliardi was the prime sponsor for 7 bills in the House and she sponsored 5 from the Senate, in addition to numerous co-sponsorships. Gagliardi was joined in 2008 by chief of staff Ian Silverii, a Democrat with experience in politics and education policy. In addition to her legislative duties, Gagliardi held a series of town hall style meetings on issues of importance to her district.
Gagliardi and Representative Mark Ferrandino proposed the "American Dream Protection Act of 2008," which would have allowed judges to delay home foreclosures by 90 days, in response to the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis which was affecting Colorado and the United States more generally. After encountering overwhelming legislative opposition to the bill, which was characterized in committee as being too drastic, the bill was amended to instead increase public outreach efforts to avoid foreclosures, and more stringent notification requirements for banks when foreclosing. The bill was eventually adopted by the General Assembly, and as signed into law by Governor Ritter, the measure required mortgage holders to provide 30 days' notice to homeowners before beginning foreclosure proceedings and provide them with contact information for the Colorado Foreclosure Prevention Hotline.
During the session, Gagliardi also sponsored legislation to expand funding for the Colorado Responds to Children with Special Needs (CRCSN) Program by increasing the cost of birth certificates by $0.75. This measure, once adopted, provided about $200,000 annually to the program which works to prevent birth defects and developmental disabilities, and supports those who suffer from these disabilities.
Gagliardi sponsored two measures to allow Medicaid reimbursements for services provided by advanced practice nurses in Colorado; both were passed into law and signed by Governor Ritter in March 2008. She also sponsored a successful bill to revise property tax collection procedures in conjunction with tax increment financing to give local governments more budgeting flexibility through the down economy.
In July, following the legislative session, Gagliardi announced a proposal to lower the age limit for blood donations to 16 throughout the state.
2008 election Gagliardi sought a second term in the legislature in the 2008 statewide elections, facing Republican John Bodnar whose bid to unseat Labuda was endorsed by the Denver Post; the Arvada Press endorsed Gagliardi. Gagliardi was again joined by campaign manager Allen Weisheit, and as in previous elections, she was competing for a seat with voter registration numbers favoring Republicans; again her race was expected to be strongly contested. Gagliardi prevailed with just over 50 percent of the popular vote, some 1600 votes ahead of Bodnar; American Constitution Party candidate Amanda Campbell took 4 percent of the vote.
2009 legislative session For the 2009 legislative session, Gagliardi was named to a seat on the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee and as vice-chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee. Following her re-election, Gagliardi was also nominated for the post of House Majority Caucus Chair, but the post ultimately went to Representative Karen Middleton. Representative Gagliardi was the prime sponsor of 5 bills in the House of Representatives and 7 bills in the Colorado State Senate, in addition to co-sponsoring many other bills and resolutions.
Gagliardi carried House Bill 1331 in 2009 which created tax credits for the purchase of fuel efficient vehicles in the state of Colorado. The credits incentivized the purchase of plug-in vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrids, plug-in hybrid conversions, and CNG conversions. These tax credits had the dual benefits of bolstering the automotive dealership industry in Colorado and creating jobs in the field of vehicle conversion.