On Sunday, in honor of Mothers' Day, Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff andState Representative Nancy Todd (D-Aurora) gathered at Washington Park in Denver for an event thanking Colorado mothers for all that they do. The two legislators unveiled how new laws passed this year will make moms' lives easier.

"Working mothers know, there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done," said Speaker Romanoff. "Well today - on mother's day - we're honoring all their hard work by making their lives just a little easier."

Speaker Romanoff highlighted the steps Colorado lawmakers took to expand resources available to pregnant women for prenatal care. He outlined how the legislature increased the Prenatal Plus Program by $500,000, and made the Colorado Children's Basic Health Plan more accessible to expecting mothers. The second measure alone will result in upwards of 16,000 more Colorado women - including those facing risky pregnancies - getting the prenatal care they need to ensure safe pregnancies, safe births, and healthy babies.

"Our children are Colorado's most cherished resource," said Speaker Romanoff. "And healthy babies need healthy moms.

So we passed laws designed to help more Colorado women get the prenatal care they need to ensure the health and well-being of their babies."

Rep. Todd, a mother of two, discussed three new laws placed on the Governor's desk this year helping working moms. The first, House Bill 1276, ensures businesses create reasonable accommodations for nursing mothers to continue nursing their newborns after they return to work.

"Many in the health community have long recognized the importance of breast milk in establishing a healthy future for babies," said Rep. Todd. "Unfortunately, returning to work is one of the main barriers that mothers cite in discontinuing nursing. So we made sure moms don't have to choose between a paycheck and a healthy child."

The other measures Rep. Todd discussed address the high cost of childcare: "oftentimes, one parent has to stay at home - sacrificing a paycheck - to take care of the kids. But this year, we helped address that dilemma by passing two laws making it a little easier for working moms and working families to get the early childcare they need."

One (HB 1049) extends the time period for which Colorado taxpayers can receive a tax credit for donating to help child care efforts.

The other, which Rep. Todd sponsored (HB 1265), increases eligibility requirements for the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program so more working families can get the childcare assistance they so desperately need to return to work.