UWLC Advocacy Kit - United Way of Larimer County

Advocacy: 2026 Bills

United Way of Larimer County advocates for legislation that supports children and youth, family financial stability, and a thriving nonprofit sector. Learn more about the bills we’re supporting in the 2026 Colorado legislative session.

Advocacy Toolkit 2026

Colorado families are facing rising costs and increasing barriers, but we have solutions that are working. This legislative session, United Way of Larimer County is advocating for policies that:

Help families afford basic needs
Fund child care and afterschool programs
Support housing stability
Remove barriers to work and education

These include:

Protecting the Family Affordability Tax Credit
Extending the Homeless Contribution Tax Credit
Extending the Child Care Contribution Tax Credit
Expanding access to opportunity through Safety Not Status

Together, these policies help families stay stable, access opportunities, and build a better future. But we need your support.

Take action today: Contact your legislators and urge them to support policies that invest in families and remove barriers to opportunity. At this point in the legislative session, calls are more effective than emails.

Not sure what to say? Use and adapt the email template, call script, and talking points below.

Learn more about our priorities in detail and find your legislators here:

Call Script

“Hi My name is [Your Name]. I am a community member in your district calling to ensure your support for several important policies in this legislative session that reduce child poverty, support working families, and expand access to opportunity. This session I urge you to vote yes for:

The 2026 Colorado Tax Package: HB26-1221, HB26-1222, HB26-1223
Extending The Child Care Contribution Tax Credit: HB26-1004
Extending The Homeless Contribution Tax Credit: HB26-1015
Safety Not Status: HB26-1143

At a time when Colorado families are facing rising costs and shrinking federal supports, these bills together ensure that:

Low and middle income families have access to direct flexible funding to help afford the necessities.
Children and youth continue to have access to safe, affordable places to learn and caregivers are not forced to choose between work and child care.
Families currently or at risk of experiencing homelessness continue to have the supports needed to move out of crisis and into housing stability.
Students are able to participate in educational opportunities that pave the way for future financial stability, no matter their citizenship status.

Thank you for your advocacy for Larimer County families.”

Email Template

Dear [Legislator Name],

My name is [Your Name] I’m writing as a community member in your district to ask for your support for several important policies this legislative session that together would reduce child poverty, support working families, expand access to educational and economic opportunity, and build a more inclusive and resilient economy.

[Optional: include your identities, values, personal experience and/or story here. For example: “As a social worker and single parent, I know how hard it can be for families to afford the basics, and I want to live in a world where we use our wealth as individuals and as a state to support the people who need it most. The Larimer County Child Care Fund made child care affordable for me when I needed it the most. That program would not have been possible without the Child Care Contribution Tax Credit.]

Colorado families are facing rising costs, shrinking federal supports, and increasing barriers to stability and opportunity. This legislative session, we have an opportunity to protect what’s working and remove barriers that hold families back. I respectfully ask for your support on:

The 2026 Colorado Tax Package (HB26-1221, HB26-1222, HB26-1223): This package significantly reduces child poverty and provides consistent and flexible support for families with children across Colorado struggling to make ends meet. It also ensures that tax benefits to big corporations don’t come at the cost of essentials for families.
Child Care Contribution Tax Credit (HB26-1004): This bill expands access to affordable, quality child care for families statewide by extending a proven funding stream (over 60M per year). Locally, these funds power important programs like WomenGive, the Larimer Child Care Fund, and Loveland Youth Campus.
Homeless Contribution Tax Credit (HB26-1015): This bill helps create pathways to safe, stable housing for families across Colorado by extending a proven funding stream for housing stability and homelessness prevention services.
Safety Not Status (HB26-1143): This bill removes barriers and opens pathways to education and future financial stability on the basis of citizenship status by allowing alternatives like fingerprints and ITINs on non-employment background checks.

Together, these policies help families stay stable, access essential services, and build pathways to opportunity.

Thank you for your leadership and advocacy for Larimer County families.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your City]

Additional Talking Points

The 2026 Tax Package

Creates the Family Affordability Credit (FAC)
Protects a policy (the FATC) that contributes to reducing child poverty in Colorado by ~40%
If the 2026 Tax Package is not passed, families who qualify for the FATC will not receive financial support in 2026, 2027, or 2028
This package ensures financial support for low and middle income families continues during economic downturns and prevents corporate tax benefits from coming at the expense of families
100% of WomenGive recipients and over 85% of Larimer Child Care Fund recipients qualify for the Family Affordability Tax Credit (FATC)

Child Care Contribution Tax Credit

Provides a 50% tax credit for donations and generates $60M annually for providers statewide
Funds center and home-based child care programs including infrastructure and teacher salaries, child care scholarship programs, after school programs, and youth shelters
In 2024, UWLC received $686,000 in CCCTC-supported donations to power the Larimer County Child Care Fund, WomenGive, and the Loveland Youth Campus
Supports over 6,000 providers statewide
Set to expire in 2028 without action

Homeless Contribution Tax Credit

Provides a 25% state tax credit for donations to qualified homelessness service organizations and increases to 30% for rural and distressed areas
Funds local organizations that provide the full spectrum of homeless services including prevention, shelter, housing, navigation and workforce services
Generates a 4-to-1 return on investment, leveraging private donations alongside state tax credits
Raised over $25 million in donations in 2024 alone
Expands funding to community-based providers such as the Murphy Center, Outreach Fort Collins, Crossroads Safehouse, and the Rescue Mission, who are often the first line of support for families in crisis, including families from UWLC’s WomenGive and LCCF communities
Set to expire this year without action

Safety Not Status

Prohibits requiring Social Security Numbers for non-employment background checks and allows the use of alternatives like ITINs and finger prints
Expands access to educational internships, practicums, and volunteer roles for students from refugee, asylee, and immigrant backgrounds
Removes a barrier to education, community involvement, and future economic mobility for students served directly by partner organizations located in UWLC’s community hubs
Ensures that everyone can participate fully in educational and volunteer opportunities regardless of their citizenship status and that background checks are truly about safety, not immigration status