Jennifer L. Veiga
Member of the Colorado Senate
from the 31st district
In office
July 28, 2003[1] – May 15, 2009
Preceded byDoug Linkhart
Succeeded byPat Steadman
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives
from the 3rd district
In office
January 1997 – July 21, 2003[2]
Succeeded byAnne McGihon
Personal details
BornLong Beach, California[3]
Political partyDemocratic
Domestic partnerBronwyn Russell
ResidenceAustralia
OccupationAttorney, politician
Websiteweb.archive.org/web/20121009014647/http://www.minterellison.com/People/jennifer_veiga/

Jennifer L. Veiga (born October 10, 1962)[4] is a former American attorney and politician from Colorado. Veiga is a former Democrat member of Colorado House of Representatives and member of Colorado's 31st Senate district, covering downtown and north-central Denver.

She announced on April 7, 2009 that she would be resigning her seat to move to Australia where her partner's mother was ill.[5] Her resignation became effective on May 15 and, on May 29, Pat Steadman was sworn-in as her successor.[6]

Biography

Graduating from Irvine High School in 1980, she went on to the University of Colorado at Boulder where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1983. She then received a Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. in 1987.[4]

A practicing lawyer with the Denver law firm Hall & Evans, LLC specializing in civil ligitagation, Veiga was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1996 and re-elected three times, in 1998, 2000, and 2002. In 2003, she served as House Minority Leader, as well as a member of the Executive Committee and the Legislative Council.[4]

In July 2003, she was named by a Vacancy Committee to the 31st District seat in the Colorado Senate[4] following the resignation of Doug Linkhart.[7] She ran unopposed for election to the Senate seat in November 2004 and won re-election in 2008. She served as Chairman of the Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.[4]

A lesbian, she came out publicly in August 2002 and is the first ever openly gay person to serve in the Colorado legislature.[8] As a representative and then as a senator, Veiga introduced legislation every year to ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, at first with little success.[9] In 2005 and then in 2006, Veiga's non-discrimination bill was passed by the legislature, but vetoed by Gov. Bill Owens;[10] in 2007, however, the bill was signed into law by Gov. Bill Ritter.[11] At the time of her retirement, she was one of three openly gay members of the legislature, serving alongside representatives Mark Ferrandino (D-Denver) and Sue Schafer (D-Wheat Ridge).

References

  1. ↑ "CSL Journal" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  2. ↑ "House Journal" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  3. ↑ Project Vote Smart - Senator Jennifer L. 'Jen' Veiga - Biography
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Biography jenveiga.com
  5. ↑ Sealover, Ed (April 7, 2009). "Veiga, chair of Colorado Senate business committee, to resign".
  6. ↑ "Steadman wins appointment to SD 31 - The Colorado Independent". 21 May 2009.
  7. ↑ "GayWired.com - First lesbian in Colorado House Now First Lesbian in State Senate". Archived from the original on 2005-12-29. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  8. ↑ Kyle Henley (2005-06-11). "Gay, lesbian politicians are learning the basics". The Gazette (Colorado Springs). Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  9. ↑ "Jenniferveiga.com » Legislative Priorities". Archived from the original on 2007-05-05. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  10. ↑ Western Equality | OutWest Newsletter May/June 2006 Archived 2007-07-03 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ "Press Release- May 25, 2007". Archived from the original on 2008-09-25. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
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