Colorado Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen explains viral moment voting with newborn baby
WASHINGTON (KRDO) - Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen, who represents a large portion of our local region including Teller and Fremont counties, made a big splash in Washington this week, casting her vote on the house spending bill while holding her one-month-old baby.
In an interview with KRDO Thursday, Representative Pettersen said she believes letting congress members vote remotely would allow them to more accurately represent the average United States citizen.
“Regular people, people who currently have young kids and understand the struggles that so many families are facing,” she explained.
Representative Pettersen told us she’s not the only one voting in less-than-ideal situations.
Her posts on social media, showing her holding baby Sam at the Capitol and posing with Representative Kevin Mullin of California after undergoing surgery, have millions of views.
Pettersen said this all comes after a bill to allow proxy voting, or remote voting for new mothers and those undergoing medical challenges, was shot down by Republican leaders before it ever made it to the House floor.
Pettersen told KRDO the next step is something called a “discharge petition.” She said, if lawmakers are blocking an idea that’s popular among Congress, you can try and get 218 signatures to force a vote to the floor – and she thinks they can get the numbers from both parties.
Representative Petterseon says, while flying with a newborn is a far from ideal situation, voting on the budget bill that could affect funding for Medicaid and food benefits was too important to miss.
“I want Coloradans to know that you have representatives who are fighting for you,” Pettersen explained while calming her baby through a couple cries.
Despite her best efforts, that budget bill did pass by two votes and now goes to the Senate.
We’re told the House has until March 10th to get those discharge petition signatures to bring the issue of proxy voting to the floor.
