In The NoCo

She’s a mom who serves in Congress. She says it’s time to stop sidelining lawmakers who are new parents

By In The NoCo,

Published January 24, 2025 at 5:35 AM MST

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Colorado 7th District Representative Brittany Pettersen, a woman with long blonde hair and wearing a dark green dress, with her hands folded over a pregnant belly, stands in the Rotunda at the U.S. Capitol building. Pettersen is a cosponsor of a bipartisan proposal that would allow members of Congress who are new and expectant parents a period of time to vote by proxy instead of in person. — U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen is leading an effort to pass a bipartisan proposal that would allow members of Congress who are new and expectant parents a period of time in which they can vote by proxy instead of in person. "It's just this minimal step that we can take to make Congress more accessible to families and regular people," Rep. Pettersen says. "It's a important step forward, but it is the bare minimum of what we should be doing."

Members of Congress are required to show up in person to vote on any measures. That creates challenges for representatives who are in the final weeks of pregnancy, or who just gave birth.

U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Democrat from Lakewood, understands these rules from experience. And she says they’re unfair. She’s due to give birth to her second child in a few days – which means she’s under travel restrictions, and unable to be in Washington to cast votes.

But Pettersen -- and several other representatives -- have proposed a solution.

Pettersen wants the House of Representatives to pass a resolution that would allow new or expectant parents to vote by proxy when they can’t be in Washington. That means they’d appoint another person to vote in their place.

But there’s been some pushback to the plan – including from House Speaker Mike Johnson, who says the proposal is unconstitutional.

Pettersen talked to host Erin O’Toole from her home in Lakewood about being an expectant mother in Congress – and the details of her proposal.

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In The NoCo

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.

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Ariel Lavery

Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University’s NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family’s financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.

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Erin O'Toole

As the host of KUNC’s new program and podcast In the NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.

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Brad Turner

Brad Turner is an executive producer in KUNC's newsroom. He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His work as a podcaster and journalist has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition, NPR Music, the PBS Newshour, Colorado Public Radio, MTV Online, the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, and the Longmont Times-Call.

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