Jovan Melton

Jovan E. Melton
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 41st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 9, 2013
Preceded by	Nancy Todd
Personal details
Born	(1979-03-21) March 21, 1979 Denver, Colorado
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Aurora, Colorado
Alma mater	University of Colorado, Boulder
Occupation	Consultant
Religion	Christian
Website	www.jovanmelton.com

Jovan Emerson Melton (born March 21, 1979) is a Democratic member of the Colorado House of Representatives, serving since 2013. Melton represents Colorado's House District 41, which includes portions of southwest Aurora, Colorado and the "Four Square Mile" area in unincorporated Arapahoe County.

Melton is the first African American to represent House District 41, and one of the first two African American males to serve from Arapahoe County in the state legislature (Representative John Buckner assumed office at the same time as Melton, and Representative Rhonda Fields assumed office two years earlier, making her the first African American to serve from Arapahoe County).

Melton serves as the Vice-Chair of the Black Democratic Legislative Caucus of Colorado.^[1] He is also the Founding Partner and Senior Consultant for Emerson Hamilton Consulting and Strategies, LLC based in Aurora, Colorado. Melton is a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

Before serving in the House, Melton worked for Lieutenant Governor Barbara O'Brien, and managed the campaigns of State Representatives Angela Williams and Rhonda Fields.^[2]

Biography

Melton grew up in a working class household in Northeast Denver, and later in Aurora. He attended school in the Cherry Creek and Denver Public School Districts. He gravitated towards student leadership, serving on student council at Thomas Jefferson High School (Denver) as Junior Class Vice-President and later Senior Class President. He also volunteered for organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Brotha 2 Brotha – a positive image youth group, and in college he mentored high school and middle school students. Jovan also served on the Yearbook Staff and played Varsity Golf.

Melton earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder in Political Science. While at CU, he served as the Director of Communications for the Black Student Alliance.^[3] After college, Jovan became actively involved in government and politics. He worked as a Government Escalations Analyst for Comcast Communication while serving as a volunteer on the successful campaign committee for State Representative Beth McCann.

Following this work, he served under Lt. Governor Barbara O'Brien as the Program Coordinator for the Governor’s Commission for Community Service. In this role, Jovan was involved with the founding of the Colorado State VISTA Program, which utilizes AmeriCorps VISTA resources in order to increase outreach and build capacity in addressing poverty issues and concerns throughout the state of Colorado.^{[4] [5]}

After several years in the Lt. Governor’s Office, Jovan turned his attention to state politics. He served as the campaign manager for Angela Williams in her 2010 Primary and General election for State Representative. Following her Primary win, he also became the Campaign Manager for Rhonda Fields’ 2010 General election campaign, making her the first African American elected to the State House from Arapahoe County.

Soon after his 2010 election cycle, Jovan founded Emerson Consulting & Strategies, LLC, (now Emerson Hamilton Consulting & Strategies, LLC) a political campaign consulting firm based in Aurora, Colorado. He remained politically active by working on several municipal and state elections.

In 2012, Jovan ran for State Representative of House District 41. He was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives on November 6, 2012, and was sworn into office on January 9, 2013. Since his election he has served on the House State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee, the House Finance Committee, and the Joint Legislative Council Committee.

2012 Election

Melton won in the 2012 election for Colorado House of Representatives District 41. He defeated Terry Todd (D) in the June 26 Democratic primary by a total of 51 votes out of 4,545 cast ballots. He went on to defeat Art Carlson (R) and JM Fay (I) in the general election on November 6, 2012.

^[6]

Legislative Career

2013 Session

Melton sponsored 5 bills signed by the Governor in the 2013 legislative session.

• The Colorado Careers Act of 2013 (HB 13-1004) - The bill establishes the career pathways program in the division of employment and training in the department of labor and employment. The program provides grants to eligible entities to enable target populations to acquire skills necessary to obtain or improve their employ-ability. The bill establishes a career pathways fund and directs the division to submit an annual report to specified committees of the general assembly.

• Military Relief Fund Tax Exemption (HB 13-1024) - The military family relief fund provides grants to members of the Colorado National Guard or reservists, active duty military personnel stationed in Colorado, and their families in order to partly mitigate financial hardships when called to active duty. The bill subtracts any amount of the grant from the federal taxable income of the Colorado taxpayer receiving these funds.

• Unemployment Insurance Adjustment with regard to Retirement Accounts (HB 13-1054) - Under current law, if an unemployment claimant withdraws any amount from a retirement plan contributed to by an employer, the amount of the claimant's full balance in the plan is used to determine the length of time the claimant will not be eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits, delaying benefits for individuals otherwise entitled to benefits because of job separation. This bill clarifies that only the amount withdrawn from the retirement plan by the claimant and not the total balance in the plan, counts toward determining the length of time the claimant is not eligible to receive benefits.

• College Voter Registration Act (HB 13-1147) - The bill requires public institutions of higher education to provide students the opportunity to apply for voter registration.

• Driver's License & Identification Documentation (SB 13-251) - The bill repeals a prohibition against issuing a driver's license or identification card to a person who is not lawfully present in the U.S. and sets documentary standards for proof of identity and residency. To be licensed, the person must prove the payment of taxes and provide, from the applicant's country of origin, a valid passport, consular identification card, or military identification. A person may provide an individual taxpayer identification number instead of a social security number. A driver's license or identification card will indicate that the holder is not a citizen of the United States.

Melton introduced a bill to Repeal the Death Penalty in Colorado, however the bill failed to pass and was postponed indefinitely by the House Judiciary Committee.

2013-2014 Committee Assignments

• House State, Military and Veteran Affairs Committee
• House Finance Committee
• Joint Legislative Council Committee^[7]

References

External links

• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Legislative website
• Twitter account
• JovanMelton.com
• EmersonHamilton.com