Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today secured a two-year extension of the wind energy production tax credit (PTC) in the tax extenders bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee. Bennet also fought back against several amendments designed to phase out and eliminate the credit altogether.

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee today adopted an amendment by Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet to extend and expand tax deductions for teachers who spend their own money on the job. The amendment, also sponsored by Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), to the tax extenders bill would increase the $250 educator expense tax deduction by indexing it to inflation. It would also allow teachers to use the deduction for professional development, which is often costly expenses for teachers.

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and 21 senators to introduce the Restore Honor to Service Members Act, a bill that will help service members discharged solely due to their sexual orientation correct their military records to reflect their honorable service and reinstate the benefits they earned. A companion bill has been introduced by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Charles Rangel (D-NY) in the House of Representatives.

The Senate last night passed the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act by voice vote. The bill, which was approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee earlier this year, includes a provision authored by Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet to encourage the use of locally grown foods by nutrition services providers. Bennet is a cosponsor of the bill.

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, Ohio U.S. Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown, and several of their colleagues continued their bipartisan push to crack down on currency manipulation by foreign competitors. In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, they urged the Administration to combat this practice that hurts exports, workers, and business through the ongoing trade negotiations.

The Senate Agriculture Committee today held a hearing to discuss several bills to help the National Forest Service manage its federal lands, including three bills sponsored by Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet.

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet announced that President Obama has issued a major disaster designation for the State of Colorado due to severe storms, tornadoes, flooding, landslides, and mudslides. The designation will give communities access to federal funding for recovery efforts. Bennet joined Congressmen Scott Tipton, Ken Buck, and Doug Lamborn in a letter led by Senator Cory Gardner to President Obama last week asking for the designation.

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, a former superintendent of the Denver Public School District, today joined 80 senators to pass a long overdue fix to No Child Left Behind. The bill, also known as the Every Child Achieves Act, reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the chief federal law addressing K-12 education. It reforms many of the policies from No Child Left Behind, the previous version of the bill, while maintaining several key policies that have proved successful.

Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) today made the following statements on the passage of the bipartisan amendment, Full Educational Opportunity Act, to the Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA) by a vote of 59 to 39.

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet issued the following statement on the verdict in the Aurora theater shooting today.