Jennifer Veiga

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][dead link]}

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][dead link]}

In July 2003, she was named by a Vacancy Committee to the 31st District seat in the Colorado Senate^{[4][dead link]} 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][dead link]}

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).

• Jennifer Veiga's profile at Minter Ellison, a law practice in Australia Retrieved January 8, 2015.
• Project Vote Smart - Senator Jennifer L. 'Jen' Veiga (CO)^{[permanent dead link]} profile
• Follow the Money - Jennifer L Veiga
  • 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 1996 campaign contributions