Jim Smallwood

Born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Smallwood spent his formative years in Manhattan, Kansas after his father's 22 years of service in the U.S. Army landed the family in Fort Riley, Kansas. He attended Fort Hays State University where he obtained his B.B.A. in Finance and met his wife of more than twenty years.^[5][6]

Shortly after college, Smallwood moved to Colorado and started a small insurance brokerage firm. He later grew this firm, expanding his knowledge base and services to include financial advising and employee benefit consulting.^[7] He is now president of Employee Benefits for Moody Insurance Agency, where he oversees a department which manages corporate clients and consults on employee benefits and cafeteria plan administration.^[8]

Smallwood was appointed to the Colorado Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities^[9] by John Hickenlooper, and has also served on councils assembled by national and statewide insurers and trade associations.^[10]

Smallwood never held public office prior to his election in 2016 to the Colorado State Senate.^[5]

During the Senate District 4 general election, Smallwood defeated his Democratic opponent, Christina Riegel, with 69.39% of the votes cast.^[11]

Given his history in health insurance and small business, Smallwood was designated Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and appointed to serve on the Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee.^[12]

Smallwood made medical care a focus in the 2018 Legislative Session. House Bill 1431 concerns managed care and aligns statutory provisions to reflect the current statewide managed care system, including the elimination of certain obsolete verbiage.^[13] House Bill 1211,^[14] is designed to control Medicaid Fraud; Senate Bill 27 enacted the Nurse Licensure Compact;^[15] Senate Bill 146 adds a layer of transparency for the consumer seeking treatment at free-standing emergency departments ^[16] and Senate Bill 132 allows insurance companies to offer catastrophic health insurance plans to customers residing in Colorado.^[17] All of these bills were signed into law by the Governor.