CRUCIAL COVID RELIEF LEGISLATION CLEARS MORE HURDLES ON THE SECOND DAY OF EXTRAORDINARY SESSION

Denver, CO – Today, the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees approved several pieces of priority legislation that address Colorado’s current public health and economic crisis – focusing on helping students, supporting parents, and relieving businesses of burdensome sales tax liabilities. 

HB20B-1001, Grants To Improve Internet Access In P-12 Education, sponsored by Senator Kerry Donovan (D-Vail) and Senator Don Coram (R-Montrose), will create the Connecting Colorado Students Grant Program – providing $20 million in grants for local education providers (P-12) to secure reliable internet access for their students, teachers, and staff.

“Kids across Colorado are sitting at their kitchen tables, unbelievably frustrated with their unreliable or nonexistent internet connections. They desperately want to learn about the mysteries of our solar system or the history of our country or the meaning of Shakespeare, but they are painfully isolated from their teachers and unable to connect with their classmates,” said Senator Donovan. “This bill ensures that COVID-19 won’t rob a child of their education or a teacher of their vocation by establishing reliable internet access for all of Colorado’s future writers, scientists, and historians.” 

In Colorado, as many as 64,000 public school students, particularly in rural districts, do not have access to the internet. Moreover, Black, Hispanic, and low-income students are losing ten months of learning on average as a direct result of the pandemic. HB20B-1001 encourages collaboration between local education providers and broadband service providers as they find innovative ways to provide access to high-quality internet to all of Colorado’s students and teachers.

HB20B-1002, Emergency Relief Programs For Child Care Sector, sponsored by Senator Brittany Pettersen (D-Lakewood) and Senator Jerry Sonnenberg (R-Sterling) will provide $45 million in relief for the child care industry through two COVID-19 emergency relief grant programs. This appropriation will expand access to safe and affordable child care – preserving child care opportunities for over 100,000 children and ensuring that facilities throughout the state can remain open. 

“Even before the pandemic, when I was pregnant and touring childcare facilities, almost everywhere we went had 2-3 year-long waiting lists. Now, with the COVID crisis forcing 10% of child care centers to close, parents are facing even more dire shortages,” said Senator Pettersen. “These closures have been especially hard on frontline workers and women, who have had to drop out of the workforce at two-times the rate for lack of child care. The reality is, if we don’t act now, 40% of providers are at risk of closing – a dangerous outcome for our economic recovery as thousands will be without the necessary resources to return to work.” 

Colorado currently has massive shortfalls in child care spots and could face serious economic consequences if existing facilities are forced to close. Moreover, research shows that for every dollar spent on early childhood programs, $2.25 is contributed to our state’s economy, meaning this assistance will both directly help hardworking families and stimulate job creation. 

HB20B-1003, Food Pantry Assistance Grant Program, sponsored by Senator Tammy Story (D-Golden) and Senator Dennis Hisey (R-Fountain) will expand the food pantry assistance program and appropriate $3 million toward the program to provide food banks with the resources necessary to meet the needs of the rising number of Coloradans who are struggling with food insecurity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“With unemployment numbers on the rise, more and more are struggling with food insecurity – forced to choose between paying their rent and putting food on the table. This is as heartbreaking as it is alarming,” said Senator Story. “We need to replenish our state’s food pantry services and protect people from going to bed hungry.  This is especially critical for our children, many of whom are cut off from vital free-and-reduced-lunch programs as schools face more closures.”

Currently, 1 in 3 Coloradans are struggling with food insecurity. This crisis is compounded by a looming December expiration for federal hunger relief. 

HB20B-1004, Qualified Retailer Retain Sales Tax For Assistance, sponsored by Senator Jeff Bridges (D-Greenwood Village) and Senator Jack Tate (R-Centennial) will allow restaurants, bars, and food trucks to retain state sales tax they collect from November 2020 through February 2021. This will provide bars and restaurants from $2,000 to $10,000 in tax relief each month to help them make ends meet. 

"COVID has hit taverns and restaurants especially hard and we need to find every opportunity for relief that we can, which is why last year I sponsored the bill allowing to-go sales of alcohol," said Sen. Jeff Bridges. "Allowing these folks to keep the state sales tax they collect won’t eliminate all of their burdens, but it will help to keep more Coloradans employed and lessen the load on those who have invested their lives and livelihoods into these critical Colorado small businesses.”

This legislation builds on the Governor’s November 25th Executive Order that extended the state sales tax payment deadline for 30 days for the month of November for restaurants, bars, and food trucks. 

These bills will now go to the Committee of the Whole for a Second Reading and floor debate, ending the second day of Extraordinary Session.