Round 2! Colorado Comeback Marches On
DENVER, CO – House and Senate leadership today introduced eight state stimulus bills to support the restaurant and events industries, provide youth mental health screenings, assist child care businesses and boost Colorado agriculture. The bills are part of the legislature’s Colorado Recovery Plan.
“The Colorado Comeback is crafted to reach every corner and every industry in our state,” said House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo. “From tax relief for restaurants and bars to assistance for our State Fair in Pueblo, help is on the way. This package boosts our event industry, which fills up hotel rooms and restaurant tables across the state, and it will help workers develop the tools they need to thrive. I’m proud of the bipartisan work that’s gone into crafting the Colorado Recovery Plan, and I’m excited to see it move forward.”
“This next round of stimulus bills will speed up Colorado’s recovery and lay the groundwork for a stronger future,” said Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder. “One of our goals in this round of stimulus is to directly invest in Colorado families by channeling resources towards childcare shortages as well as our youth mental health crisis. Our state’s future success will be in the hands of our children, and it’s critical that we do a better job of meeting their needs and providing them the support they need to thrive.”
HB21-1265: Restaurant Sales Tax Relief, sponsored by Representatives Mullica & Van Winkle and Senators Pettersen & Woodward.
Colorado restaurants and bars have faced some of the toughest challenges of this pandemic, with many closing and others struggling to stay open or pay their workers. This bill continues the successful sales tax assistance effort passed during the 2020 special session. It allows restaurants, bars, caterers, and food service contractors (such as airline food service contractors and food concession contractors at sporting events) to deduct up to $70,000 in net taxable sales from their monthly state sales tax return and retain the resulting sales tax revenue during the months of June, July, and August 2021.
HB21-1263: Incentives for Conferences and Events, sponsored by Representatives Roberts & Soper and Senators Rodriguez & Hisey.
Colorado has a robust tourism and conference industry, and with the vaccine becoming more widely available, it’s time to bring people back for weddings, vacations, conferences and so much more. The bill creates a program to provide organizations and businesses rebates of up to 10% of the hard costs of holding an event in the state to incentivize more tourism and business to come to the state. The program also offers rebates of up to 25% of hard costs of complying with COVID-19 associated public health orders for the event.
HB21-1258: Mental Health Sessions for Youth, sponsored by Representatives Michaelson Jenet & Van Winkle and Senators Buckner & Woodward.
Our state’s youth mental health crisis has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This bill creates a program in the Office of Behavioral Health to reimburse providers for up to three mental health sessions with a young person. The office will create a website to serve as a portal for youth and providers to be able to navigate the program.
HB21-1262: Support for Colorado Stock Show, State Fair, and Agriculture Events, sponsored by Representatives Lontine & Lynch and Senators Garcia & Sonnenberg.
The Colorado Stock Show and State Fair are vital economic drivers for the agriculture industry in Colorado. With this stimulus, the state will help bring them back stronger than before. The bill provides $3.5 million to the Colorado Stock Show--a staple to the state’s agricultural economy and Denver’s economy--as well as $3.5 million for the State Fair, and $2 million to agricultural events organizations across the state.
HB21-1264: Workforce Centers and Training Awards, sponsored by Representatives Sullivan & Young and Senators Kolker & Hisey.
Building back stronger means making sure that Colorado’s workers have the tools they need to thrive. This bill invests $25 million to create an initiative within the state Workforce Development Council to reskill, upskill, and “next-skill” workers during periods of substantial unemployment.
HB21-1260: Support for State Water Plan, sponsored by Representatives Garnett & Catlin and Senators Donovan & Simpson.
Ensuring that Colorado can meet its future water needs is critical in maintaining our state as a competitive place to work, play, and live. The bill provides $20 million to the Colorado Water Conservation Board to implement the Colorado Water Plan.
SB21-234: Agriculture & Drought Resiliency, sponsored by Senators Jaquez Lewis & Sonnenberg and Representatives Cutter & Holtorf.
In 2020, each of the 64 Colorado counties were experiencing a drought. Major drivers were an absent monsoon season, increased soil moisture deficits, record-high temperatures, and extreme evaporative demands from winds and low humidity. This drought exacerbated many of the financial impacts on the agriculture sector, and as climate change worsens, drought could cost Colorado an additional $511 million dollars in expected annual damages to agriculture. To help plan for and mitigate future droughts, this bill establishes the Agriculture & Drought Resilience Fund in the Department of Agriculture and allocates $3 million to engage in activities that promote the ability of the state to anticipate, mitigate, or respond to droughts.
SB21-235: Funding for ACRE3, sponsored by Senator Jaquez Lewis and Representatives Bernett & McCormick.
Over the next decade, Colorado’s agricultural sector must comprehensively reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also increasing energy efficiency and cutting costs. ACRE3 is Colorado’s premier state-level program for agricultural energy management, and provides financial aid, technical assistance, and education to help agriculture producers and processors cut energy costs and develop their own energy resources. To further increase the sustainability of the ag industry, producers can invest in healthy soil management, nutrient cycling, and erosion prevention strategies which will increase yields and resilience to extreme weather events. To expand and enhance these programs, this bill allocates $3 million to ACRE3 to support energy efficiency programs and $2 million to the conservation services division to implement voluntary soil health programs.
SB21-236: Childcare Business Support, sponsored by Senators Story & Sonnenberg and Representatives Tipper & Van Beber.
Early childhood care and education are not only important for a child’s preparation for K-12 school, they are also crucial for helping formulate critical thinking skills, cognitive abilities, social skills, and the foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing. Accordingly, early childhood caretakers and educators are some of the most valuable and impressionable figures in children’s lives. Over the last year, the pandemic has disrupted both educators’ ability to teach and children’s ability to learn – making the re-ignition of early childhood care and education an integral component of our recovery. This bill establishes three new grant programs to increase capacity, and works to improve recruitment, retention, and compensation for educators. Additionally, the bill allocates $8.8 million in state funds and $4.2 million in federal funds to help get these programs up and running.
