JOINT RELEASE: Executive Committee Creates Economic Recovery Task Force to Guide Nearly $700M ARPA Funds

DENVER, CO -- The Executive Committee of the Legislative Council today approved a resolution to establish the process that will produce recommendations for how Colorado can allocate nearly $700 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to sustain the state’s economic recovery and build back stronger.

“This pandemic has thrown us one curveball after another, impacting parts of our state and sectors of our economy in different ways,” said Speaker Alec Garnett, D-Denver. “As the effects of the pandemic continue to shift and Colorado recovers, we are setting up a task force to look at our economy, identify gaps in prior relief and propose new stimulus to help our state build back stronger. This bipartisan process will help guide the General Assembly as we work to direct nearly $700 million in federal funds to sustain Colorado’s recovery and target economic stimulus to the people and businesses struggling to bounce back.”

“This year, we took action in the legislature to stimulate our economy and build a more just, economic future for Coloradans after a year of devastating financial challenges, but the work did not stop there,” said Senate President Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo. “Today, we’re setting up a task force that will help us continue on our path toward a resilient economic recovery, helping us to fill in gaps that will support those hardest hit by the pandemic, get our economy back on track, and deliver relief where it’s needed most.”

“As Colorado’s economy bounces back from the pandemic, we have to focus on the workers and small businesses who are being left behind and use these one-time federal funds to forge an equitable and sustained recovery,” said Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo. “The task force process we created today will help identify new economic stimulus to power the Colorado Comeback, boost communities in every part of our state and help low-wage workers from falling further behind as the largest businesses and wealthiest individuals fully recover.”

“As we continue to address the ongoing effects of COVID-19, we’re closely monitoring the progress we’ve made over the last several months to see where we can make improvements to ensure a sustainable economic recovery for all,” said Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder. “This task force will help our state distribute American Rescue Plan Act funds in the most efficient and thoughtful way possible so we can address ongoing inequities, uplift our communities, and propose additional stimulus to support the Colorado Comeback.”

During the 2021 legislative session, lawmakers worked collaboratively with Governor Polis to develop and advance the Colorado Comeback Roadmap to Building Back Stronger, which envisions investing nearly $3.8 Billion in American Rescue Plan Act funds for new stimulus and relief that will sustain our recovery and help Colorado build back stronger. As the course of the pandemic and the economy continue to develop, the Economic Recovery Task Force and subpanel established under the resolution approved today will take the next few months to evaluate the state’s economic recovery.

The task force will be comprised of legislators and representatives from the Department of Economic Development and International Trade and the Office of State Planning and Budgeting and will be supported by its own subpanel of economists. The subpanel will make recommendations to the task force on policies that use the funds to provide a stimulative effect to the state's economy, necessary relief for Coloradans or that address emerging economic disparities resulting from the pandemic.

The subpanel will analyze and synthesize data on the current state of the state’s economy, identifying ongoing challenges with the state’s recovery and opportunities for larger growth in specific sectors or industries, and outlining the underlying issues that are contributing to the overall economic gaps that are inhibiting recovery and growth. The subpanel will produce a report providing broad policy recommendations for the task force to vote on and submit to the General Assembly and the Governor as potential solutions to address issues identified within the report. The report shall note if there are differences of opinion amongst subpanel members, and address those differences.

Legislative leaders will make appointments to the task force by September 8 and to the subpanel by September 15. Following a number of public meetings throughout the fall, the task force will finalize recommendations no later than December 17, 2021, and the report on the recommendations of the task force will be submitted to the General Assembly and the Governor no later than January 13, 2022.

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