{"id":43976,"date":"2021-11-01T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T00:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/polis-releases-budget-proposal-focused-on-crime-homelessness-and-business-recovery\/"},"modified":"2021-11-02T00:30:00","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T00:30:00","slug":"polis-releases-budget-proposal-focused-on-crime-homelessness-and-business-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/polis-releases-budget-proposal-focused-on-crime-homelessness-and-business-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Polis releases budget proposal focused on crime, homelessness and business recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=e8aac628-dba8-5e85-9337-a9f24115f7f9&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" alt=\"Colorado Gov. Jared Polis makes a point during a news conference about Colorado offering coronavirus vaccinations to children, Thursday in Denver. (David Zalubowski\/Associated Press)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Colorado Gov. Jared Polis makes a point during a news conference about Colorado offering coronavirus vaccinations to children, Thursday in Denver. (David Zalubowski\/Associated Press)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Gov. Jared Polis wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars next fiscal year to ease the financial burden of government fees on businesses, reduce homelessness and combat rising crime.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrat, who is heading into the final year of his first term and preparing for reelection in 2022, unveiled the wish list Monday as part of his $40 billion budget proposal for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The plan incorporates state tax revenue and federal coronavirus relief dollars and calls for an 8.5% increase in discretionary spending by the Legislature, which will determine how much of Polis\u2019 plan to pursue.<\/p>\n<p>Polis said the budget \u201cdoubles down\u201d on his previous initiatives and is \u201cour response to the call of the moment\u201d as Colorado works to recover from the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are proposals that Coloradans will see and feel in their everyday lives,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/H4FvjVMgtiE\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The governor\u2019s proposal also calls for major investments in efforts in education and to combat climate change and pollution, including the hiring of 50 new staffers for Colorado\u2019s Air Pollution Control Division and spending $150 million to purchase electric school buses to replace their diesel-guzzling counterparts.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=bd84b4ff-1b5b-5918-9c3b-2087d48b0c6d&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" alt=\"An electric school bus is seen reflected from bus doors at an International Zero Emission Bus Conference on Sept. 16 in Denver. Ninety-five percent of Colorado\u2019s school buses are diesel-fueled. (Olivia Sun\/The Colorado Sun)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">An electric school bus is seen reflected from bus doors at an International Zero Emission Bus Conference on Sept. 16 in Denver. Ninety-five percent of Colorado\u2019s school buses are diesel-fueled. (Olivia Sun\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>One of the largest line items in Polis\u2019 plan is $600 million to address the state\u2019s $1 billion unemployment insurance trust fund deficit. The $1 billion is owed to the federal government, and businesses will have to pay a surcharge to help cover the tab.<\/p>\n<p>Half of the $600 million will go toward buying down the debt while the rest will be distributed to lower the employer surcharge.<\/p>\n<p>Polis wants $100 million of the $600 million to come from federal coronavirus relief dollars the state received earlier this year. State lawmakers haven\u2019t committed to that spending, though Republicans would like to see as much federal aid money go toward the deficit as possible.<\/p>\n<p>Another $50 million would be spent under Polis\u2019 plan to prepay six months of fees businesses will owe to implement Colorado\u2019s new paid family and medical leave program. Voters approved the program in 2020 through the passage of Proposition 118.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would push (businesses\u2019 payments) out closer to when the benefits kick in,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also a $51 million proposal to help businesses hire workers, including through job-training programs and apprenticeship programs. There would also be tens of millions of dollars set aside to increase child care options.<\/p>\n<p>The governor wants to spend $113 million on public safety. The dollars would go toward grants to reduce recidivism and boost forensic and investigative resources. Polis also wants to spread initiatives where behavioral health experts respond with police officers, which have been successful in Denver.<\/p>\n<p>The spending plan also includes $200 million to reduce homelessness, spread across drug and alcohol treatment investments, intervention strategies and community response efforts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHomelessness has risen to the level of state priority,\u201d Polis said. \u201cWe can no longer just say \u2018Denver, you deal with it, it\u2019s your fault. Colorado Springs you deal with it. Aurora you deal with it.\u2019 I think it\u2019s become an issue that affects all of us. \u2026 We can either keep doing the same thing, which is not working, or we can say, \u2018You know what, cities can\u2019t do this alone. The state needs to step up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Crime and homelessness are two areas that Republicans are already attacking Polis on heading into the 2022 election. The issues haven\u2019t been spending priorities for the governor in prior years.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=ab77b939-2906-43cc-a417-2f86274237c2&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1308\" alt=\"Homeless people clear their belongings from a camp, as city of Denver officials warned that the homeless had to move from their makeshift structures along the sidewalks near the Denver Rescue Mission in downtown Denver. (David Zalubowski\/Associated Press file)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Homeless people clear their belongings from a camp, as city of Denver officials warned that the homeless had to move from their makeshift structures along the sidewalks near the Denver Rescue Mission in downtown Denver. (David Zalubowski\/Associated Press file)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>One new proposed program the governor unveiled Monday would pay local transit agencies to offer free fares on high ozone pollution days. This year was the worst in recent decades when it comes to ozone pollution for the northern Front Range.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt can play a role in changing habits and support long-term increases in ridership,\u201d Polis said of the proposed program.<\/p>\n<p>Polis also wants to spend $10 million for an environmental study for the potential buildout of a Front Range passenger train system and direct money to help drive down energy-use in cannabis cultivation.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the governor\u2019s budget proposal calls for setting aside $1.8 billion for future budget obligations, including for schools, transportation and affordable housing, as well as $2 billion as a reserve for future economic downturns.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/coloradosun.com\/\" id=\"link-e92acf258e564508a92858f396047fe6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em id=\"emphasis-a94ccc56f16469146f5fef38bca24d87\">The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colorado governor unveiled $40 billion plan for 2022-23 fiscal year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[233,819,28,12],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-gov-jared-polis","tag-headlines","tag-state-budget-and-tax"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43976"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}