Less than 24 hours after the Colorado General Assembly wrapped up a three-day special session, the first of the bills has already been signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis.

The General Assembly approved 10 bills, with eight specifically tied to the special session call Polis issued on Nov. 19. The legislature was charged with dealing with seven specific areas for the session: aid to restaurants, bars and other small businesses, including direct payments and allowing those businesses to retain sales tax collected for four months; direct aid to child care providers; rent and mortgage assistance; providing internet access to rural and low-income K-12 students, teachers and school districts; aid to food pantries, assistance with utility bills and a boost in funding that helps the state deal with the pandemic.

Two additional bills not included in the call also were adopted by the General Assembly: a bill on premium insurance tax credits tied to a COVID-19 relief bill passed in the 2020 regular session; and a bill to allow local governments to cap the fees charged to restaurants by food delivery companies.

Polis has been in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 last week, and said Wednesday he would take extra steps to ensure he could sign the bills as soon as possible and as safely as possible. 

He showed off just how that’s working Thursday afternoon while signing Senate Bill 4, the measure to pump $100 million more dollars into the state’s disaster emergency fund. Spokesman Conor Cahill said that was the first to reach the governor; the rest are pending.

The bill originally directed the $100 million into the state’s controlled maintenance trust fund, with the proviso that Polis, under the authority he has with the disaster declaration, could order funds transferred to the disaster emergency fund when necessary. Polis immediately ordered $84.3 million moved over to the disaster fund.

Whether the can of Lysol Polis used to spray the bill after he signs it heads off to the state history museum as part of the state’s history of the pandemic has not yet been determined.