In his third State of the State address Wednesday morning, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said that a year into the pandemic, the fight is a long way from over. The governor looked ahead to policies he’s talked about for years.

He resurrected his campaign promise to address tax reform, saying it remains his goal to make Colorado’s tax code more fair by getting rid of special interest tax breaks “that benefit the few.”

Polis raised eliminating the business personal property tax for small employers, who he measured in the tens of thousands, while reducing paperwork and reducing “onerous” requirements.

“This will save small businesses time and money and let them focus on what matters: their customers, their services and their products,” the governor said.

Polis also proposed doubling the Earned Income Tax Credit, calling it the Colorado Child Tax Credit, to deliver up to $600 in tax credits per child to about 200,000 families, as well as ending the tax on retired Coloradans’ Social Security benefits. 

He noted that voters last year lowered the state income tax via Proposition 116 from 4.63% to 4.55%. The ballot measure’s passage was mostly the work of conservatives, most notably Michael Fields and Colorado Rising State Action, assisted by other prominent tax-averse advocacy groups.

He spoke of racial injustices across the country and insurrection last month at the U.S. Capitol, both historically deadly occurrences, calling it one of the most challenging years of a lifetime.

“But as Coloradans, we face down tough times with grit, and overcome them together,” Polis said. “And when I became governor, I knew that leading our state through good times and bad – but especially through darkness, whenever and however it came – would be my most important responsibility.”

• Colorado Politics will provide in-depth analysis and commentary from statehouse experts on the governor’s speech as the day unfolds. Please check back.

He also voiced support, but did not elaborate, on what he would like to see to reduce health insurance costs. A public option policy backed by the state and imposed price caps promises to be controversial this legislative session, just as it was last year before it was scuttled in the face of the unfolding health crisis.

“This pandemic has only further illuminated the stark inequities that Coloradans of color, and those in underserved communities face,” Polis said. “That’s why each week we are committing portions of our vaccine supply to community health centers, who every day, deliver health care to Colorado’s most vulnerable, who are often uninsured.”

As of Tuesday, the governor said, the virus has claimed 5,655 Coloradans. That’s roughly the population of Vail.

“Each loss seared into the soul of our state,” Polis said.

He lauded those he called “the heroes of the pandemic”: Doctors, nurses, grocery store workers, National Guard troops, U.S. Census workers and legislators, in that order.

He also thanked his staff, who the governor said “led us bravely across uncharted waters, with faith and persistence and very long hours.”

Polis provided an update on vaccine distribution across the state.

“We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re still some months away from reaching it,” he said.

He cited religion to size up the nature of Colorado’s problems at hand.

“There’s an old proverb: when there’s food on the table, there can be many problems,” the first-term governor from Boulder said. “But when there’s no food on the table, there is only one problem.”

His third State of the State address, weighing in at 5,220 words, also dealt with the new challenges, such as COVID-19 and the ensuing economic crash, but also returned to his campaign promises.

Polis talked up affordable health care, renewable energy and strengthening the state’s educational system in his 40-minute address.

“Let’s build a future where every child receives the education they deserve – no matter their ZIP code,” Polis said. “Let’s build a future where our roads and highways meet the needs of our dynamic and growing population. Let’s build a future where each and every person in our state can access quality, affordable health care – not just now, but always.

“Let’s build a future in which the natural Colorado beauty that inspires us every day is protected.”

He sounded especially hopeful: “Let’s make good on the promise of a Colorado where people from all walks of life don’t just get by, but thrive.”

He spoke of jobs and jump-starting the economy.

The challenges the Polis administration faces, however, is a divided electorate, as well as a divided Democratic caucus on how to accomplish that, given the balance of immediate needs for asphalt and Polis’s long-term pledge on green energy, electric vehicles and mass transit in a world that still moves mostly thanks to fossil fuels.

And though Polis is often criticized for being focused on Denver and Boulder and not rural communities, he spoke prominently counter to that presumption Wednesday.

“We will invest in our rural communities, continue bringing broadband to every corner of our state so that students and small business owners from Fort Morgan to Fruita can seize opportunity,” he pledged.

Democrats have been resistant to investing heavily in the transportation in the past, but last year state highway director Shoshana Lew released a 10-year transportation plan – laden with help for rural routes and small-town main streets – that will require another $500 million a year from the legislature above baseline budgeting of the past.

“As our transportation habits change, so should the way we support our transportation system,” he said. “We should reduce vehicle registration fees to save people money and support the recovery, while modernizing the way we fund our transportation system. “

Though the governor helped pass tobacco and vaping taxes for education on the ballot last November, he still faces funding challenges to maintain the free full-day kindergarten Democrats passed in his first year. Polis also hopes to restore some of the $600 million cut from K-12 education in the current budget, before he signs a new one passed by the General Assembly this year. The fiscal year begins July 1.

Polis also plugged his pledge to move the state to renewable energy by 2040.

“The private sector is already turning away from fossil fuels and looking forward to a clean energy future,” he said. “To date, we’ve successfully secured commitments from electric utilities representing 99% of generation in our state to reduce emissions 80% or more by 2030.

“Colorado is a national leader in green energy jobs, the fastest growing job sector, precisely because we have embraced renewable energy.”

This year’s traditional kickoff to the legislative session, of course, is a month off-schedule with the legislature gaveling in for three days starting Jan. 16 to deal with urgent business, then recessed to allow the virus’ peak to recede and for the vaccinations.

It’s not clear yet how long lawmakers will remain in session, but the law allows for 120 days. Last year also was a truncated session.

On Tuesday, legislature leaders gave their opening-day speeches full of aspiration and goodwill.

House Speaker Alec Garnett, D-Denver, wanted called for immediate progress on climate change but also to be the last House speaker who makes the oft-repeated promise.

Senate President Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, painted a dire picture of the state of the union.

“We are war-torn, not by the hands of a foreign adversary, but by the malice grown from within,” Garcia said Tuesday. “Brother turned against brother, we have walked the treacherous tightrope over ultimate destruction – reminded once again of the dire consequences of a nation divided.”

Polis’s tone a day later was more optimistic.

“To quote my favorite Star Trek captain, Jean-Luc Picard, ‘Things are only impossible until they are not,’ ” said the science fiction-oriented governor. “If the problems we face now were ever intractable, today they are not. If, at some point in the past, we lacked the means or the will to tackle them, today we do not.”