For the past decade, Colorado political leaders have tried to squeeze more money out of the state budget and into fixing overcrowded and poorly maintained interstates and highways. Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday it won’t take another decade to accomplish that goal.

Shortly before the economic setbacks caused by COVID-19, Polis presented his 10-year plan, though the state’s pockets were still empty. State and federal stimulus and infrastructure dollar changed that equation.

“We’re very excited about what was once a 10-year plan with no plan to fund will now be fully funded in less than 10 years,” Polis announced with fanfare in his address to the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance, a coalition of chambers of commerce and other economic developers from the region, during its annual Regional Issues Summit.

That quickly drew the attention of Sandra Hagen Solin, who represents the alliance at the state Capitol, particularly on long-stalled transportation funding.

She drew a line under completing the expansion of Interstate 25 north of Denver, the economic spine of the region.

“We want to be sure that, in that 10-year plan, ultimately the dollars do flow to complete that project,” Solin said. “We’ve got about $600 million more to go to complete certain segments, so we’ll take advantage of this opportunity to emphasize the importance of (I-25) not only to the region but to the entire state.”

Polis seemed mindful, as he heads into his reelection year.

“We have dynamic growing communities in northern Colorado that rely on infrastructure money,” he said. “Northern Colorado will benefit tremendously from combination of the state infrastructure plan and the federal infrastructure (money).”

In his address, Polis invoked national politics, specifically the trillion-dollar infrastructure plan President Joe Biden’s signed on Nov. 15. U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse and Sen. John Hickenlooper, both Front Range Democrats, played critical roles in that plan.

He also talked about his plans for boosting the state’s unemployment insurance coffers. Polis seeks to direct $600 million to the trust fund, hard hit by the workplace wreckage caused by the pandemic. The governor’s budget request – which still must be meted out by the legislature in the four-month session that begins in January – includes the one-time investment to shore up the state’s unemployment trust fund.’

The fund is running $1 billion in the red, leading to fears businesses would have to make up that shortfall through higher unemployment insurance premiums.

“We think it’s absolutely critical to prevent payroll tax increases that are otherwise looming and imminent in about a year-and-a-half to two years,” Polis said. “Sometimes, the business community is a little too short-term focused. We’re like, ‘This is not now. This is in two years.’ Well, you won’t like a payroll tax increase in two years. It’s not good for Colorado employers. It’s not good for companies. We can avert it largely if we’re able to restore the integrity of the (unemployment insurance) trust fund.”

At last year’s summit, the governor, along with members of the state’s congressional delegation, spelled out his goals on energy jobs, environmental activism, wildfires, climate change and traffic jams from Denver to Fort Collins.

This year’s regional priorities included ongoing economic development, energy development (including renewable sources), climate change,  pandemic recovery, water resource development and public mental health.

“The NCLA’s mission is to unite members of the northern Colorado business community to be a strong voice on state and federal policy, regulations and legislation that affect businesses’ ability to succeed,” said Laurel LaBonde, chair of the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance and a legislative specialist for State Farm insurance. “We work together as a region to build an effective and positive business climate for all of northern Colorado’s businesses.”