One month after Gov. Jared Polis announced his legislative agenda during the State of the State address, bills reflecting his priorities are steadily advancing through the legislature.

Polis, whose signature or veto ultimately determines the fate of any legislation, set the tone of the 2022 session when he addressed the legislature in January. Polis’ address centered heavily on keeping Colorado affordable and tackling rising crime, among other issues.

“Gov. Polis is focused on saving small businesses and people money, investing in education, reducing fees, improving public safety, achieving 100% renewable energy by 2040 and taking bold climate action,” said Conor Cahill, spokesman for the governor. “We look forward to working with the legislature and anyone to continue making progress on these shared priorities.” 

The governor’s critics argue that his signature on legislation pushed by Democrats in the last several years created the affordability and crime crises he now seeks to solve, claiming undoing the changes rather than adding more is the solution. 

Here’s how Polis’ legislative priorities are doing so far:

Saving money

Polis said his No. 1 goal this session is to save Coloradans money by cutting fees and taxes, something that’s already included in his budget proposal for the next fiscal year. That aligns with Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who said she is backing some identical policies during a news conference last week.

“Because of this pandemic, the cost of living in our fair state continues to escalate, and Coloradans are desperate for relief. So, let’s deliver,” Polis said during his state of the state address. “We must double down on our promise to help every business and family succeed. That means taking less of your hard-earned money in fees and taxes and putting more in your pockets and paychecks.”

Polis said he is working with legislators to reduce fees, such as the unemployment insurance premium, the Paid Family and Medical Leave premium, business filings fees, drivers’ license fees and vehicle registration fees.

House Bill 1001 would reduce business filing fees from between $10 and $50 to only $1. The bill passed its first House panel on Wednesday in an 11-1 vote. House Bill 1004 would assure current drivers’ license fees do not increase. The bill also passed its first House panel on Feb. 1 in an 8-5 vote.

Some of the measures aimed at supporting businesses include Senate Bill 6, which would allow small retailers to retain more sales taxes to cover expenses, and House Bill 1006, which would exempt property used for nonprofit child care centers from paying property taxes. Both bills advanced out of committee in the last few weeks.

Polis has also promised larger savings from investments in the state’s healthcare workforce and career opportunities.

Public safety

Last week, Polis unveiled a $113 million public safety package designed to make Colorado one of the top 10 states in the nation for public safety in the next five years. Polis told Colorado Politics his legislative solution is a two-year proposal, which he aims to fund with one-time federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

One of the bills in the package is House Bill 1003, which would fund projects that reduce youth crime through a $2.1 million delinquency prevention and young offender intervention pilot grant program in the Division of Criminal Justice. A House panel approved the bill Wednesday, 7-4, along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed.

Also included in the governor’s package is Senate Bill 1, which seeks to promote crime prevention through “safer street” design changes. The bill would allocate $10.3 million for grants aiming to improve safety in high-crime areas through neighborhood models that discourage criminality and enhance community. The bill was assigned to the local government committee for consideration.

Senate Bill 5 would create a $10-million grant program to recruit and retain law enforcement, particularly police officers of color. The bill was assigned to the judiciary committee and is scheduled for a vote on Feb. 24.

More Polis-backed public safety bills are expected to be introduced in the coming weeks and months, such as establishing a statewide co-responder program, funding security procedures at schools and increasing the penalties for peddling fentanyl, which is fueling the drug overdose crisis in the United States.

Education

Also on Polis’ agenda is investing in education. The governor said he is planning a “historic” investment in K-12 schools, including increasing per-pupil funding by roughly $12,000 to $13,000 per classroom. In addition, he said he is proposing stronger financial support for higher education.

“We shouldn’t overlook the power of a strong education. Helping kids get a great education is the cornerstone and passion of my life’s work,” Polis said during his address. “The pandemic has dealt an especially hard blow to our students, and made our educators go far beyond what any of us could have expected.”

Both the state Senate and House of Representatives passed supplemental funding for the Department of Education and the Department of Higher Education, providing final approval on Thursday. If signed into law by Polis, the supplemental budget requests would allocate an additional $1.75 million to the Department of Education and $1 million to the Department of Higher Education.

Still working their way through the legislature, House Bill 1126 and House Bill 1010 would create refundable income tax credits for educators and early childhood educators, respectively, to help pay for classroom expenses. HB-1126 was assigned to the finance committee for first approval and HB-1010 passed its second House panel vote last week.

Other education bills would designate funding for at-risk populations.

Senate Bill 127 – advanced by a Senate panel on Wednesday – would increase the annual special education funding for children with disabilities by $40 million. Senate Bill 8 – which received committee approval on Feb. 3 – would require public higher education institutions to waive undergraduate tuition and fees for Colorado students who have been in foster care since the age of 13.

Environment

Finally, Polis said he is focused on tackling environmental issues, including improving Colorado’s air quality monitoring and enforcement, increasing the availability of clean transportation options and securing a sustainable water future for all residents.

Senate Bill 51 aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by exempting air-source and ground-source heat pump systems from property and sales and use taxes. That would also apply to certain building materials. The bill passed its first Senate panel on Feb. 8 and is scheduled for its next panel vote on March 2.

This month, Democrats introduced two other bills on environmental protection. Senate Bill 138 would establish several measures intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including new emission reduction goals and annual climate-risk assessment reports from some companies. House Bill 1138 would incentivize employers to create alternative transportation options for employees to cut down on single-occupancy vehicle trips.

Meanwhile, a Senate panel on Tuesday rejected along party lines a Republican-sponsored environmental bill, 3-2. Senate Bill 73 would have conducted a study on the feasibility of using small modular nuclear reactors as a carbon-free energy source.

Some bipartisan environmental bills are still up for consideration, including House Bill 1140, which seeks to classify green hydrogen as a renewable energy resource and Senate Bill 118, which encourages the use of geothermal energy by providing similar treatment to solar energy. Both bills are awaiting their first panel votes.