Gov. Jared Polis signed a measure into law Wednesday to create an emergency stockpile of supplies to prepare Colorado for the next potential pandemic.

Under House Bill 1352, Colorado will spend nearly $2 million each year to maintain a supply of face masks, gloves and other medical-grade personal protective equipment to distribute to hospitals, vaccine clinics, schools, community centers and other organizations if the governor declares a disaster emergency.

“We are making transformational investments in our public health system to ensure healthcare readiness for any current or future public health need,” Polis said.

Sponsors of the bill said Colorado was woefully unprepared for COVID-19, with frontline hospital workers forced to reuse single-use masks and gowns due to a lack of supplies in the early days of the pandemic.

State public health officials said that, when the COVID-19 pandemic first reached Colorado in early 2020, the national supply chain quickly crumbled. Colorado spent approximately $50 million on PPE by June 2020, said Amanda Hettinger, director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Kevin Klein, director of the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the state nearly entered a $10 million contract to buy PPE – before they found out at the last minute that the seller had forged the documents.

“We must apply the lessons we’ve learned the past few years,” said bill sponsor Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Boulder. “These new requirements will boost our emergency stockpile of PPE so that our health care providers have the critical tools and resources they need, and ensure they are better prepared to respond and keep us safe the next time a public health emergency strikes.”

The bill passed the Senate in a 20-13 vote, with all Democrats voting in support and all Republicans voting against. The House approved the bill in a similar 42-21 mostly party-line vote.

Some opponents said the bill is too vague and questioned the source of the funding. Others criticized the practicality of preparing for future pandemics at all, saying the supply stockpile would only help for viruses similar to the COVID-19.

Director of Emergency Management Michael Willis said the bill provides flexibility for what agencies can stockpile and requires coordination with state health department to make sure they’re stockpiling in a forward-thinking way, instead of just relying on information from COVID-19. Under the bill, the stockpile could even include other essential materials like shelf-stable foods and diapers.