COLORADO SPRINGS — Gov. Jared Polis will make his State of the State address on Thursday morning.
News5 will stream this address scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. online and on your favorite streaming platform - Roku, FireTV, AndroidTV and AppleTV - just search KOAA News5.
The State of the State address is normally done every January after the General Assembly convenes. The 2022 Colorado legislative session officially began with its first regular session on Wednesday.
Along with legislative issues, the governor will likely acknowledge the tragedy of the Marshall Fire, which destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County. The governor will likely address relief efforts for that area, as well as wildfire mitigation strategies in suburban areas. He may also announce any further efforts to rebuild the Louisville and Superior area specifically.
The other major topic the governor will address will be the COVID-19 pandemic. For much of 2021, the governor led a massive campaign to get the state vaccinated, which even included a lottery where five vaccinated Coloradans got $1 million. As of Thursday, 70.75% of the eligible population in Colorado is fully immunized. The governor may also use the speech to encourage people to get a third dose as the Omicron variant causes a surge of COVID-19 cases across the state. A hot topic the governor may also touch on are COVID-19 related rules, such as mask and vaccine mandates, which the governor has largely left up to local entities as of mid-2021.
On Tuesday Gov. Polis, along with Democratic members of the legislature, held a press conference discussing other legislative priorities.
The main focus for the press conference centered around the following topics:
- Helping Colorado families save money
- Expanding access to healthcare and helping to reduce costs
- Make Colorado affordable by reducing childcare and housing costs
- Help prepare students for success
- Making Colorado communities safer
The governor began the press conference by talking about how rising costs are hurting families, and he want to find ways to save people money.
According to the Associated Press prices jumped 7% in December from 2020, the highest inflation rate since 1982, which has also brought financial pressures on American households when it comes to everyday costs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Colorado Springs area saw a huge jump when it came to energy prices, along with the rest of the country.
The massive transportation billsets to implement new fees on everything from gas to retail delivery to ride shares starting this summer.
Polis said during the press conference that now is not the time for families to face more costs so he would like to show people relief at the pump by delaying some fees.
Public safety was also included in the list of democratic legislative priorities. Several Colorado cities are reporting a noticeable increase in their crime rates over the past year.
Part of the legislation will include addressing affordable housing, creating more access to behavioral health services, and investing in forensic and investigative resources.
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