Colorado's $3.8B Federal Rescue Funding: Distribution Plan

Colorado's plan to distribute its American Rescue Plan Act funding was announced Monday.

The emergency funding was allocated to help with acute pandemic-response needs, fill revenue shortfalls among state and local governments, and support the communities and populations hardest-hit by the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said.

In a news conference Monday, Gov. Jared Polis joined legislative leadership, members of the Joint Budget Committee, members of Colorado’s federal delegation and State Treasurer Dave Young to announce the following overview of our statewide distribution:

• $1 billion will go to fortifying the state budget and maintaining fiscal integrity
• $300 million will go to Colorado’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Between $400-$550 million will go to affordable housing and homeownership efforts
• Between $400-$550 million to mental and behavioral health programs
• Around $200 million to workforce development and education
• Around $817 million will be for economic recovery and relief
• $404- $414 million for transportation and infrastructure, and parks and agriculture

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A top priority will be to shore up the state budget for the near term through a series of budget integrity measures — around $1.3 billion worth — so Colorado can avoid cuts to critical state services such as funding for K-12 schools, higher education, existing mental and behavioral and physical health programs, and the ongoing public health response to COVID-19, officials said.

Colorado expects to spend $2 billion of the state’s total $3.8 billion in federal funds this legislative session, officials said. An estimated $1.8 billion in federal funds will remain for deployment at the beginning of the next legislative session following an Interim stakeholder process, enabling resources to be targeted to changing needs in the economy that may evolve in the coming months, Polis and the legislature said.

“We must seize this once in a generation opportunity to use state stimulus funds to invigorate our economy and help our state recover faster and stronger, while at the same time making critical investments that will better our state for future generations of Coloradans,” Polis said.

“And now, we have an opportunity to build on those investments with federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act. This package is the product of a truly collaborative effort from the federal to the state and local levels, and will power the Colorado comeback.”

Through the Colorado Recovery Plan unveiled in March, the state has already invested around $800 million to help small businesses, infrastructure, families, rural communities and the state’s workforce, officials said.