From managing the public health crisis to pulling the right economic stimulus levers, the coronavirus pandemic has created unprecedented challenges to the public and private sector.
The crisis is a clarion call to action for our leaders in every corner of the state to find innovative solutions to move our economy forward.
America’s ingenuity is at work everywhere and the marketplace of ideas has never been brisker. One of the most amazing developments has been the breadth of creative ideas being floated and implemented. That entrepreneurial spirit is a good sign as Colorado lawmakers prepare to return to the Capitol.
Major policy changes are happening on a faster time horizon than we have ever witnessed. Take for instance the passage of the CARES Act, a $2 trillion stimulus bill aimed at providing relief to individuals, businesses and government organizations.
Colorado received $1.7 billion in direct financial assistance from the act and the funds are a federal invitation to the state to operate as a laboratory of democracy. While the fund can’t be used to backfill the budget, it can be used for direct health responses and economic support to those suffering from employment or business interruption due to COVID-19 related business closures.
Our elected officials are already brainstorming with the private and non-profit sectors to identify ways to use this money and other available tools to jump-start our economy.
Before COVID-19, U.S. News and World Report ranked Colorado as the number one economy in the country. Colorado’s entrepreneurial spirit is a primary reason for the state’s success. It starts at the top with our native innovator, Gov. Jared Polis, who uses bold leadership and entrepreneurial success to navigate our economic future. He was the first governor to integrate the public, private and non-profit sectors to work together through the Governor’s Council for Economic Stabilization and Growth to put people back to work and reimagine our economy.
And, it’s not always about hatching the best new idea. From my time working with the Hickenlooper administration, I learned that the greatest compliment governors give each other is to replicate a program that has worked in another state.
In California, the public and private sector is tackling an issue that has a special place in my heart. I worked as a busboy in my father’s restaurant from the time I was 7-years-old. I literally grew up in the restaurant business learning about the transforming power of hospitality in the business world.
So, with a wave of helplessness, I have witnessed the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on the hospitality industry, which will be one of the last sectors to fully reopen.
Colorado has allowed curbside pickup and delivery of food and lifted regulatory hurdles on alcohol sales, but we must do more.
The restaurant industry predicts that as many as 30% of all Denver restaurants and 22% statewide may permanently go out of business if they can’t open before the end of May. Workers in Colorado’s accommodation and foodservice industry have filed more unemployment claims than any other industry.
California announced a first-in-the nation initiative, “Restaurants Deliver: Home Meals for Seniors,” designed to support adults 65 and older and adults between 60 and 64 who are at high-risk from COVID-19, in staying home and staying healthy by delivering three nutritious meals a day during the COVID crisis.
The program is designed to provide a much needed shot in the arm to independent restaurants and their employees, which have been forced to close, or are struggling to stay afloat. The restaurants are reimbursed $16 for breakfast, $17 for lunch and $28 for dinner from a combination of FEMA and state funding. The food sales are subject to sales tax.
This program provides a blueprint for Colorado, which could include culinary educational facilities as well as require restaurants to source ingredients from local farmers and suppliers.
This solution provides a critical service, puts people in small businesses in towns across the state back to work, and provides desperately needed sales tax revenue.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the creation of another novel program, “Future for Frontliners” to provide a GI bill style tuition-free pathway to college or a technical certificate to essential workers who don’t have a college degree. Essential workers include those staffing hospitals and nursing homes, stocking shelves at grocery stores, providing child care to critical infrastructure workers, manufacturing personal protective equipment, protecting public safety, picking up trash, or delivering supplies.
To the extent possible, programs like these should be explored and created.
And, broadband access is another place where Colorado must lead. Colorado leaders should explore using available federal revenue sources and other available tools to address broadband affordability and access in rural areas. The current state of broadband deployment is deepening inequities and delaying stability across the state which will hamper our ability to have a full statewide recovery.
The list is long and the possibilities are endless. And, the time to strike is now while this window of opportunity is wide open.
Doug Friednash is a Denver native, a partner with the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck and the former chief of staff for Gov. John Hickenlooper.
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Friednash: Deploy federal funds to feed seniors and rescue Colorado’s restaurants - The Denver Post
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