We are pleased to report that Colorado’s legislature finished its session! It included the passage of several bills and funding that will help respond to Colorado’s hunger crisis. Many families have struggled to put food on the table through this pandemic.
Our most recent survey of Coloradans found that 30% of Coloradans are facing hunger. Furthermore, over 40% of parents with young children, people with disabilities, and people of color, reported that they are continuing to face food insecurity. To help respond to this high need, we joined fellow anti-hunger advocates in working on and supporting legislation to help families through this tough time and into the future. Below we highlight a few of our wins!
SB21-027: Emergency Supplies for Colorado Babies and Families: We worked closely with partners on this legislation which will provide
$5 million in continued funding for food pantries and food banks to purchase food, including from local farmers. The bill also created a state diaper bank grant program (the first of its kind), which will provide experienced diaper banks $4 million in funding over two years to distribute diapers to community organizations across the state, including food pantries and food banks. You can join us in thanking the legislators who voted for this important program by clicking here!
SB21-087: Agricultural Workers’ Rights: We are excited to say legislation passed the Colorado legislature that expands workplace protections to the Colorado agricultural workers that sustain our food system. This bill will help Colorado’s agricultural sector workers that have for too long faced discrimination, low wages, harassment, and wage theft because they have been carved out of state legal protections. We supported this historic bill that was championed by a coalition led by Project Protect Food Systems, a statewide group working to identify, elevate and address the needs of the people who contribute their labor to all parts of the food system.
HB21-1105: Low-income Utility Payment Assistance Contributions: This bill creates a utility assistance fund that will help Coloradans with limited incomes pay their energy bills and weatherize their homes. Additionally, over the next two and half years, it will establish a program to pay a nominal utility assistance payment to many SNAP households to allow them to access a higher utility deduction when determining their SNAP benefit amount. This could increase some SNAP households’ monthly benefit by as much as $90 each month and will result in millions of dollars in economic benefits for Colorado families and economic stimulus for our state.
HB21-1270: Appropriation to Department of Human Services for Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program: The legislature also passed a bill allocating $3 million for workforce programs for Coloradans who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This important bill will help SNAP clients who are seeking employment in these tough times. Please note that this does not create a work requirement for SNAP clients, which is problematic for those with disabilities and barriers to work, instead, it increases opportunities for SNAP recipients to access employment supports.
HB21-1311 and 1312: Tax Reform Measures: These bills we supported expand the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, reforms that benefit lower-income Coloradans. This was passed thanks to hard work by legislators and our partners, the Colorado Fiscal Institute and Colorado Center on Law and Policy. These increased tax credits for Coloradans with limited incomes will help Coloradans and their economic security for years to come.
Immigrant Rights Bills: This was also a monumental session for immigrant rights, and, as a result, access to healthy food in immigrant communities. We supported three bills that passed and will help immigrants in Colorado:
- HB21-1194: Immigration Legal Defense Fund: This bill creates a legal assistance program for immigrants facing deportation proceedings in court. Immigrants with legal help are much more likely to get through our broken immigration system and when they do, they are better able to stay with their families, earn wages to support their families, and afford nutritious food.
- SB21-131: Protect Personal Identifying Information Kept by State: This bill strengthens data privacy protections for state programs to ensure that everyone can get the services they need without fear that their personal information will be misused. The law prohibits state agencies from sharing the information of immigrants for the purpose of investigation or surveillance programs. This bill will help families stay together and maintain economic security, as our immigrant rights’ partner organizations and we continue to advocate for immigration reform at the federal level.
- SB21-199: Remove Barriers to Certain Public Opportunities: This bill removes discriminatory language in our state laws that prevented immigrants from becoming licensed to provide services and earn an income, as well as language that prohibited access to many state benefits. This bill is vital to helping immigrants in Colorado work legally, and therefore be able to afford the nutritious food they deserve.
The Budget: Finally, we are pleased to announce the legislature-funded outreach for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at nearly a million dollars. A portion of this will be matched by federal dollars. These funds help community-based organizations enroll eligible Colorado households in this vital nutrition program and put more dollars into Colorado’s economy.
The work of the Colorado legislature and Governor this past session, and the special session before it, has been vital to meeting the hunger crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is more to do. We look forward to working with our anti-hunger partner organizations, advocates, and state leaders on the next steps in responding to our state’s hunger crisis. Thank you for supporting our work, for being an advocate and for making a difference in such a challenging year. On to the next chapter of our collective work for food security for all Coloradans!
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