Governor Polis Signing Legislation to Support Colorado Schools & Improve Student Success, Increase Access to Higher Education and Affordable Housing, Unveiling CDOT’s Pegasus Shuttle

ARVADA — Today, Governor Polis will be signing legislation investing in Colorado’s schools, improving student success, supporting Coloradans with disabilities, increasing access to higher education, increasing affordable housing and saving Coloradans money. The Governor will also join CDOT to unveil the Pegasus Shuttle and sign a bill to increase use of transit.

“The bills I’m signing today will support Coloradans in our daily lives and make a difference on the issues we all discuss around the kitchen tables. My administration is committed to continuing to save people money and make Colorado the best place to live, learn, and teach. This legislation will support students, educators, and increase access to a great education. I want to thank our legislators for their hard bipartisan work to make these bills a reality," said Governor Polis.

Gov. Polis will visit the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities to sign three new laws that will increase career and higher education opportunities for Coloradans. SB22-008, sponsored by Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, Sen. Kevin Priola, Rep. Barbara McLachlan, and Rep. Hugh McKean supports Colorado’s foster youth by helping them pay for tuition, providing education mentoring, and creating specific, on-campus points of contact for foster youth at Colorado’s higher education institutions. SB22-192, sponsored by Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, Sen. Cleave Simpson, Rep. Daneya Esgar and Rep. Marc Catlin, will create more opportunities for Coloradans to get the skills they need while simultaneously meeting the needs of businesses and in-demand industries such as healthcare, education, childcare and more. SB22-127, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, Rep. Colin Larson, and Rep. Julie McCluskie, appropriates $80 million for special education programs and increases the amount distributed to students with disabilities. Gov. Polis will sign SB22-011, sponsored by Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, Sen. Don Coram, Rep. Marc Catlin, and Rep. Daneya Esgar, creating the America 250 - Colorado 150 Commission to plan for the official observance of these historic milestones and reflect on our history and share the stories of Black communities, Indigenous communities, communities of color, women, and people with disabilities. 

Later in the afternoon in Arvada, Gov. Polis is set to sign SB22-159 sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bridges, Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, Rep. David Ortiz, and Rep. Perry Will and HB22-1051 sponsored by Rep.  Shannon Bird, Rep. Hugh McKean, Sen. Rachel Zenzinger and Sen. Dennis Hisey. SB22-159 creates the affordable housing revolving loan fund program in the Department of Local Affairs, investing $150 million to support flexible, low-interest and below-market rate loan funding for the construction of more affordable housing units. HB22-1051 injects a record $420 million into the state’s affordable housing tax credit program over 15 years. 

Later in the afternoon, Gov. Polis will visit the Community College of Denver to sign two new laws increasing access to higher education HB22-1155, sponsored by Rep. Perry Will, Rep. Julie McCluskie, Sen. Julie Gonzales and Sen. Dominick Moreno and HB22-1107, sponsored by Rep. Mary Young, Rep. Mary Bradfield, Sen. John Cooke and Sen. Jeff Bridges. HB22-1155 makes undocumented students eligible for in-state tuition in the same way that other students would be. HB22-1107 creates the inclusive higher education grant program to provide grants to state institutions of higher education to establish new or expand existing, inclusive higher education programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Also at the Community College of Denver, Gov. Polis will sign two bills to invest in infrastructure and our economy. SB22-130, sponsored by Sen. Bob Rankin, Sen. Chris Hansen and Rep. Julie McCluskie, creates a new Public-Private Partnership Office to support innovation and transfers $15 million from the General Fund to the State Unused Property Fund for the purpose of renovating public child care centers. HB22-1350, sponsored by Rep. Julie McCluskie, Rep. Janice Rich, Sen. Jeff Bridges and Sen. Paul Lundeen, creates the Regional Talent Development Collaborative Grant Program, designed to scale proven approaches to economic development, workforce and community partnerships. These investments leverage federal funds to support our businesses, our communities, postsecondary institutions, K-12 and our workforce program. 

At Denver’s historic Union Station. Gov. Polis will then unveil the Colorado Department of Transportation’s new Pegasus shuttle. Pegasus will depart year-round from Denver’s Union Station, with stops at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, Idaho Springs, Frisco, Vail, and Avon. The Governor will then sign SB22-180, sponsored by Sen. Faith Winter, Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, Rep. Matt Gray, Rep. Jennifer Bacon, will provide $28 million for free transit fares during the summer. This funding is available to both RTD and transit agencies across the State and will provide at least a month of free transit fares for all Coloradans during this summer and the next — saving Coloradans money and increasing access to transit. 

“Our administration is continuing to connect our communities and to move the people and ideas that power our thriving economy. We are launching Pegasus to help save Coloradans and visitors money on travel, sit in less traffic and more easily explore our beautiful state,” said Gov. Polis.  

“In addition to helping to alleviate traffic congestion during peak travel times, we initiated Pegasus so that passengers could connect to local transit providers at each stop,” said CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew. “In addition to complementing the existing Bustang coach service, Pegasus can utilize the express lanes on weekends, when traffic nearly doubles. In turn, we’ll have fewer cars in the regular lanes to improve the flow of traffic and that’ll help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” 

In Denver this evening, Gov. Polis will sign the Public School Finance Act (HB22-1390), sponsored by Rep. Julie McCluskie, Rep. Barbara McLachlan, Sen. Rachel Zenzinger and Sen. Paul Lundeen. The Public School Finance Act will increase the base per pupil funding rate by $253 to $7,478, and provide an additional $1 million to the Mill Levy Equalization Fund. Gov. Polis also signed SB22-202, creating a state match for mill levy override revenue and sponsored by Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, Sen. Bob Rankin, and Rep. Julie McCluskie and HB22-1220, sponsored by Rep. Cathy Kipp, Rep. Barbara McLachlan, Sen. Rachel Zenzinger and Sen. Don Coram which creates the student educator stipend program. This new law saves future educators money and removes barriers to becoming a teacher by awarding stipend money for required student teaching and expanding Educator Loan Forgiveness with millions more dollars.

Governor Polis will also sign four additional laws creating safer environments in our schools, increasing access for students with disabilities, and empowering students to apply for financial aid. SB22-171, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bridges, Sen. Kevin Priola, Rep. Barbara McLachlan and Rep.Cathy Kipp, provides additional privacy protections to educators. HB22-1294, sponsored by Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, Rep. Mary Young, Sen. Rachel Zenzinger and Sen. Bob Gardner allows charter schools to better assume the full legal responsibilities of educating students with disabilities in an effort to increase access and better serve students with disabilities. HB22-1376, sponsored by Rep. Leslie Herod, Rep. Mary Young, Sen. Kevin Priola and Sen. Faith Winter, and supported by education stakeholders, law enforcement, and the disability community, initiates a stakeholder process to standardize how we report data about chronic absenteeism, bullying, and school discipline incidents and the actions taken by schools to address them. HB22-1366, sponsored by Rep. Cathy Kipp and Sen. Jeff Bridges, will give students and families the support they need when it comes to filling out financial aid applications. 

Gov. Polis will also sign HB22-1320, sponsored by Rep. Cathy Kipp, Rep. Colin Larson, Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, and Sen. Rob Woodward, lets Coloradans with disabilities and their families keep more of the hard-earned money they’ve saved by expanding the use of ABLE savings accounts so people with disabilities and their families can save money free of federal and state income tax to pay for disability-related expenses without impacting the individual with disability’s Medicaid or Social Security benefits.

Gov. Polis also signed SB22-234 administratively yesterday.