Headlines April 10, 2020
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Headlines April 10, 2020 KGNU News
Health officials in Colorado say 226 people have now died in Colorado of complications related to the coronavirus.
More than 6,200 people have tested positive for COVID-19. This spike in numbers is because older cases are just now being reported to the state, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
In a tweet on Thursday, the health agency said that the deaths and positive test results occurred days and even weeks prior, but were not reported to the state until Thursday.
With the primary elections happening in June, the current pandemic is raising questions about how to run a political campaign respectfully.
The Colorado Sun reports that some candidates are hosting discussions on Facebook with health care experts to answer audience questions. Another candidate is collecting personal stories and playing piano to raise money for charity.
Other candidates are hosting online coffee chats and creating lists of community resources including where to turn for help with unemployment, small business loans and groceries.
Some candidates feel it might be wrong to campaign and ask for help and money.
Some political commentators told the Colorado Sun that they feel the current conditions favor incumbents and better-known candidates with more financial resources.
Most campaigns sent their staffers and volunteers home and stopped all in-person campaigning.
Mail-in ballots for the June 30th Primary Election will go out to voters in early June.
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Headlines April 10, 2020 KGNU News
The Joint Budget Committee has announced how it will develop a budget for the state while lawmakers are on a break due to the COVID 19 outbreak.
Colorado politics reports that the six members of the Joint Budget Committee, sent a letter to the General Assembly on Thursday saying it had almost finished writing a budget when the General Assembly adjourned on March 14.
However, a new state revenue forecast that was issued on March 17 means that the work that the JBC had done is largely thrown out the window. The latest forecast shows state revenues down about $800 million. State lawmakers are actually estimating that the state will have to take $2 billion to $3 billion from the original 2020-21 budget as a result of the economic impact of the COVID 19 crisis.
The letter sent by the budget committee to lawmakers yesterday says they hope to have a budget bill completed by the end of May. That will allow state agencies, local governments and school districts time to finalize their own next year’s budgets by June 30.
Lawmakers are hoping to get more than two billion dollars in federal aid to help the state.
The economists from the Legislative Council and the governor’s office of State Planning and Budgeting will present an updated revenue forecast on Tuesday, May 12.
On Thursday Governor Polis and the state’s agricultural commissioner wrote to the US Department of Agriculture requesting federal funds to help Colorado agriculture that has been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The letter asks for federal funds to provide immediate relief to independent local food producers impacted by the crisis. It says federal money should be invested in Colorado agriculture as it is a vital part of the food system.
Trump administration has declared food and agricultural workers as one of the “essential” groups of workers yet they are often part of the most vulnerable communities, immigrants – both documented and undocumented, who are paid low wages without access to healthcare.
The future is also uncertain for migrant farmworkers and whether they will be allowed to travel to the US and help with the harvest. Last month the U.S. Embassy in Mexico announced a halt to visa interviews for seasonal farm workers.
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Headlines April 10, 2020 KGNU News
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