Polis Takes a Victory-Victim Lap in Final State of the State Address

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics

Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday took an 82-minute victory lap in his eighth — and final — State of the State address.

He touted his work in the areas of early childhood development, education, health care, housing and public safety, pointing to major initiatives he has launched.

He sought to paint a picture of a strong state under attack by the Trump administration. Indeed, he blamed much of Colorado’s woes on federal actions, notably funding cuts and a policy agenda from the White House that he described as “not the Colorado way.”

To Polis, policies coming out of Washington, D.C. — uncertainty over tariffs, an immigration crackdown, letting a key health care subsidy expire — are standing in the way of Colorado’s progress.

To critics, Polis has presided over a cooling economy that many in the business community attributed to a regulatory thicket that is driving up costs, stalling investment and pushing companies to look elsewhere in the country. Business leaders and others previously lamented that Colorado, once among the nation’s fastest-growing economies, now faces mounting challenges that threaten its momentum, the result of actions, they said, by Democrats who control the legislature and legislation the governor has signed.

In addition to a victory lap, Polis reflected on the difficulties in the past seven years, which saw the most devastating wildfires in state history, a global pandemic, and, in the past year, the loss of more than $1 billion in federal funding.

Polis: D.C. Republicans have ‘co-opted capitalism with cronyism’

The Colorado governor devoted a section of his speech to criticizing the Trump administration and Republicans in the nation’s capital.

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