While most of the headlines since Election Day have focused on the top of the ticket, Colorado voters made impactful decisions on 与健康有关的投票问题, including ones addressing subjects examined in 脉冲: 365bet官网中文登陆 Poll.
Through 脉冲, we learned how COVID-19 has been hitting families hard:
- 40% of all Coloradans said it has been difficult to handle childcare responsibilities, 包括大多数租房者, 30-39岁成年人, 家庭收入为30美元,000 - $50,000.
- 12% of Coloradans have struggled to care for aging or disabled family members.
Colorado became the first state where voters approved a statewide ballot measure authorizing paid family and medical leave for workers. 在冠状病毒大流行期间, many of us have had to take time away from work in order to take care of children or sick family members – a reality that voters may have factored into their thinking when completing their ballots.
Proposition 118 requires that employers provide up to 12 weeks of paid time off for childbirth and serious personal and family medical conditions. 该法案以58%的支持率获得通过. 的 program will be funded by collecting premiums from workers and employers in 2023 to offer benefits starting in 2024.
“的 measure passed at a time when more women are leaving the workforce in what has been dubbed a 她在2019冠状病毒病大流行期间辞职,” reported Marketplace in a piece entitled Why Colorado passing paid family leave matters even more during COVID. Marketplace noted that women are disproportionately responsible for supporting children at home and “女性是男性的四倍 left the workforce as the school year started up.”
随着我们走向复苏, paid family and medical leave may provide additional options for Coloradans who need to be caregivers for their loved ones.
Colorado voters also had the opportunity to weigh in on affordable housing through both statewide and local ballot measures. Affordable housing was a growing challenge in Colorado before the pandemic, but the economic turmoil has exacerbated the problem.
甚至在大流行之前, 在科罗拉多州, 估计有11人,000 people who did not have a place to call home – and more had unstable housing, 很多都是有孩子的家庭.
的 脉冲 调查发现:
- More than 1 in 5 (22%) Coloradans fear losing their home over the next year because they can’t afford the rent or mortgage, including more than half of Coloradans living on low incomes.
- More than 60% of Coloradans consider the cost of housing and the issue of homelessness to be a serious issue and want state government to allocate additional funds to address these challenges.
Voters approved more funds toward housing through Proposition EE, a statewide ballot issue supported by more than two-thirds of Colorado voters. 的 proposition increases the state tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products and creates a new state tax on nicotine vaping products; part of the funds generated will support affordable housing.
While a major focus of Proposition EE is funding for K-12 education and preschool, new revenue in the first three years also will support loans to buy, renovate and construct houses and provide rental assistance – all to increase affordable housing. Support also goes to organizations that provide legal assistance to clients living on low incomes and who may be at risk of eviction.
Two other ballot issues on the local level also addressed housing insecurity:
- Voters in the City of Boulder approved Issue 2B to provide legal representation to tenants who face eviction, as well as rental assistance to those vulnerable to eviction. 该党以58%的选票获胜.
- Nearly two-thirds of Denver voters approved Measure 2B, which creates a 0.25% sales tax to fund services for people experiencing homelessness.
From the Western Slope of Colorado to the Eastern Plains and everywhere in between, each community has its own set of unique strengths and resources. Ballot issues offer a way for Coloradans to directly have a say on policy issues. During a critical election year – like this one – it’s important to know how Coloradans feel about those issues, 无论批准与否, and how they may have an impact on our community’s health and well-being.
请注意: 的 Foundation is prohibited from engaging in direct lobbying activities and does not take positions in support or opposition to any state or local ballot measure.