In his final State of the State address of the year, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told members and guests of the Colorado Business Roundtable on Thursday of his office’s ongoing efforts to reduce fees and regulations for businesses, increase the talent pipeline with alternative education efforts and bolster the huge unemployment insurance fund deficit.

“I’m happy to say that I’m optimistic, more optimistic than I have been at any time during my governorship,” Polis told attendees at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. “I know that out of these challenges and travails of the last few years will come some transformational opportunities for change in our state in mental and behavioral health support, workforce development, housing affordability, education and reducing fees and unnecessary regulations.”

Report: Colorado economy in 'recovery mode'

Polis fielded questions from a panel of business leaders including Bhavna Chhabra, senior director of engineering and Google Boulder site lead; Antoinette Gawin, president and CEO of Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies; Alice Jackson, president of Xcel Energy Colorado; and Deloitte Managing Partner Chris Schmidt.

Polis touted the “Colorado Business Fee Relief Act,” House Bill 1001, which would reduce common filing fees for new business registrations, annual renewals, trade name registrations and more. Some fees would be cut to as low as $1, saving businesses an estimated $17 million annually. 

During an earlier news conference on Thursday, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said the measure would be a one-time deal, not a permanent reduction of those fees. 

“We want to continue to foster Colorado’s entrepreneurial spirit, so another of our ideas is to make it free to start a business in Colorado,” Polis said. “No fees to incorporate at the Secretary of State’s Office is not a lot of money. Maybe it’s $75. But you know what? If you only have $500 to start your business, that’s a lot of money.”

Polis also wants to shore up Colorado’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Colorado now owes $1 billion to the federal government. There’s a “solvency surcharge” that can be billed to employers to replenish the fund, or lawmakers could possibly use some of the federal $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan stimulus money. Polis’ budget proposal dedicates $600 million in relief for the trust fund this legislative session.

Colorado’s 2022 economic forecast shines bright, with warnings

“Other states are in the same boat we are,” Polis said. “Some might want businesses or workers to pay that price. I don’t know, but I’m thinking we don’t want to be one of those states. We want to make sure we shore that fund up so that it’s not restoring solvency on the backs of our businesses and workers.”

Some project that business unemployment insurance rates will spike up to 75% in the coming years, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Gawin asked Polis what he would do to keep soaring housing prices from driving away potential employees.

“It’s certainly a better problem to have than to live in an area where people are leaving and fleeing. … There’s plenty of those places where you can buy a nice house for fifty or sixty thousand dollars, but the problem is there’s not a lot of jobs there,” Polis said. “So it’s a good problem to have, but that doesn’t make it any less of a problem.”

He suggested incentivizing developers, or helping local governments allow for zoning that creates more density — especially on the I-25 corridor.

Colorado lawmakers discuss economic recovery during legislative preview event

“Maybe that includes matching funds for more density,” he said.

Polis also announced a cost-saving measure the state will undertake in the coming years by shedding more than 1 million square feet of office space.

“About 1% of the state’s 31,000 employees were telecommuting before the pandemic. That shot up to about 70%. … Now we’ve settled to about 30% telecommuting,” Polis said. “I think the optimal place to be is about 20%, which means we’re going to decrease our office square footage by over a million square feet in the next three years.”