The Board of Mesa County Commissioners sent Governor Jared Polis a letter expressing their concern regarding Colorado's participation in supplemented federal unemployment benefits.
The letter states:
"We write today to discuss any consideration by the State of Colorado to end its participation in the supplemented federal unemployment benefits provided to eligible unemployment recipients. Similar efforts have been made in 26 other states, according to media sources.
As Mesa County’s economy opens up, employers are posting a wide variety of job opportunities and workers are needed. These positions are currently not being filled due to supplemented weekly federal unemployment benefits.
Mesa County’s May 2021 unemployment rate was 6% however our job openings are at historic highs. Pre-Pandemic, our unemployment rate for May of 2019 was 2.9%, however, our job openings are currently up 41% from where they were in May of 2019. This should not be the case when a county's unemployment rate sits at 6%. Our economy is tracking towards pre-pandemic numbers, but we need the available workforce to meet the demand of our economy.
Other states have opted out completely of supplemented federal COVID-19 unemployment programs. We appreciate that you offered incentives for individuals to return to work, but our businesses continue to struggle to find staff, and many of them have had to cut their hours and days of operation because of a lack of staff.
We acknowledge the $300 weekly federal supplement has helped thousands of Coloradans make it through this difficult time and served a good purpose. Now we need to get Coloradans back to work so that we can get our economy back to a healthy state.
In an effort to build on our momentum, accelerate a full economic recovery, and get more Coloradans back to work in good-paying jobs, we sincerely request that the state consider an end to its participation in the federal COVID-19 unemployment programs, effective July 31st.
We are happy to discuss further and appreciate any consideration of our request."
To view the discussion and approval of this letter during the public hearing of July 12, click here.