DENVER (AP) — Amid the backdrop of the nation's reckoning over racial inequities, Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed an executive order he says is designed to diversify state government and create policies to promote equality and inclusion.
The order affects all state agencies and, among other measures, addresses hiring procedures and mandatory training on "implicit bias, historical injustices and trauma." Government officials will work with the Colorado Equity Alliance — a public-private partnership — to create a way to judge progress and report annually to the governor.
"It's important that we set a statewide model for best practices because inherently the public sector has a higher standard, and we want to be a model for the private sector," Polis said. "Today's action begins that work."
In the wake of protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, state health department officials have urged Polis to declare racism a public health crisis. Several cities and at least 20 states have made similar declarations, citing poorer health outcomes for people of color.
"Today's order will help us move toward a future where Coloradans' opportunity to live in a safe neighborhood, to send our children to quality schools and to work jobs with a livable wage will not be tied to our race, our sexual identity, our gender identity, our immigration status or any other aspect of our identity," said Sarah Hernandez, deputy director of the state public health department.
During and after his 2018 run for office, Polis, the nation's first openly gay governor, promised to promote diversity within his administration and identify laws and policies that suppress communities of color.
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Nieberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
