On Monday evening, April 6th, Governor Jared Polis took the unusual step of appearing live via television to update the state on the state of coronavirus in Colorado. As a part of this appearance, he announced eight executive orders – seven extensions of previously issued orders and one rescission of a previous order. The impacted orders are:
1. The 50% workforce reduction issue has been cancelled, in light of the stay at home order;
2. The stay at home order has been extended until April 26;
3. The closure of downhill ski areas has been extended until April 30;
4. The moratorium on elective and non-essential surgeries has been extended until April 26;
5. The order suspending rules that prohibited clerks from issuing marriage licenses during county office closures has been extended until April 30;
6. The order permitting liquor deliveries and online marijuana sales has been extended until April 30;
7. The order suspending in person appearances in order to get documents notarized has been extended until April 30; and
8. The order prohibiting evictions, foreclosures, and public utility disconnections has been extended until April 30.
Beyond the eight orders issued yesterday, Governor Polis used the television appearance to announce a ninth order he had issued the day before – one perhaps more impactful to dealers. Due to the same COVID concerns, the Governor is giving a one-month extension on the remittance of state sales and use tax and state-collected local sales and use tax. This will, however, not apply to those 73 self-collected home rule cities. Those jurisdictions would have to issue similar orders of their own.
In addition to the State actions, Mayor Michael Hancock of Denver extended the Stay at Home order for the City and County of Denver until April 30, 4 days after the State’s order is set to expire. Any of the above orders could be shortened or extended by a subsequent executive order.