We recognize that many of the pains and strains our communities faced in 2021 are not novel challenges for all Coloradans, nor are their impacts evenly felt among the people of our state. Racism and injustice have kept health out of reach for many people of color and people living on low incomes long before the shocks of a pandemic and economic recession. With this in mind, the Colorado Health Foundation policy advocacy staff have begun to explore how the institutions of Colorado’s state government make policy decisions – and how those rules and processes may have an impact on which voices are able to be heard and to influence policy decisions in our state.
Because consideration of the policymaking process itself has been a relatively under-explored area of focus for CHF’s policy engagement in the past, we looked to other organizations engaging in advocacy in Colorado to help us deepen our perspective on how Colorado’s state government could operate differently to make the policymaking process more inclusive, equitable, and racially just.
