First lady Jill Biden met with Colorado leaders at the state Capitol on Monday to hear from local lawmakers about needs their districts face, stories from students about how they’ve benefited from state job training programs, and how Colorado has made use of federal legislation.
She also ended up staying in the Denver area at least a bit longer than originally planned. An unspecified issue with her aircraft caused her plane to return to Denver after it took to the air Monday morning. All aboard are safe, according to her staff.
Biden chose Denver to kick off a tour that will highlight a slew of federal laws championed by President Joe Biden. The four marquee laws — the American Recovery Plan Act, the bipartisan infrastructure law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS act — total some $3 trillion in new spending, according to the White House.
Biden is touring the country to tout the “historic” legislation that she said hits needs that include manufacturing jobs, high-speed internet, airport safety and clean water.
“Joe’s administration has already announced more than a billion dollars to improve the roads and bridges and roadway safety and major projects right here in Colorado,” Jill Biden said, referring to President Joe Biden. “And he’s investing hundreds of millions of dollars in clean energy efforts here.”
But the crux of the event highlighted education and job training — a topic Biden, who is a community college professor, called “her life’s work.”
“For most people, a high school diploma alone isn’t enough to find a great career, right?” Biden asked. “But they often don’t need that four-year diploma to follow their passion.”
Joe Biden intends to make community colleges and “career-connected learning a top priority” in his proposed budget.
Gov. Jared Polis and lawmakers told the first lady and assembled crowd how they prioritized job training with previously authorized federal money, largely from the American Recovery Plan Act, or ARPA. Colorado still has about two open jobs for every unemployed person, Polis said. It’s a frequent point that he raises to both highlight Colorado’s recovery from the economic hit due to COVID-19 and state workforce needs.
In particular, they highlighted the Care Forward Colorado program. That state program, which is funded with federal money, covers tuition, fees and course materials for a number of entry-level health care worker certificates.
Event organizers invited several students or former students who told the first lady how the program helped them.
Biden also heard from a bipartisan slate of lawmakers who highlighted what they see as important needs in the state. Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican, highlighted school choice as “the ability for individuals to pick a path different from the conventional path that may have traditionally been laid out for them.”
Some rural lawmakers present discussed the need for educational opportunities both local to them and reflecting the need of their communities.
Biden arrived in Denver Sunday evening, but she did not have anything more on her official schedule that day.
After her event at the Colorado Capitol, Biden had planned to head to Bay County, Michigan, for her next stop on the “Investing in America” tour but, after the plane made the unexpected turnaround, officials in the first lady’s office promised the Michigan event would be rescheduled.
Biden was expected to return to Washington D.C. from Denver Monday evening.
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