DENVER — Colorado voters appeared to be in favor of a proposition on the state ballot that will require the state to provide $350 million to help local police departments recruit, train and retain officers.
Decision Desk HQ projected Thursday Proposition 130 would pass as the percentage of ballots counted so far showed 53% in favor of the measure compared to 47% against it, with 68% of the total expected vote across the state counted so far.
Proposition 130 will use funding distributed by the Colorado Department of Public Safety to increase pay for officers, provide hiring and retention bonuses, as well as ongoing training. It will also require the state to provide a one-time $1 million death benefit to help families of police officers who are killed in the line of duty.
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On its face, Proposition 130 may seem like a pretty standard example of government funding for civil agencies. However, the choice to fund or defund the police has become a central talking point in politics since 2020 following the death of George Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests.