Originally posted on Quora October 18, 2021
Sources: Hardre et al., v. Markey et al., Collins v. Meyers
The initial law, passed in December of last year, outright denied white owned small businesses access to $4 million in relief funding, but when the state was threatened with a civil rights suit by the Pacific Legal Foundation they quickly altered it to discriminate against white business owners in a less obvious manner. The revision requires white small business owners to show a revenue loss of at least 20%, since March 2020 and a lack of access to PPP loans while minority owned small businesses automatically qualify. Even when white business owners meet the criteria the revised law still directs the Colorado Office of Economic Development to give preferential access to minority owned businesses. Mind you, Colorado is 67% white so the vast majority of small business owners in the state are probably white as well.