Amendment 77 will help Colorado community colleges

As the chair of the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education that governs the Colorado Community College System (CCCS), I know how important community colleges are to Colorado’s future. That is why our board endorsed Amendment 77, which could provide additional gaming tax revenue to community colleges.

We are the state’s largest system of higher education, ser ving more than 137,000 students at 13 colleges and 39 locations across Colorado. Our 13 colleges offer more than 5,000 courses and 2,000 degree and certificate programs.

Students at our colleges do not mirror the 18- to 22-year-old full time students who attend our four year university par tners. Rather, our students are far more likely to be lower income and the first in their family to attend college, working full-time or part-time, parents of school age children, older, refugees, veterans, and more ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse. Unfor tunately, this is also the same demographic that has suf fered the most economically and medically from the pandemic and includes those who were far less likely to attend college even before the pandemic.

This fall, enrollment is down at our community colleges, with students citing affordability as a key reason they cannot start or return to college to finish. State tax revenues have plummeted, including gaming taxes. CCCS community colleges received $11.6 million from gaming taxes last fiscal year. Due to the pandemic, CCCS colleges lost about 15% of that revenue in the current fiscal year and could lose another 25 percent of gaming tax revenue in next fiscal year.

That’s where Amendment 77 comes in. The measures gives the residents of Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek the option to hold an election and decide whether each town wants to expand bet limits and add new casino games. Gaming has been legal in these towns for 30 years, and this measure will not expand gaming into other par ts of the state. It merely gives these towns the right to decide their future.

Additional tax revenue from any changes will help buoy community colleges. This measure has the potential to provide a modest amount of new tax revenue for community colleges to positively impact our students. Whether it helps fill in financial gaps for students stemming from COVID-19 or provides additional resources to help students stay in school and graduate, it’s help we welcome and need.

In previous economic recessions, community colleges had enrollment surges. Students sought new skills, hoping that it would make them more employable. This time is different because of the coronavirus.

Many community college students are parents and caretakers, forced to remain home, often with no access to computers, the internet, or even a quiet space to study. Many students are essential workers, while others have lost their jobs and aren’t sure how to pay their rent. Going to school is not only dif ficult, but in many cases, it’s impossible.

We know that these Coloradans need an education now more than ever because, when the economy recovers, those without higher education and marketable skills are more apt to be left behind. Ensuring that these students stay in school or return to school and graduate is critical not only for them, but for the entire state. CCCS colleges and students generate roughly $6 billion into the state economy each year. And, for ever y dollar spent by society, more than $11 is gained in added state revenue and social savings.

This amendment isn’t a game changer for community colleges. There are hard times ahead. But it could help provide resources to students so they can stay in school and graduate. Please vote yes on Amendment 77.

Rollie Heath is the chair of the State Board for Community Colleges & Occupational Education, which oversees the Colorado Community College System (CCCS), the largest system of higher education in the state.