Polis sued as restaurant restrictions send jobless claims soaring

We’ve reported at length about the dire state of Colorado’s restaurant industry as indoor dining remains shuttered in many parts of the state. 

Gov. Polis introduced draconian new restrictions for restaurants in anticipation of a spike in COVID cases following Thanksgiving. 

That spike in hospitalizations and cases has not materialized.

What has increased are jobless claims in Colorado, with over 36,000 people filing for unemployment last week according to the Colorado Sun. 

UNEMPLOYMENT: Jobless claims are climbing again in Colorado following new restrictions enacted by Gov. Jared Polis to slow the spread of coronavirus. Restaurants, many of which have been forced to end indoor dining for the foreseeable future, have posted the most job cuts.

Wallethub estimates that staggering Colorado jobless figure accounted for the 4th most lost jobs last week in the entire nation. 

Overall under Polis, Colorado has posted the 14th most lost jobs nationwide since the outset of COVID.

On Friday, a group small business owners in Colorado Springs filed a new lawsuit against Polis. 

In a press release, the business owners acknowledged that Colorado has “an extremely well intentioned and smart governor” who is trying to protect citizens and follow health officials’ advice. However, the owners say the lawsuit is intended to expedite the process of reopening small businesses to prevent collateral hardships.

 

“Out of an abundance of caution and because the situation is that critical, we filed a lawsuit on Thursday, December 10th, asking the Federal Court for injunctive relief to expedite the reopening of these businesses, to prevent further damage being done to people’s mental health and people’s small businesses,” said the owners in a statement.

While the fawning language about Polis’s intelligence is laughable, you can’t blame them considering it’s unlikely Polis will proactively lift his administration’s jackboot of government thuggery. 

In a related development on Friday, New York City also announced they were shutting down indoor dining. 

Barstool’s Dave Portnoy appropriately summed up the dire consequences of these insane decisions from the likes of New York Gov. Cuomo, Denver Mayor Hancock, and Polis.