This week, Governor Jared Polis signed two new bills into law. Senate Bill 24-52 creates the Arie P. Taylor Sickle Cell Disease Outreach Program within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). Over the next five years, Colorado will allocate S1 million for sickle cell anemia research and support services. Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder in which red blood cells clump together, causing blockages in small blood vessels, anemia, and severe pain after oxygen release.According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), sickle cell disease occurs among about 1 out of every 365 Black or African-American births.Senators Janet Buckner and Rhonda Fields, as well as Representatives Jennifer Bacon and Regina English, sponsored the bill.Before a small gathering at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial statue in Denver’s City Park, Governor Polis signed SB24-053, which creates the Black Coloradan Racial Equity Commission in the legislative department to conduct a study to determine and make recommendations related to any historical and ongoing effects of slavery and subsequent systemic racism on Black Coloradans. The bill is contingent upon raising $785,000 in gifts, grants, or donations to conduct the study.Senator James Coleman and Representatives Leslie Herod and Naquetta Ricks sponsored the bill.