SB 12-003
The Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition supports SB 12-003. People with disabilities often have poor credit through no fault of their own. When someone acquires a disability they are often unable to work and suddenly buried with medical bills. Insurance for catastrophic situations is largely a myth and even those who think they are covered find many needs that are not covered. Even those who think they have adequate savings are surprised. Getting any sort of benefits takes months or years.
All it takes is missing one payment or being late to hurt a credit score and if someone is without income for months their credit is destroyed. The only way to rebuild it is to get an income.
Another group of people with disabilities who have poor credit are people who are born disabled and begin life on a low and fixed income. When ones only income is $678 a month or less one cannot meet basic bills. The only kind of credit one can get with such a low income are those that have ridiculously high costs and interest, which is a set up for failure. If your only income is SSI you cannot even try to begin a credit history because you cannot get utilities or phones in your name unless you can afford to pay a significant deposit.
Having a poor credit score does not in and of itself mean that one is a bad or irresponsible person. Keeping someone poor and unemployed is not going to help improve one's credit. This bill will help to eliminate one of the many barriers to employment faced by people with disabilities.
