Three swings, three misses in legislature this week

Three bills we think are important for Colorado's future went the wrong way in the legislature this week, one because it failed and two others because they passed.

Senate Bill 126 would have offered college tuition at an unsubsidized, in-state rate to qualifying Colorado high school graduates who are not documented citizens. We believe in education for all Coloradans, and we believe the bill was good education policy, good workforce development policy and good economic development policy.

Senior policy analyst Frank Waterous, in testifying in favor of the bill, focused on fiscal aspects of the legislation. The bill failed on a party-line vote in the House Education Committee, but we believe the strength of the arguments in favor of such legislation will, in time, win the day.

Another bill concerns creation of a multi-state health care compact. We believe this is nothing more than a misguided, partisan effort to derail federal health care reforms.

If the compact legislation in House Bill 1273 were to take effect, Colorado residents would receive none of the benefits of federal reforms. And this bill would offer nothing in return – it would not reduce the number of uninsured in Colorado, improve health care outcomes, better manage premium or health care costs, implement insurance market reforms or provide other potential benefits of the national law.

Beyond that, compact legislation would face a troubled political and legal future, which would only create prolonged uncertainty for all Colorado residents.

The bill passed the House Health and Environment Committee on a party-line vote and will be sent to the House Appropriations Committee. Testimony was tightly restricted, and policy analyst Bob Semro felt he would not be permitted to discuss broader implications – or problems – with the bill. He chose not to testify. We think his planned testimony and Opportunity Note offer a full picture of the bill.

Finally, the House Finance Committee passed HB 1280, also on a party-line vote, to reinstate a 6 percent limit on General Fund spending that the Bell and many others worked hard to repeal. We've seen this movie before and know how it turns out – it's scary.

This limit showed us – for almost two decades – that budgeting by formula is bad public policy. Wade Buchanan, president of the Bell, testified against the bill last week. Committee action was delayed until Wednesday.

We will continue to oppose bills allowing a multi-state health care compact and re-imposition of the arbitrary 6 percent spending limit as they move to the Senate. The session is coming to a close, so stay tuned for developments.