Stephan testifies in favor of 'poverty impact statements'

Lizzy Stephan, a Colorado College fellow at the Bell, testified today in favor of a bill allowing lawmakers to consider how proposed legislation would impact poverty in Colorado.

Stephan said the proposal, House Bill 12-1138, will "build consideration of the potential impact on poverty into the policymaking process." Under the legislation, lawmakers could request "poverty impact statements" on a limited number of bills.

"Overall," she testified, "supplying lawmakers with more information about the impact of various proposed policies would improve decision-making and empower them to better leverage our state's resources." The bill is sponsored by Rep. John Kefalas and Sen. Evie Hudak.

Poverty in Colorado is a growing concern. In our 2010 Opportunity Lost [1] report, we found that the conditions that poor and low-income working families experience were already on a downward trend in Colorado when the recession hit. Our report found that the number of working families living in poverty in Colorado had grown by 16,000, or 50 percent, since 2004.

The bill failed on a party-line vote.

Click here [2] to read Stephan's complete testimony.