Budget

We at the Bell still believe in the American Dream. For most of us, Colorado offers many opportunities to succeed, and education is the primary means we use to help us take advantage of those opportunities

Gov. John Hickenlooper delivered his second State of the State address to the Colorado General Assembly today, but we didn't get the usual laundry list of programs and initiatives. Instead, we heard an aspirational vision for the kind of state Colorado can be and a call for greater partnership and collaboration among political parties and throughout the state.

Legislators gather tomorrow for the start of the 2012 General Assembly, and we wanted to share some of our priorities for the session.

Posted on ColoradoPols

A new, independent analysis of presidential candidate Mitt Romney's tax plan reveals that the only Americans who will benefit are the wealthy. From Ezra Klein:

Compared to current rates, Romney's plan would cost a family in the bottom 20 percent $157 and save a family in the top 1 percent $82,000.

HB 05-1232: Concerning the Earned Income Tax Credit, by Spiros Protopsaltis to the House Finance Committee, Feb. 17, 2005

"By making the Colorado EITC permanent and increasing its amount, working families will receive meaningful support in making ends meet, and at the same time you will provide a much-needed fiscal stimulus to our economy."

HB 05-1194: The Colorado Economic Recovery Act, by Wade Buchanan to the Senate Finance Committee, March 15, 2005

HB 05-1020 – Alternative Base Period for Calculating Unemployment Insurance Benefits in Colorado, by Rich Jones to the Senate Business Affairs, Labor and Technology Committee, March 23, 2005

State economists came bearing gifts today, in the form of revenue estimates greater than projected in September. The governor's economists in the Office of State Planning and Budgeting raised their estimates by $231 million for this fiscal year and by $100 million next year.

By Allison Sherry
The Denver Post

WASHINGTON – Roughly 81,500 Coloradans will exhaust unemployment benefits in 2012 if the law that lengthens the time people can collect insurance is not renewed in the next two weeks, White House officials said Thursday.

The state-by-state analysis was released in a push to lean on Republican members of Congress to compromise during a tense day of bargaining on a package that would not only extend unemployment insurance, but also give payroll tax breaks to 160 million Americans.

In order to meet the challenges of the 21st century, American higher education must redesign itself through a fundamental transformation in policy, practice and financing. But in doing so, it can neither expect nor rely upon a restoration of past approaches or public support. That was the central message delivered by Patrick M. Callan, president of the Higher Education Policy Institute and the featured speaker at the Bell Policy Center's "Voices of Opportunity" program on Dec. 7.