Budget

Click on attachment for county impact of Proposition 101 on ownership taxes and license fees

Gov. Bill Ritter recently signed two bills to restructure Colorado's enterprise zone program.

We believe these bills are important because they will:

Lawmakers and Colorado residents will be better able to judge the performance of state programs and whether they are accomplishing their goals under a bill signed by Gov. Bill Ritter on Saturday.

The State Measurements for Accountable, Responsive and Transparent (SMART) Government Act – HB 1119 – ties state funding more closely to results, increases transparency and improves public access to budget data.

The Bell's staff prepared a detailed wrap-up of the 2010 legislative session. It is contained in a special edition of The Opportunity News. Click on link to pdf.

By Rich Jones
Director of Policy and Research
The Bell Policy Center

Posted on Colorado Trust's Community Connections blog

Colorado and the nation are slowly beginning to recover from the most wrenching economic recession since the Great Depression. However, even as the economy recovers, revenues to fund public services such as Medicaid are not likely to return to pre-recession levels any time soon.

By Steve Raabe
The Denver Post

Colorado businesses endured a bruising legislative session in what some observers say was one of the tougher in memory for companies.

Charged with closing a huge budget shortfall, the Colorado legislature passed a slew of bills that eliminated tax exemptions long enjoyed by the business sector.

The removal of exemptions and tax credits is expected to cost Colorado businesses $100 million to $133 million a year.