Economic Opportunity

Third grade is an especially important marker for children, because decades of research has shown a direct correlation between reading proficiency in third grade and a child's educational trajectory through high school. Third grade is the point at which children transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn."

The Skills for Jobs Act is good public policy that will help match the needs of Colorado's businesses with the training and skills provided by the state's post-secondary education and workforce-development programs.

Policy analyst Frank Waterous testified in favor of the legislation (HB 12-1061), which also was supported by the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Interwest Energy Alliance, among others. CACI said HB 1061 is a "common-sense bill."

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

(Fact sheet, infographic posted by Immigration Policy Center)

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in the Centennial State (Updated January 2012)

Download the Infographic

Dowload the Fact Sheet (2010 Census Data)

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.

By Aldo Svaldi
The Denver Post

The new year brings with it a decent bump in pay for about 74,000 Colorado workers earning the minimum wage.

Colorado's minimum wage increases 3.8 percent, or 28 cents, to $7.64 an hour effective today. That's the biggest increase since the state linked its minimum wage to inflation back in 2006.

For an employee making that wage full-time, the increase translates into an extra $582 a year.

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