Immigration

Dear Friend:

Can you imagine Colorado without the Bell Policy Center?

Imagine if we hadn't written the seminal report on the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights in 2003, traveled the state to educate and build a coalition in 2004 or played a key role in passing Referendum C in 2005.

(Posted on this or that website)

By J Boven

July 21, 2011

The Honorable John Hickenlooper
Office of the Governor
136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203-1792

Dear Governor Hickenlooper:

We are writing to support your efforts to reassess the effectiveness of the Secure Communities Program in Colorado and to urge you to suspend Colorado's participation until an investigation of the program by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General is complete.

By Steve Raabe
The Denver Post

Consensus and compromise characterized the 2011 Colorado legislative sessions, leading to high marks from the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

In its third annual scorecard of state legislators, the chamber issued no grades below 50 percent. That's a reversal from last year, when the low mark was 16 percent.

All is relatively quiet now at the Colorado Capitol, a sharp contrast to the final, hectic days of the 2011 legislative session.

It was the first session since 2002 that the political parties split control in the legislature. The split changed the dynamic from recent sessions and defined the 2011 legislative session in many ways. It drove a policy stalemate in which each chamber canceled out the other's more partisan proposals. It also shaped the budget negotiations.

The Bell's staff prepared a detailed wrap-up of the 2011 legislative session. It is contained in a special edition of The Opportunity News. Click on link to pdf.

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.

What's churning:

Senate Bill 11-126, which would create a form of resident tuition for undocumented students who meet certain requirements, is scheduled for a hearing in the House Education Committee at 1:30 this afternoon.

By Amy Gillentine
Colorado Springs Business Journal

Undocumented immigrants are a significant contributor to the state's economy, according to a new study by the Bell Policy Center and the Colorado Center on Law and Policy.

According to the two groups, illegal immigrants contribute as much to the economy in sales, property and income taxes as they cost the state in mandated services such as K-12 education.

Other research finds:

By Scot Kersgaard
The Colorado Independent

Two studies released today indicate that 180,000 undocumented immigrants live in Colorado. They pay a combined $167.5 million in taxes each year and cost the state a combined $166.6 million in services according to a study by The Bell Policy Center.

Of the taxes, the bulk, $114.5 million, comes from sales taxes. Income taxes, assuming half of undocumented residents are paid on the books and half paid under the table, amounts to $30.9 million. The last $22 million is from property taxes.