Legislature

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

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 05-1092: SUTA Dumping Prevention Act of 2005, by Rich Jones to the Senate Business Affairs, Labor and Technology Committee, March 16, 2005

"SUTA dumping hurts state unemployment trust funds and shifts a tax burden to law abiding citizens. Unemployed workers, particularly low-income workers rely on the unemployment system to keep them and their families from falling out of the cycle of opportunity and into poverty. Actions that weaken the unemployment system hurt these workers.

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

Click on link below for Opportunity Note presented to House Education Committee by Frank Waterous on Feb. 21, 2008

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.

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.

By Todd Engdahl
Education News Colorado

A judge's recent decision in the Lobato lawsuit dominated discussion Tuesday at the last meeting of a group that's been considering new school finance systems.

The Colorado School Finance Partnership, which been working for a year on funding issues, heard lengthy presentations on the decision from Kathleen Gebhardt, lead attorney for the successful plaintiffs, and others on about the potential impacts of the ruling on future funding of public education.

By Rich Jones
The Bell Policy Center

Suppose there is a river with a strong current that washes people downstream if they fall into it. Upstream is an old bridge with broken railings. You could spend a lot of time and effort pulling everyone who falls into the river to shore. Or you could fix the railings so that fewer people fall into the river in the first place.