TABOR

Articles: Single Subject Story, Making TABOR Work for CO, Treasurer???s Advisory Group Wrap-Up, Legislative Group Looks at TABOR et al, Bell Scheduling TABOR Briefings

Articles: Bell Urges Comprehensive TABOR ???Fix???, Legislators Submit Resolutions, Treasurer???s Advisory Group Members Put Forth Recommendations, CO 100 Publishes Report, Bell Makes TABOR Presentations

Emailed to supporters June 3, 2009

Success from the session
SB 228 most significant
reform since Ref C

By Wade Buchanan
President
buchanan@thebell.org

Today marks a major milestone in the journey toward greater fiscal sanity in Colorado. This morning, Gov. Bill Ritter signed SB 228, one of the most important pieces of legislation of his term in office.

Take TABOR. Please. And while we’re at it, take Gallagher and Amendment 23 and the handful of other constitutional and statutory formulas that stand between us and a sane state budget. After a quarter-century of jumping from one ballot measure to the next, it's time to stop setting fiscal policy by formula.

Email to supporters: It's not our habit to intrude with multiple emails on one subject, but there has been an important development with Senate Bill 228, and we wanted to share the news with you. SB 228, the proposal to eliminate the Arveschoug-Bird funding formula, was not heard as scheduled Tuesday afternoon, and part of the reason for the delay was to allow time for negotiations on key elements of the bill.

Email to supporters: The Bell is asking our friends to join us in supporting Senate Bill 228, the proposal to eliminate the Arveschoug-Bird funding formula. Tomorrow afternoon, the bill comes up for debate before the House's Transportation & Energy Committee. Eliminating the 6% formula is a critical step in restoring fiscal sanity to Colorado.

To understand how Colorado finds itself in its current fiscal condition, it is helpful to look back at some critical decisions made by legislators and voters over the last 27 years, and at some of the economic and political factors that drove those decisions. (An update of "The Road to 2007," part of "Looking Forward, Colorado's fiscal prospects after Ref C.")

Hank Lacey of Denver VOICE interviewed Wade Buchanan and Barry Poulson on the recession and anticipated cuts in Colorado's budget.

Letter to the editor: With revenues falling, a hiring freeze and budgets being trimmed, we applaud The Post for saying that Colorado “needs to fix this fiscal mess.” Colorado’s budget has evolved into a tangle of often-conflicting laws, rules and formulas that result in cutbacks in some areas and mandated increases in others — and very little savings for the future. It defies common sense ...

This special issue of The Opportunity News is the Bell’s annual summary of wins and losses in the legislative session for bills related to opporunity. For more details, visit the Legislative Status Report for the 2008 regular session at www.thebell.org.