Earned Income Tax Credit

Colorado Working Families Opportunity Act

SB13-001

Rich Jones, Director of Policy and Research

Testimony to the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee

April 3, 2013

Thank you for the opportunity to testify to the committee today.

By Kathleen Hallgren
Huffington Post Denver

It's been said that the best anti-poverty measure is a job. But for more than a quarter of Colorado's workforce, working hard isn't enough to make ends meet.

In a recent report, we found that more than 48,000 working families in Colorado lived below the poverty line of $23,021 for a family of four in 2011. Another 154,085 families – 27 percent of all working families in Colorado – lived on up to twice that amount.

By Laura Gabbay
Examiner.com

By Kathleen Hallgren
My Side columnist, Glenwood Springs Post Independent

It's been said that the best anti-poverty measure is a job. But for more than a quarter of Colorado's workforce, working hard isn't enough to make ends meet.

In a recent report, we found that more than 48,000 working families in Colorado lived below the poverty line of $23,021 for a family of four in 2011. Another 154,085 families – 27 percent of all working families in Colorado – lived on up to twice that amount.

By Kathleen Hallgren
Guest columnist, The Daily Camera

It's been said that the best anti-poverty measure is a job. But for more than a quarter of Colorado's workforce, working hard isn't enough to make ends meet.

In a recent report, we found that more than 48,000 working families in Colorado lived below the poverty line of $23,021 for a family of four in 2011. Another 154,085 families – 27 percent of all working families in Colorado – lived on up to twice that amount.

By Kathleen Hallgren
Guest columnist, The Greeley Tribune

It's been said that the best anti-poverty measure is a job. But for more than a quarter of Colorado's workforce, working hard isn't enough to make ends meet.

In a recent report, we found that more than 48,000 working families in Colorado lived below the poverty line of $23,021 for a family of four in 2011. Another 154,085 families – 27 percent of all working families in Colorado – lived on up to twice that amount.

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."

By Heather Scofield
The Durango Herald

As local residents and officials mobilize to meet struggling families' needs today, advocates say some big-picture and novel approaches also will be a necessary part of the battle against poverty.

Here are a few of the concepts gaining traction around the nation:

Tax credits

The National Poverty Center issued a report last year indicating their research found that state and federal Earned Income Tax Credits "dramatically boosted the incomes of low-income households."

Finding and keeping a job with good pay and benefits is the surest path to opportunity for most Coloradans, and in the recently completed session, legislators passed three bills to help workers get and stay on this path.

These bills, signed recently by Gov. Bill Ritter, minimize the effects of unemployment, establish a permanent commission to study pay equity, and ensure low-wage workers receive a tax credit when there are TABOR rebates. The Bell supported all of the measures.

Jan. 20, 2010

Restoring the State Earned Income Tax Credit
as the First TABOR Refund Mechanism

Rich Jones
Director of Policy and Research
The Bell Policy Center

Summary