Tax Credit

House Bill 12-1039

Rich Jones, Director of Policy and Research
Testimony to the House Finance Committee
February 8, 2012

Rich Jones, Director of Policy and Research
The Bell Policy Center
March 9, 2011

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.

I am Rich Jones, the director of policy and research with the Bell Policy Center. The Bell is a non-partisan, non-profit research and advocacy organization dedicated to making Colorado a state of opportunity for all. We have worked on state fiscal issues for nearly a decade because we know having an effective public sector partner is essential to building the state of opportunity we envision.

By Tim Hoover
The Denver Post

A bill that would restore a sales tax exemption on soda cleared a House committee today over the objections of Democrats who said it would blow a $12 million hole in the state budget.

Provides an overview of the EITC in Colorado, compares Colorado's EITC with the federal tax credit and shows the number of EITC recipients in Colorado by region.

The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) provides a needed tax break to military as well as civilian families.

The state should contribute at least $1 million each year to fund a statewide IDA program. That would help double the number of low-income families that can participate in an IDA program. It should also make the tax credit permanent for those who contribute matching funds to IDA programs.

We need to find ways to bring down the cost of coverage between jobs so that more middle class families can afford to continue coverage when they leave a job. One approach may be to make Colorado???s health care tax credit permanent and refundable, so workers can recover some of the costs of retaining health coverage between jobs.

A Boulder Daily Camera commentary exposing the need for public assistance for child care, which would help low-income parents support their families.

Provides an overview of the EITC in Colorado, compares Colorado's EITC with the federal tax credit and shows the number of EITC recipients in Colorado by region.