Ref C

The revenue portion of the Looking Forward project involved projecting state revenues for one final year of the six-year study period, FY 2012-13. For the first five fiscal years in the study period, we used the Colorado Legislative Council staff revenue projections published in September 2007.

The Department of Higher Education receives funding from a variety of sources. These include state General Fund dollars, General Fund Exempt dollars, made available through Referendum C, Cash Funds, Cash Funds Exempt, which include tuition and fees spending authority, and federal funds.

The Colorado Department of Health Care and Policy Financing (HCPF) is responsible for administering the state???s Medicaid program and other federally subsidized health care programs for children, the disabled, elderly, low-income and uninsured Coloradoans.

The Department of Human Services has 11 budget areas: Child Welfare, Disability Services, Division of Youth Services, Mental Health & Alcohol/Drug Abuse, County Administration, Executive Director???s Office, Information Technology, Operations, Child Care, Adult Assistance and Self-Sufficiency.

New report examines Colorado's fiscal prospects after Referendum C; Two recent studies examine fiscal, economic effects of immigration; Message from summit: It's everyone's business to cut state's dropout rate; Individual health mandates could work; Experts find holes in Federal Reserve report on payday lending; Guaranteed retirement accounts offer rescue plan for failing system; Two Bell staffers move on to new opportunities

Analysts from the Bell Policy Center, Colorado Children's Campaign and Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute focus on FY 2007-08 through FY 2012-13 ? – the last three years of the Referendum C time-out and the first three years of the new Ref C revenue cap. Looking Forward projects revenues and expenditures for the five largest state agencies, analyzes the effects of TABOR, the Arveschoug-Bird 6 percent spending formula and the varying forces that drive spending, agency by agency.

Three Colorado nonprofits today released Looking Forward: Colorado???s fiscal prospects after Referendum C, a new report that gives Colorado citizens a baseline about future fiscal conditions for state government.

This op-ed is part of a package that includes these pieces: Summary: Is the budget cup half-empty or half-full? by Bob Ewegen Yes: Referendum C is a down payment on Colorado's future and has done what it was intended to do. The bigger question is: What's next? by Wade Buchanan, the Bell Policy Center No: Before voters decide to increase taxes again, they should know that proponents of the last campaign for additional taxpayer money broke their promises. by Amy Oliver, Independence Institute

New ???Looking Forward??? report analyzes Colorado???s fiscal prospects in the post-Ref C era; ???Looking Forward??? finds 6 percent limit to be most immediate constraint in state budget; Political Journal: Collaborative effort to spread the Looking Forward message statewide; Higher fees, taxes, eyed for highway funding boost; Severance tax, construction fee measures fail to make the ???07 ballot

The report uses simplistic analysis to rehash the 2005 Referendum C campaign. It tries to fault the state legislature for spending too much and not spending enough at the same time. It offers no meaningful solutions for the real challenges facing Colorado as we move forward.