Budget

A bill aimed at leveling the playing field between Colorado retailers and their online competitors passed the State House of Representatives today.

House Bill 13-1295 would simplify the collection of state and local taxes by "remote sellers" that do not have a presence in Colorado. This simplification would align Colorado with requirements in the federal Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013, a bipartisan bill pending in the U.S. Congress.

The Colorado General Assembly will take up the state's budget this week. The so-called Long Bill (HB 1335) started in the House on Monday and is expected to move to the Senate by the end of the week.

Reinstating 6 percent limit on General Fund appropriations

House Bill 12-1075

Testimony to the House Finance Committee

Wade Buchanan, President

February 15, 2012

At the most recent meeting of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, the Bell Policy Center voiced strong concerns about Gov. John Hickenlooper's proposed $30 million in cuts to the state's need-based and work-study financial aid programs in his FY 2012-13 budget request. Such cuts could reduce post-secondary educational opportunity for many low- and middle-income Coloradans.

We're looking to spark a good conversation – on the state budget.

After three years of cutbacks, after cutting K-12 and higher education, after closing state parks and prisons, more and more Coloradans are asking questions about state finances and our fiscal challenges.

We think Coloradans want to talk about the state budget.

Peter Marcus
Denver Daily News

There's nothing like historic budget cuts to end a newly elected politician's honeymoon – that and a good snow storm.

Gov. John Hickenlooper already had his brush with public bitterness stemming from a blizzard in 2006 when he was mayor of Denver. This time around, he is dealing with bitterness stemming from a proposed $411 million in cuts to education, including a historic $375 million in cuts to K-12 education, and another $36 million from higher education.

By Kirk Seigler
KUNC

Audio of this story

Colorado ranks near the bottom nationally for higher education funding. And colleges and universities are bracing for yet another round of deep budget cuts. It's thought that most could see anywhere from a 15-20% cut later this spring, as federal stimulus money that had staved off layoffs and further tuition increases runs out.

By Rich Jones
Director of Policy and Research
The Bell Policy Center

Posted on Colorado Trust's Community Connections blog

Colorado and the nation are slowly beginning to recover from the most wrenching economic recession since the Great Depression. However, even as the economy recovers, revenues to fund public services such as Medicaid are not likely to return to pre-recession levels any time soon.