Budget

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.

Articles: E-newsletter's new name reflects wider reach, More money in Colorado's future: new revenue estimates and the state budget process, Timetable for tracking the state budget process

Long Bill for 07-08 passes Senate, now in House; March revenue forecasts down slightly from December; A 30,000-foot view of the state budget; TABOR proposals emerge in Florida and South Carolina; Colorado Court of Appeals upholds recession-driven cash fund reallocations; Political Journal: Legislators consider changes to initiative process

Long Bill awaits governor???s action; Governor???s mill levy freeze passes House and Senate; Demise of rainy day fund bill a defeat for fiscal responsibility; Budget Watch takes a summer break

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 opportunity.

The boards of the Bell Policy Center and the Bell Action Network have endorsed Gov. Bill Ritter's proposal to stabilize school district mill levies to address education funding and tax fairness issues. The boards also endorsed the governor's plan for using state money freed up by the mill levy stabilization to boost preschool and kindergarten programs.

Passage of Referendum C in 2005 was a wonderful victory for fiscal sanity in Colorado, but it is only temporary. The state's resources still are extremely limited compared to future needs. So it is time to start talking about the post-Ref C world.

Articles: Gov. Owens spells out Ref C spending in budget plan, What the press is saying about spending Ref C money, What the Ref D failure means for Ref C revenues, How deep the hurt? Restoring past budget cuts will cost millions, More praise for "tireless campaigners"

Articles: What were voters thinking? Bell analyzes poll on Ref C & D results, Legislators look for best way to divide the Ref C pie, Bell releases new analysis pieces on revved-up web page, Legislators team with Bell to cover the state on Accountability Tour 2006