fund

Increasing the stipend and holding down tuition should be a top priority. We should increase the stipend to at least $3,000 per full-time student in 2007, and higher if possible. And we should make sure COF stipends keep pace with inflation after that. Colorado should also double need-based financial aid and work-study opportunities.

Increasing the stipend and holding down tuition should be a top priority. We should increase the stipend to at least $3,000 per full-time student in 2007-08 ??? higher if possible. And we should make sure COF keeps pace with inflation after that. Colorado should also double need-based financial aid and work study opportunities.

Colorado should work with federal, local and private partners, and it should greatly increase its own investment so Colorado???s housing trust fund can provide a level of assistance that will truly make a difference for low and moderate-income families seeking affordable housing. Ultimately, the state government and its partners should collectively provide at least $25 million annually to the fund.

We should continue to dedicate more resources to the Colorado Indigent Care Program to expand community-based health care. If the Colorado Health Care Services Fund proves effective, the legislature should increase funding to expand coverage to more Coloradans who need it.

The legislature should create and fund a state micro-enterprise development authority to award grants to qualifying organizations, leverage additional funding sources, and be an information network and state advocate for micro-enterprise organizations and micro-business owners.

The next governor and legislature should enact a strategy to increase the statutory reserve by at least one percentage point each year to create a rainy day fund of at least 10 percent of the state General Fund within six years. One source of funding could be a portion of the excess reserves left over at the end of some fiscal years.