The Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP) and the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute (COFPI) applauded the Colorado state legislature today as the 2009 session comes to an end. Despite a brutal budget shortfall brought on by a broken fiscal system, sharply declining state revenue, and a severe economic downturn, the General Assembly passed several bills that were key CCLP/COFPI priorities and that will put the state in a stronger position to withstand and recover from recessions.“While the recession and budget crisis resulted in a brutal state budget, we are largely pleased with the Legislature’s efforts to minimize passing that hardship on to lower-income Coloradans,” said Maureen Farrell-Stevenson, Executive Director at CCLP. “Both the Governor and the Legislature showed good leadership on issues like improving the unemployment insurance system, reforming the state budget, reducing the number of uninsured, and taking a comprehensive approach to combating poverty.”
“For the first time in a long time, Colorado took significant steps to put our state in a stronger fiscal position,” said Kathy White, Program Director for COFPI. “With the passage of SB 228 and changes to the unemployment system, we’ve turned a challenging moment into a moment of opportunity for Colorado.”
“The budget crisis and economic downturn have obviously worsened an already broken health care system, but HB 1293 and other key bills will move Colorado forward on the road to long-term health care reform,” said Elisabeth Arenales, Health Program Director at CCLP.
CCLP/COFPI Key Legislative Victories
FISCAL POLICY
Bill: SB 228 Flexibility to Use State Revenues
Sponsors: Sen. Morse, Rep. Marostica, and Rep. Court
Status: Sent to Governor
SB 228 is a monumental budget reform bill that repeals the Arveschoug-Bird 6% formula, stabilizes transportation funding, strengthens the state’s reserves, and puts Colorado in a stronger position to withstand and recover from recessions. After working on these issues since the last recession in 2001, COFPI led a coalition of nearly 100 state and local organizations that supported this critical legislation, and worked with state leaders to craft a reasonable compromise that will put Colorado in a better fiscal position going forward.
HEALTH CARE
Bill: HB 1293 Medicaid Hospital Provider Fee
Sponsors: Rep. Ferrandino, Rep. Riesberg, Sen. Keller, and Sen. Boyd
Status: Signed Into Law
HB 1293, known as the Colorado Healthcare Affordability Act, will assess a provider fee on hospitals that will leverage federal dollars and invest $1.2 billion to cover more than 100,000 currently uninsured Coloradans through Medicaid and the Child Health Plan Plus. The funds also would improve hospital reimbursement rates for service provided through Medicaid and the Colorado Indigent Care Program (CICP). CCLP worked with stakeholders and policymakers in developing this legislation, helped address and resolve consumer concerns, and was one of the first organizations to publicly endorse the bill.
Bill: HB 1353 Medical Benefits for Legal Immigrants
Sponsors: Rep. Miklosi and Sen. Foster
Status: Sent to Governor
HB 1353 would remove the barrier to health care access that currently exists for legally present pregnant mothers and children. The bill would allow the state to cover them through Medicaid and the Child Health Plan Plus without the current five-year waiting period. Since Congress reauthorized the State Children’s Health Insurance plan earlier this year and gave state’s the ability to remove this barrier, CCLP has been working with the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to repeal the waiting period.
ECONOMIC SECURITY
Bill: HB 1064 Economic Opportunity Poverty Task Force
Sponsors: Rep. Kefalas and Sen. Sandoval
Status: Sent to Governor
HB 1064 creates a task force to take a comprehensive look at combating poverty and strengthening opportunities for economic advancement. CCLP worked with Rep. Kefalas from beginning to end on this legislation, helping provide policy research, organizing testimony, and ensuring that legislators recognized the severity and scope of poverty in Colorado—and that something needs to be done to combat it.
Bill: SB 247 Expand UI Benefits for Stimulus Moneys
Sponsors: Sen. Tochtrop and Rep. Pace
Status: Sent to Governor
SB 247 makes important changes to Colorado’s Unemployment Insurance system that will allow the state to draw down $127.5 million in new federal recovery funds, strengthen the solvency of the unemployment insurance trust fund, and provide immediate benefits to workers and the economy. COFPI and its coalition partners worked closely with the Department of Labor to ensure that Colorado was doing everything it could to draw down federal recovery dollars, strengthen the unemployment insurance system and put Colorado workers in better position to compete in the future.
Bill: HB 1276 Delay Foreclosure on Residential Property
Sponsors: Rep. Ferrandino and Sen. M. Carroll
Status: Signed Into Law
HB 1276 will provide a 90 day delay or time out in the foreclosure process for qualifying homeowners. Within 20 days of notice of foreclosure, the borrower must contact a HUD certified counselor like those at the Foreclosure Hotline at 877-601-HOPE. The counselor will do an assessment of the person's debt and financial situation to see if the borrower is a good candidate to work with them. If so, the homeowner gets an extra 90 days to work with their bank to figure out how, if at all possible, to stay in their home. CCLP worked with key stakeholders, including the Governor’s Office, in developing this legislation, and provided testimony numerous times during the legislative process. CCLP also worked with the Governor’s Office and Colorado ACORN on HB 1207, which updated foreclosure procedures.
Other Successes and Legislative Activities
In addition to the above victories on key priorities, CCLP and COFPI staff worked on dozens of other bills, in support of, opposition to, and successfully amending legislation to improve its impact on lower-income Coloradans.
Colorado Center on Law and Policy: Other Successes and Legislative Activities
CCLP worked on numerous bills to help protect some of Colorado’s most vulnerable communities, expand coverage for the uninsured, and advance the push toward health care reform.
The CCLP health team successfully fought off efforts to cut Old Age Pension benefits which go to elderly low-income legal immigrants, and worked to partially restore the drastic cuts in Medicaid provider rates, which will have a severe impact on health care access for lower-income Coloradans.
CCLP also worked in support of various legislation that would help increase and improve access to health care, such as HB 1260 (Designated Beneficiary), which allows unmarried adults to establish legal rights for each other that include the ability to make medical decisions and hospital visitation rights.
CCLP actively worked with partners in the health care community to amend HB 1012, which provided incentives for wellness and prevention programs, due to several concerns about transparency in the design and administration of prevention and wellness programs; accountability of the carriers in the design and administration of the programs; individual privacy; and the potential for health status rating and premium increases.
As the health care debate continues to unfold in Colorado, not all legislation is helpful in reaching the ultimate goal of long-term health care reform. In turn, CCLP worked in opposition against several bills that would have negative and unintended consequences for Colorado health care consumers, including HB 1143 (Limited Benefit Health Plans), which ultimately passed, as well as HB 1209 (Health Care Cooperatives) and HB 1256 (Interstate Purchase of Health Insurance) which both failed.
Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute: Other Successes and Legislative Activities
In addition to leading the charge on SB 228, COFPI continued its push toward a fairer, more equitable, and more sustainable fiscal system in Colorado.
COFPI staff worked against several bills that sacrificed general fund revenues for new, untested tax credits. One example of this was HB 1105, which creates a new tax credit for “angel investors” or investors who make high-risk investments in small, local, knowledge-based industries. COFPI testified against this bill as originally drafted because it would have reduced general fund revenues by $3 million annually. As amended, the credit is appropriately funded out of economic development funds.
COFPI successfully fought to amend several other bills in order to mitigate the impact on the state general fund or enhance transparency and accountability measures. For instance, COFPI worked with sponsors to include strong oversight and reporting requirement to SB 173, a bill to create a new tax increment financing scheme for regional tourism projects.
COFPI was also the go-to source for information about closing tax loopholes, ending inefficient exemptions and strengthening compliance. COFPI’s tax experts testified in support of HB 1093 (Corporate Tax Reporting Requirements), HB 1101 (Vendor Credit Reduction), and HB 1366 (Closing Capital Gains Tax Loophole), and against two ill-conceived bills that would have reduced or eliminated the business personal property tax without an adequate alternative source of funding for schools (SB 85 and HB 1068).
COFPI worked in support of two other bills that will help modernize the state’s Unemployment Insurance system. HB 1363 is a smart move to detangle the volatile unemployment insurance (UI) trust fund from the state’s general fund by designating the unemployment insurance division as an enterprise under TABOR. This simple proposal will allow the UI system to function better for businesses and workers, and put the state budget process on more stable ground for future planning. In addition, HB 1076 allows retirees who return to work and then lose their jobs through no fault of their own to receive the unemployment insurance benefit as any other worker, ending a practice of discriminating against older workers by reducing their benefit by 50% of their social security payment.
COFPI budget analysts worked with the Joint Budget Committee to provide various options for raising revenue and producing a balanced budget that minimizes harm to Colorado families. This work ultimately helped shape Senate Joint Resolution 44, which establishes the Interim Committee on Fiscal Stability.
Lastly, during a severe budget crisis, COFPI’s analysis of federal stimulus proposals, what it would mean for Colorado, and how the state could maximize federal recovery dollars proved to be a valuable and timely resource for state policymakers.
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