2011 ballot measure would boost education spending

Good morning. Here's a look at news reports from around the state on issues of interest to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy for Friday, July 16, 2010. Listing does not imply endorsement of the content.

FISCAL POLICY
Denver Daily News: Education ballot initiative pushed
Education spending advocates yesterday announced that they will push for a 2011 ballot initiative that would create a steady funding source for P-20 education.

The Denver Post: Five-year timeout on TABOR refunds comes to an end
Supporters of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights this week celebrated the recent expiration of Referendum C, the measure voters approved in 2005 that imposed a five-year timeout from taxpayer refunds under TABOR. But as critics of TABOR pointed out, Referendum C isn't exactly over.
Also: Colorado Statesman: Ref C is over, but ramifications live on in political world

Glenwood Springs Post-Independent: Government officials decry controversial ballot issues
A review of three controversial questions on the November ballot — constitutional amendments 60 and 61, and Proposition 101 — drew mostly negative reactions from local government officials this week. “It just doesn't make any sense,” said Commissioner Trési Houpt, a Democrat, about aspects of the proposed state constitutional Amendment 61, which would redefine the types and amounts of debt that local governments could incur.


HEALTH POLICY
Denver Business Journal: Report: 83% of small Colorado businesses will qualify for health-reform tax credits
Nearly 83 percent of Colorado's smallest businesses will qualify for tax credits under the federal healthcare reform act, but less than 25 percent of state businesses with 25 or less workers will be able to receive the maximum tax benefits, according to a report released Thursday.


CONSUMER PROTECTION
Colorado Springs Business Journal: Colo. Bankers Assn.: Reform will burden banks, consumers
Don Childears, CEO of the bankers association, which represents 90 percent of the $103 billion in assets held by 193 Colorado banks, said that Congress, rather than focusing on the reform that the nation needed, filled the bill with unnecessary and harmful provisions.


ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Grand Junction Sentinel: Group protests loss of affordable housing
Twenty studio apartments and a small house will soon be demolished to make way for a Mesa State College parking lot or storage unit at 1241 Elm Ave.

KMGH: Food Share Program Declares Bankruptcy
A Colorado food share program that gives discounted meals to needy families has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leaving thousands of people who depend on it with one fewer place to get help.