Colorado news roundup: Exchange board appointed: Too close to insurance industry?

Colorado's health insurance exchange is a vital part of implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act here. Read about concerns over the makeup of the board, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

State of Working Colorado: Families and food stamps – Different needs for different families

Among Colorado households three distinctions emerge with respect to food stamps. First, single-parent homes have higher food stamp recipiency rates than married-couple homes. Second, among single-parent homes, single-mother households have higher rates than single-father homes. Finally, across the board households with children have dramatically higher rates of food stamp recipiency than childless households. In 2009, single-mother families in Colorado relied on food stamps at five times the rate of the state average.

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Colorado news roundup: GettingUsCovered celebrates first anniversary

GettingUsCovered is a health plan created to cover people who couldn't get coverage because of pre-existing health conditions. Check out the details, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

Colorado news roundup: Rep. Riesberg named Colorado insurance commissioner

It's an important job for ensuring health care is affordable, accessible and high quality. Read the details about Riesberg's appointment, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

Colorado news roundup: Jobs analysis on Initiative 25 flawed, commentary says

Read the commentary, and find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

State of Working Colorado: Families and food stamps – Different needs for different families

Among Colorado households three distinctions emerge with respect to food stamps. First, single-parent homes have higher food stamp recipiency rates than married-couple homes. Second, among single-parent homes, single-mother households have higher rates than single-father homes. Finally, across the board households with children have dramatically higher rates of food stamp recipiency than childless households. In 2009, single-mother families in Colorado relied on food stamps at five times the rate of the state average.

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Colorado news roundup: Finding help for high-cost patients key to trimming health care tab

Trimming health care costs has everything to do with health care affordability and accessibility, both of which need to be priorities as our representatives enact reforms. Read about the challenges for high-cost patients, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

Colorado news roundup: Debate over 'skin in the game' and kids' insurance misses the point

Some folks argued during the state's legislative session that ended in May that recipients of public health insurance for kids should have "skin in the game," meaning they should be required to pay premiums. All well and good, but what if parents can't afford the premiums or refuse to pay? What happens to the children who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of the program? An estimated 2,400 children would have gone without health coverage had a measure to impose premiums become law.

A columnist for Huffington Post Denver weighs in on the issue in today's Colorado news roundup. Check out his perspective, along with links to all the day's public-policy news.

State of Working Colorado: Food assistance

The 2007 recession accelerated Coloradans increasing reliance on food assistance provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. Since 2001, food stamp use in Colorado has nearly doubled. All told, state enrollment has increased 280,000 people, or 190 percent since January 2001. In November 2010, 435,000 Coloradans were enrolled in SNAP. Coloradans’ increased reliance on food assistance highlights the continued pain of the recession.

Food stamp enrollment does not fully reflect hunger in Colorado. The most recent count showed that only 52 percent of Coloradans eligible for SNAP were enrolled. That ranks 48th in the country among states.


Many in Colorado are not able to access the food assistance they need because of problems with the state’s system of administering the food assistance. Eligible clients are required to complete a 26 page application, show multiple forms of identification and lawful residence documents, and verify income every 3 to 6 months.

The Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) presents additional difficulties. CBMS is used to administer many of Colorado’s assistance programs, and problems with the system create barriers to access of benefits for families at poverty level. Introduced in the middle of the past decade, CBMS has consistently failed to deliver timely application processing, and has exhibited unreliable performance. Colorado needs to improve CBMS and its administration of assistance programs to ensure that eligible families get the help they need when they need it.
 
For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Colorado news roundup: Grassroots group wants to invest in schools

The Colorado Center on Law and Policy, through its project the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, is part of the coalition working to let voters decide whether to increase revenue to avoid further cuts to schools. Details are at www.brightcolorado.com. Learn about the campaign's efforts in Longmont, and find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

Colorado news roundup: State to end fiscal year with $325 million more than budgeted

Watch later in the day for our analysis of the latest revenue forecast. For news coverage of the forecast, and links to all the day's public-policy news, check the weekday Colorado news roundup.

Colorado news roundup: Jobless rate in Springs hits nearly one in 10

The effects of the Great Recession have definitely not been reversed. Read our analysis for jobs and economic security on our website. For the latest developments, plus links to all the day's public-policy news, visit the Colorado news roundup.

State of Working Colorado: Disparities in joblessness – More pain for some

Colorado has pronounced disparities in unemployment and underutilization. Men, young workers, racial and ethnic minorities, and the less-educated all experienced higher rates of joblessness than their counterparts.

Worst off among racial and ethnic groups are blacks, with an unemployment rate more than double their white counterparts; and Hispanics, with rates nearly double those of whites. Troublingly, those differences are not just a product of the recession but have persisted for some time in Colorado. Indeed, racial and ethnic disparities in unemployment are remarkably and disconcertingly prevalent in Colorado. Regardless of the economic climate, blacks and Hispanics experience substantially higher rates of unemployment than their white counterparts.

A familiar pattern emerges in jobless rates in the context of education. Unemployment and underutilization increase substantially among less-educated Coloradans. In 2009, high school dropouts in Colorado experienced four times the unemployment and underutilization rates of college graduates. That pattern again underscores the value of education in today’s labor market and highlights the need for continued support of robust kindergarten through 12th-grade education, and affordable higher education.

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010. 

Rice Fellows will help CCLP advance its mission

The Theodore and Chandos Rice Charitable Foundation made a $225,000 gift on June 15 to support post-graduate fellows at the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. Two Rice Fellows funded under the gift began work this month. Ben Felson, an international affairs and anthropology major, will work with a project of CCLP, the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute. Daniel Rheiner, who has studied American political economy, will work with CCLP's Health Care Program.

CCLP executives met June 15 met with representatives of the Rice Foundation to receive the foundation's gift to support post-graduate fellowships.

Colorado news roundup: Affordable housing getting harder to find

Remember learning in grade school about the basic human needs: Food, clothing and shelter? Well, housing (otherwise known as shelter) is one of the critical needs for family economic security, and it's getting tougher to find for many low-income Colorado families. Read the details, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

Colorado news roundup: Health foundation to sell its share of hospital group

This is big news. "Because of the size of the transaction, there certainly ought to be a level of public explanation if not public scrutiny," CCLP's Ed Kahn told The Denver Post. "It (Colorado Health Foundation) will likely be larger than all the other health foundations in Colorado put together, and that's a pretty unique status."

Read about it, and find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

State of Working Colorado: Unemployment insurance – The primary safety net

If a worker loses his or her job through no fault of his or her own, the worker may apply for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. Under the program, unemployed workers receive payments in proportion to their past earnings while they look for new jobs. Those payments are funded by contributions to the state unemployment trust fund, made by employers on behalf of their workers. Thus a laid-off worker gets UI benefits paid for while he or she was still working. Unemployment insurance is the front-line safety net in times of economic hardship.

The state provides a maximum of 26 weeks of UI payments. However, beginning in 2008, the federal government began funding a number of extensions and supplements to unemployment insurance benefits because of the severity of the recession. Currently, laid-off Coloradans may receive up to 99 weeks of benefits.

The unemployment insurance recipiency rate is the percentage of the unemployed (those who are without work and looking for work) who are receiving benefits. The unemployment insurance exhaustion rate is the percentage of UI recipients who have expended their full 26 weeks of standard state benefits.

Colorado’s UI recipiency and exhaustion both increased dramatically as the economy worsened and jobs became harder to find. Given the prolonged high unemployment these numbers will likely see another increase reflected in the 2010 data.
 

Compared to the nation as a whole, fewer Coloradans receive unemployment insurance, but of those who do, a higher share exhaust the standard 26 weeks.

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Colorado news roundup: Ryan plan would hit Colorado hard, advocacy group says

That's putting it mildly. Find our take on the Ryan federal budget plan and how it would hurt Colorado's most vulnerable in an issue brief released in April. Read the latest analysis, and find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

Oh, and a quick reminder: You can get the Colorado news roundup by e-mail each weekday morning. Just sign up to request it.

State of Working Colorado: Food assistance

The 2007 recession accelerated Coloradans increasing reliance on food assistance provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. Since 2001, food stamp use in Colorado has nearly doubled. All told, state enrollment has increased 280,000 people, or 190 percent since January 2001. In November 2010, 435,000 Coloradans were enrolled in SNAP. Coloradans’ increased reliance on food assistance highlights the continued pain of the recession.

Food stamp enrollment does not fully reflect hunger in Colorado. The most recent count showed that only 52 percent of Coloradans eligible for SNAP were enrolled. That ranks 48th in the country among states.


Many in Colorado are not able to access the food assistance they need because of problems with the state’s system of administering the food assistance. Eligible clients are required to complete a 26 page application, show multiple forms of identification and lawful residence documents, and verify income every 3 to 6 months.

The Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) presents additional difficulties. CBMS is used to administer many of Colorado’s assistance programs, and problems with the system create barriers to access of benefits for families at poverty level. Introduced in the middle of the past decade, CBMS has consistently failed to deliver timely application processing, and has exhibited unreliable performance. Colorado needs to improve CBMS and its administration of assistance programs to ensure that eligible families get the help they need when they need it.
 
For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Colorado news roundup: Disabled adults, likely to outlive parents, face uncertain future

Read about it, and find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

State of Working Colorado: Long-term unemployment – Not the typical layoff

When workers have been unemployed for longer than 26 weeks, they are classified as "long-term unemployed." As the economy suffers, not only does the number of unemployed workers increase, but the share of unemployed people who are long-term unemployed increases as the downturn persists. During the recent economic downturn, the long-term unemployment share increased dramatically in Colorado and the nation as a whole. In 2009, more than one of every four unemployed Coloradans had been out of work for more than 26 weeks. Even at that high rate, Colorado continues to do better than the national average. Like unemployment insurance recipiency and exhaustion rates, the long-term unemployment share is likely to show another increase in the 2010 data, given persistently high unemployment rates.

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Colorado news roundup: Anti-tax fervor goes beyond fiscal conservatism, columnist says

Aurora Sentinel Editor Dave Perry has some sharp words for folks who oppose taxes at any cost. Read his commentary, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

State of Working Colorado: Poverty wage – Enough to get by?

The poverty wage is the hourly wage equivalent of the Federal Poverty Level. This number is calculated by dividing the annual federal poverty income level by the number of hours worked a year to arrive at a dollar-per-hour amount. Using poverty level for a family of four, the 2009 poverty wage was $10.55 per hour. In 2009, 22 percent of working-age Coloradans earned less than the poverty wage. That means more than one in five Coloradans were not able to earn enough to stay out of poverty, even working full time.

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

State of Working Colorado: Underutilization rate – A more complete measure

While unemployment is the best-known measure of joblessness, it has some shortcomings. Most notably, unemployment does not include two groups of underutilized workers. Specifically, unemployment does not count "marginally attached workers" — those who want work but have not looked. Nor does it count people working part time involuntarily — those who are working part time but would prefer full time. Counting those groups along with the unemployed gives more complete picture of joblessness. The measure that captures all these populations is called the labor underutilization rate.

In 2009, Colorado’s underutilization rate was nearly twice as high as its unemployment rate. That suggests the jobs climate in Colorado is substantially worse than the unemployment rate would indicate. While 2010 underutilization data are not available, since the Colorado unemployment rate in December 2010 was 8.8 percent compared to 7.4 percent the year before, it is likely the underutilization rate in 2010 was proportionately higher as well.
 

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Colorado news roundup: Planned cuts could sever a lifeline for the disabled

Read about it, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

State of Working Colorado: Poverty wage – Enough to get by?

The poverty wage is the hourly wage equivalent of the Federal Poverty Level. This number is calculated by dividing the annual federal poverty income level by the number of hours worked a year to arrive at a dollar-per-hour amount. Using poverty level for a family of four, the 2009 poverty wage was $10.55 per hour. In 2009, 22 percent of working-age Coloradans earned less than the poverty wage. That means more than one in five Coloradans were not able to earn enough to stay out of poverty, even working full time.

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Colorado news roundup: Program aiding refugee doctors also benefits underserved areas

It's a great boost for health access. Read about the program, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

Women and children would be turned away from food-assistance program under proposal

Participation in a vital food-assistance program funded by the federal government could fall by up to 4,200 low-income women and children under a proposal in the U.S. House, our pals at the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report.

The proposal, which passed the House Appropriations Committee last week, would force the WIC program to turn away 200,000 to 350,000 eligible low-income women and young children nationwide next year. The report includes estimates for every state and the District of Columbia.

"The appropriations bill reduces WIC funding from $6.73 billion this year to $6.05 billion in 2012 — a cut of more than $650 million below the fiscal year 2011 level, which obviously is much less than the continuing cost of the high-end Bush tax cuts, oil company tax breaks, and various other write-offs for well-to-do taxpayers or powerful corporations," the report says.

"WIC — the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — provides nutritious foods, counseling on healthy eating, and health   care referrals to roughly 9 million low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children under age five who are at nutritional risk.  An   extensive body of research documents WIC’s high degree of effectiveness in improving birth outcomes, reducing child anemia, and improving participants’ nutrition and health."

Clearly, the House proposal sets the wrong priorities.

State of Working Colorado: Unemployment rate and the labor force – Coming back in

Colorado’s unemployment rate increase in 2010 was not all bad news. In fact, a look at the state’s labor force alongside its unemployment rate reveals increased labor force participation was behind much of the recent unemployment rate increase. Since laid-off workers are counted only as "in the labor force" and "unemployed" if they are actively looking for work, more workers resuming the job hunt can actually increase the unemployment rate. While the state’s economy did not generate enough jobs for full employment in 2010, it did do well enough to bring workers back into the economy after they left en masse in 2009. Colorado stands in contrast to the national economy, which saw a decrease in its unemployment rate at the end of 2010 as it shed workers from the labor force.

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Colorado news roundup: State's economy grows, but jobs still far behind

Conditions for workers remain tough across Colorado. Find background analysis of jobs and economic security on our website. Read the latest details, and find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

State of Working Colorado: Poverty and disability – Greater need

People with disabilities in Colorado experience a rate of poverty roughly one-third higher than their fellow Coloradans. Seventeen percent of Coloradans with a disability lived below the poverty line in 2009, compared to 13 percent of the population without disability.

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Colorado news roundup: Casino tax cut puts more strain on public services

We blogged about the tax cut for casinos a short time ago. Read the latest developments, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

Colorado news roundup: Massive tuition hike is a wakeup call on higher ed

Yikes. Metropolitan State College of Denver is hiking tuition and fees by 18.1 percent. "That is a whopping increase for a student body that is, in many cases, on the edge of being able to afford higher education to begin with," says The Denver Post's editorial board.

Too true. A short-term solution is in the works with a ballot measure sponsored by state Sen. Rollie Heath. That would give the state a brief timeout from education cuts while advocates work on a long-term fix.

Read the latest about Metro State's tuition hike, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

State of Working Colorado: Poverty and disability – Greater need

People with disabilities in Colorado experience a rate of poverty roughly one-third higher than their fellow Coloradans. Seventeen percent of Coloradans with a disability lived below the poverty line in 2009, compared to 13 percent of the population without disability.

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

State of Working Colorado: Without a job and looking

Unemployment is a measure of joblessness. It counts the number of people who do not have jobs and are actively looking for work. Colorado ends its decade with dramatically higher unemployment than it began with. In December 2010, Colorado’s unemployment rate was 8.9 percent (Figure 11), the highest rate since the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics began tracking state unemployment rates in 1976. That elevated level of unemployment has persisted more than a year after the official end of the 2007 recession in June 2009, and is likely to be a fixture of the state economy for some time to come. Colorado’s unemployment rate is forecasted at 8.4 percent for 2011, and 8.2 percent for 2012.

Relative to other states, Colorado’s predicament is not unusual. At the end of 2010, the Colorado unemployment rate was 25th worst among states, and its increase in unemployment since the beginning of the downturn (December 2007) was 20th largest. Still, unemployment in Colorado has had dramatic effects on many areas of the state, from income and poverty to health care and food assistance.
 

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Hickenlooper's historic signing of health exchange legislation

Gov. John Hickenlooper speaks at the signing ceremony for Senate Bill 11-200, creating a Colorado Health Benefit Exchange, on Wednesday. Also pictured are Colorado Consumer Health Initiative (CCHI) Executive Director Denise (Dede) de Percin, at right, and next to her Colorado Center on Law and Policy Health Care Program Director Elisabeth Arenales. At left is state Sen. Betty Boyd, a sponsor of the bill. Photo credit: CCHI.

The missing face at today's signing of Senate Bill 11-184

When Gov. John Hickenlooper signed Senate Bill 11-184 today, it was a big victory for transparency and accountability in government. One important face was missing at the signing ceremony, though. That's Ali Mickelson, the tax policy analyst for the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute who deserves a lot of credit for getting the bill passed. Even though Ali's on vacation, we couldn't help but imagine she was there for the big event.

For details on the bill, check out a news release we issued today, plus the 2011 legislative review issued last month. Find more photos of the bill signing on our Facebook page.

Colorado news roundup: Governor to sign tax amnesty bill this morning

It's a great victory for government transparency and accountability. Watch later in the day for a statement about the measure from the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, a project of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy that was the leading advocate for passage of the measure. Read about it, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

State of Working Colorado: Child Poverty – Kids in need

The child poverty rate is the percentage of children younger than 18 living in a household earning less than the Federal Poverty Level. From 2000 to 2009, the number of Colorado kids in poverty increased from roughly 110,000 to 210,000. That was the fastest growth in child poverty recorded in any state.

In 2009, that translated into child poverty rates of 17 percent; and 37 percent using twice the Federal Poverty Level. Disturbingly, both poverty measures are notably higher for children in Colorado than the state as a whole. Despite the record-setting growth of child poverty in Colorado, the state’s 2009 child poverty rate ranks only 30th worst among other states.
 
 

 
For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.

Colorado news roundup: Housing grant aims to help families become self-sufficient

Read all about it, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

Colorado news roundup: Governor vetoes bill to impose CHP+ premiums

As we noted in a a media statement yesterday, this is a victory for working families. Read all about it, plus find links to all the day's public-policy news, at the weekday Colorado news roundup.

State of Working Colorado: Part-time work by demographic group – Disparities in full employment

Part-time work in Colorado varies noticeably among demographic groups. As a general rule, a higher share of involuntary part-time workers indicates greater vulnerability in the work force, since it suggests workers are unable to work on their preferred terms.

In Colorado, more women than men work part time, but a greater share of men working part time do so involuntarily. Similarly, roughly the same share of white and Hispanic workers work part time, but a larger share of Hispanics works part time involuntarily. The share of involuntary and voluntary part-time workers decreases with workers’ education, leaving the least educated with the highest overall part time and involuntary part-time shares.
 

For more insights, including detailed policy recommendations for enhancing economic security for all Coloradans, check out the State of Working Colorado 2010.