More observers challenge AG's judgment on health reform

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, March 26, 2010.

HEALTH POLICY
The Denver Post: Last piece of health reform package clears Congress
WASHINGTON -- Congress passed the last piece of the health care reform package Thursday, the final act in an epic legislative battle that both Democrats and Republicans believed would play their way in November.
Also: Huffington Post Denver: Senate Bill Going Back to the House - Can We Now Get a Public Option Vote?
Also: Colorado Pols: Obstruction: It's What's For Dinner
Also: Grand Junction Sentinel editorial: Petulance on parade
Denver Post commentary: Public option wasn't truly an option
It's finally over. The health care bill, with the last-minute fixes, has passed both houses of Congress. And everyone in the land is happy and content. Well, nearly everyone.

Denver Post commentary: Betsy Markey: Why I voted for this health care bill
Before I was a public servant I was a small-business owner, keeping the books in the Web-development firm my husband and I started. I crunched numbers, evaluated costs and always looked for solutions that combined good budgeting with good management. Every time we made a major business decision, we evaluated that decision on its own merit.

Denver Daily News: Proposal to allow health deductions killed
A Republican state lawmaker is frustrated with Democrats for rejecting her proposal to encourage Congress to allow a federal tax deduction for purchasing health insurance.

Pueblo Chieftain: Senate candidate answers questions
Buck, the Weld County district attorney, said he believed the group of state attorneys general who have sued to block the new health care bill as unconstitutional may have a better shot arguing that the bill forces unfunded mandate on the state.

Colorado Independent: Colo. Supreme Court Justice Dubofsky questions legitmacy of Suthers' health reform lawsuit
Former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Jean Dubofsky, a founding member and current chair of the Board of Directors of the Bell Policy Center, issued a statement today critical of the reasoning guiding the lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general in roughly a dozen states. The controversial suit challenges the constitutionality of the federal health reform legislation signed into law Tuesday.
Also: The Denver Post: Former justice: AG's health care bill lawsuit has 'little chance of success'
KUSA-TV: Health care fallout: Tanning salons and fast food
There are dozens of small items associated with the extensive health care reform law that will affect many of Americans, especially if they like to tan or dine out.

KDVR-TV: Local Tea Party leaders condemn threats to Markey and others
Colorado Tea Party and 9.12 group leaders are responding to reports that conservative activists are continuing to make violent threats to some members of Congress who voted in favor of health care reform last week, including Colorado's Rep. Betsy Markey, a Democrat from Fort Collins.

KMGH-TV: Forced Coverage Challenges Some Spiritual And Religious Beliefs
There are still serious questions about requiring people to buy health insurance even when mainstream medicine is against their religious or spiritual beliefs.

Summit Daily News editorial: Politics at their worst
When State Sen. Dan Gibbs flew to Washington earlier this week to testify before Congress about funding to help counter effects of the pine beetle epidemic, little did he know he was going to be affected by a seemingly unrelated issue: health care. In the wake of President Obama's signing of the national health care bill Tuesday, Republicans furious with the passage of legislation they've vigorously opposed lashed out with parliamentary tricks and games.


SELF SUFFICIENCY
The Denver Post: HUD rates Denver a national model for helping homeless
Denver is a national model for helping the homeless get better access to mainstream services like Medicaid and food stamps, according to a study released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Denver Post: Proposed ballot measures target payday lenders
Coloradans upset with high interest rates charged by payday lenders want voters in November to cap the amount the businesses can charge on loans.

Pueblo Chieftain: April 30 deadline looms for heating aid
The number of Coloradans seeking help with their heating bills soared this past winter.


FISCAL POLICY
Colorado Independent: Benefield looking to ask voters to approve tax hike for schools
An official snow day at the capitol Wednesday didn't stop education advocates from filing into the West Foyer where lawmakers unveiled a desperate plan to raise taxes to shore up the state's struggling education system. The upbeat note struck by the speakers, though, mostly succeeded at conjuring images of the wide stormy seas they are setting out to sail. Captained by state Rep. Debbie Benefield, D-Arvada, the group is asking voters in a recession to amend the constitution to lift tax limits set by Colorado's revered Taxpayers Bill of Rights.

Summit Daily News: Summit School District may pull back on programs, instruction
Resources may be taken away from International Baccalaureate program in school budget cuts.

Summit Daily News commentary: What kind of Colorado do we want?
Not only have a pair of recent recessions taken their toll, but anti-tax initiatives over the years -- TABOR, Gallagher and others -- have hobbled state and municipal government to the point where Colorado is on its way from the Switzerland of America to, perhaps, the Swaziland.

Aurora Sentinel: Will city sell or shelve closed library materials, real estate?
The closure of four Aurora libraries -- shuttered early this year amid shrinking budgets and after voters rejected a tax hike to keep them open -- has left the city's library officials with a daunting task.

Grand Junction Sentinel: 102 employees leaving District 51 with early retirement
This June, the equivalent of 102 full-time employees will leave their School District 51 jobs with the promise of an early-retirement payout.