News roundup for March 18, 2010

Here's a look at news reports from around the state on issues of interest to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy for Thursday, March 18, 2010.

FISCAL POLICY
KMGH-TV: Proposed Colorado Budget Cuts Hit Speed Bump
DENVER -- The Colorado House killed a bill Wednesday that would have limited the ability of legal immigrants to collect state pensions after Democrats said it would cause a hardship, possibly causing pensioners to lose their medical benefits and their homes.

Colorado Springs Gazette: D-11 board cuts deeper, but refuses to raise student parking fees
Another $2.58 million was cut from the preliminary 2010-11 budget for Colorado Springs School District 11 on Wednesday, but one thing won't change: student parking fees.

Colorado Springs Gazette: Springs offers streetlight adoption program
For a price, Colorado Springs residents can restore power to some of the 8,000 to 10,000 streetlights being turned off by the city to save money.
Also: Colorado Springs Independent: As assets dwindle, Coloado Springs finds corporate sponsorships are a tougher sell

Denver Daily News: Blasting a fee for a tax
Many Denver business owners have been notified this month that they must pay a new $50 registration fee so the city can process a business tax that they have been required to pay for decades.


HEALTH POLICY
Colorado Springs Gazette: Loss on health care could strengthen push on financial reform, speaker says
Legislation to rewrite the nation’s financial regulations may be more likely to gain congressional approval if health care reform efforts fail, the chairman of a trade association for financial planners said Wednesday in Colorado Springs.

Colorado Independent: Markey targeted by new pro-health reform campaign
Moderate Democratic U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey is being targeted by a pro-health reform campaign that will run in the districts of 17 members of Congress for the rest of the week in advance of a vote in Washington.

Grand Junction Sentinel: Salazar waiting for details on health bill
U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., was awaiting the final health care reconciliation package from the Senate and a budget analysis before deciding how to vote on the measure, Salazar’s Washington, D.C., office said Wednesday.


SELF SUFFICIENCY
Denver Daily News: Activists storm payday lending store
Progressive activists and church leaders stormed into a payday lending store on Broadway yesterday and demanded that the lender stop charging interest as high as 521 percent.
Also: Colorado Pols: Rep. Sue Schafer's Vote May Kill Payday Lending Bill


ECONOMY
Pueblo Chieftain: What jobs?
When the economy was recovering from a mild recession during the administration of George W. Bush, Democrats beat the drum of a “jobless recovery.” Indeed, employment lagged behind other economic indicators of a strengthening economy following a round of tax cuts.

Denver Business Journal: Colorado foreclosures up in February
Both real estate foreclosure filings and sales in Colorado rose in February year over year, largely because a moratorium on foreclosures no longer is in place this year, according to a report Wednesday by the Colorado Division of Housing.
Also: Fort Collins Coloradoan: Larimer tops February's decline in foreclosure
Also: Greeley Tribune: Weld foreclosure sales decrease, filings increase in February
Also: KMGH-TV: February Colorado Foreclosure Filings Rise 6.5 Percent