Colorado Senate approves tax credit for rehiring workers

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 Tuesday, April 6, 2010.

FISCAL POLICY
The Denver Post: Reward for rehiring workers OK'd
The tax credit squeaks by in the Senate after a tie and a second vote.
Also: Denver Daily News: Jobs tax credit measure moves
Also: The Associated Press via Huffington Post Denver: Colorado Tax Credit Legislation Passes Senate By Narrowest Of Margins
Also: Denver Business Journal: Rehire tax credit springs back to life
Also: Durango Herald: Senate votes for business tax credit

Longmont Times-Call editorial:  Bipartisan budget plan is place to start
House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, and Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, want the state to do more than lurch from budget crisis to budget crisis. So they have announced plans to offer long-term fixes for several of the state’s budget problems — in transportation, corrections and higher education.

Loveland Reporter-Herald: Public considers $2.7 million in remaining budget cuts looming in Thompson School District
The state is expected to reduce funding to the district’s general fund by 6.6 percent to 8.6 percent in the coming year. The fund pays for teachers, administrators and classified staff at the schools, as well as covering school site expenditures and department budgets.


HEALTH POLICY
Boulder Daily Camera commentary: Get ready for health insurance slumlords
If you dislike your health insurer now, get ready for insurers' response to insurance price controls. The recently passed HR 3590 will impose them nationally, and some politicians in Colorado want more. Insurance price controls will make your insurer act like a slumlord. Expect worse customer service, skimpier plans, and more claim denials.

Durango Herald: Senator defends vote on health care
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet during a visit to Durango on Monday defended his support of the health-care overhaul signed into law last month.


SELF SUFFICIENCY
Colorado Independent: New bank ‘payday loans’ sound watchdog alarms
As Colorado lawmakers wrangle over whether or not to regulate “payday loans” in the state, national mainstream banks are increasingly offering similar products– short-term, high-interest loans secured by a pending paycheck. That’s a bad thing, according to a consumer group that called on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to stop the practice.


ECONOMY
Steamboat Today: Sales tax sees slight decline in Steamboat
City Manager: February revenues give city budget “breathing room.”