Colorado news roundupThe weekday Colorado news roundup is a collection of links to news reports and other resources of interest to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. Listing does not imply endorsement of the content.
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Colorado Democrats want limits on enterprise zones |
Fiscal policy
The Denver Post: Colorado Democrats want limits on enterprise zones
House Democrats unveiled proposals Wednesday to put stricter limits on tax credits that can be taken under the state's enterprise-zone programs, a move that comes after high-profile criticism of the tax incentives.
The Denver Post: Denver schools to tap "rainy-day" fund to power through state budget storm
Denver Public Schools expects to weather upcoming state budget cuts without having to reduce school budgets by tapping rainy-day funds and slicing $2 million in administrative costs.
Also: KCFR-radio: Citizens weigh in on JeffCo schools budget cuts
Vail Daily: Fire district adjusting to less money
No matter the state of the economy, it takes about 15 firefighters to effectively battle a house fire, say local fire officials. Starting this year, the Eagle River Fire Protection District has lost about 25 percent of its property tax revenue - virtually its only source of steady income - because of falling property values in the valley.
Health care
The Denver Post: Colorado health care provider Anthem pays front-line doctors bonuses to cut costs
The largest private insurer in Colorado will pay bonuses to front-line doctors for their face time and care coordination with patients, then reward them further when they meet health targets and savings goals. The move by Anthem, with 950,000 Colorado members and 2,500 primary-care doctors on contract, follows striking success in a pilot program where such bonuses sharply cut hospital days and emergency room use.
Durango Herald editorial: Controlling health-care costs
There are two distinct but inextricably related tracks that have made health care such a prominent issue for lawmakers at all levels of government: the rising number of uninsured and the rising costs of health care itself.
Jobs and economic security
Colorado Springs Business Journal: Colorado's economic indicators slip in January
According to the Goss Institute for Economic Research, construction industry is weighing on the economy, even as the state's large energy sector is pushing it forward.
Aspen Daily News: Fewer local tourism jobs than in 2000
The tourism industry is the Aspen area's economic bread and butter, but a new report commissioned for Pitkin County found that there are now fewer jobs in that sector than a decade ago.
Miscellaneous
Boulder Daily Camera: CU regents vote 5-4 to back in-state tuition for undocumented students
The University of Colorado regents narrowly voted Wednesday to support a bill that would give unsubsidized in-state tuition to undocumented students who attended high school in Colorado.
Pueblo Chieftain: Taxing questions all part of the job
The volunteers who help lower-income Puebloans file their taxes are primarily interested in making sure people follow the law and get any refunds due them.
Pueblo Chieftain editorial: Marketing Fort Lyon
We continue to believe the former VA hospital would be an ideal place for recovering service members wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of them have special needs beyond treatment of their wounds, and Fort Lyon is an idyllic setting to help wounded warriors regain mental well-being.
The national scene
Kaiser Health News: States Under Pressure As Health Law Deadlines Approach
The health law's biggest changes don't take effect until 2014, when states and insurers must be ready to begin signing up an estimated 32 million people in Medicaid and private insurance. But a successful rollout in two years hinges on critical decisions that states must make - and take quick action on - this year.
Bloomberg: Governors Seeking Jobs Offer Tax Breaks as Budget Woes Ease
At least nine U.S. governors, vying for jobs to heal the workplace losses of the recession, have taken advantage of improving budgets to propose tax breaks to entice new employers or company expansions in their state-of- the-state addresses.
Think tanks
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Proposed Budget Process Changes Would Mark Step Backward
Congress is considering this week a series of changes to the congressional budget process that proponents say will promote fiscal responsibility. CBPP has produced analyses of four of the bills that were passed out of committee last week, explaining why they would mark a step backward for the budget process.
The Urban Institute: Curbing Tax Expenditures
This paper takes a broad look at tax expenditures in the context of revenue raising tax reform. It first reviews how tax expenditures have changed over the past 25 years and provides estimates of the distribution of tax savings resulting from tax expenditures today. The paper then examines three approaches for applying across-the-board limits to a selected group of the largest and most widely utilized tax preferences. The three options-a fixed percentage credit, a cap based on income, and a constant percentage reduction-can all be designed to raise significant revenue for deficit reduction in a progressive manner.
The Urban Institute: Health Reform's Tax on Investment: Facts and Myths
To help pay for expanded health insurance coverage, the health reform legislation enacted in 2010 included a new 3.8 percent tax on the net investment income of high-income taxpayers. When it goes into effect in 2013, it will increase the top tax rate on capital gains, dividends, and other investment income, regardless of whether the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are allowed to expire. Almost all the burden will be borne by taxpayers with extremely high incomes. More than half the burden, for example, falls on taxpayers in the top 0.1 percent of the income distribution.
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