Highlights and News Archive

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May 2012

May 17, 2012

Success from the session: Early-grades literacy bill signed

HickenlooperLiteracy

Gov. John Hickenlooper signs the Colorado READ Act,
under the watchful eyes of second-graders from
Kenton Elementary School in Aurora.

Surrounded by second-graders and childhood literacy supporters, Gov. John Hickenlooper today signed House Bill 12-1238, the "Colorado READ Act," into law.

May 15, 2012

End messy, but 2012 session had many accomplishments

The inglorious end to the 2012 legislative session and the special session required to tie up loose ends have garnered much attention. While that is warranted, we don't want it to overshadow what was otherwise a productive 120 days at the Capitol.

May 7, 2012

Success from the session: Gov OK's hospital-payment bill

134 signing

Gov. John Hickenlooper signs the bill creating the Hospital Payment
Assistance Program. At left is Sen. Irene Aguilar, the Senate sponsor,
and Rep. Cindy Acree, the House sponsor, is at right.

May 4, 2012

Waterous supports proposals to boost college completion

Senior policy analyst Frank Waterous, the Bell's specialist on education issues, testified Thursday in support of House Bill 12-1155, a proposal that would make improvements aimed at helping more students complete college.

The improvements outlined in the bill include:

May 3, 2012

Awuor says sales tax holidays don't work as advertised

Policy analyst George Awour of the Bell testified today against House Bill 12-1069, a proposal to create a three-day sales tax holiday on back-to-school related items.

Awuor told the Senate Finance Committee that, while tax holidays may be popular with some policymakers and the public, they are not good tax policy. He said that research shows that tax holidays rarely succeed in providing tax savings and that they do not stimulate retail sales and the economy at large.

May 2, 2012

Job seekers pay the price for errors on background checks

Criminal background checks of prospective employees often contain errors, mismatch people or disclose convictions that have been sealed or expunged, according to a new report by the National Consumer Law Center.