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The State of Opportunity
The Bell Policy Center believes Colorado should be a state of opportunity — a place where all people can build better lives for themselves and their families.
Opportunity motivates effort. It unleashes the talents of individuals, feeds a dynamic economy, and stimulates creativity and invention.
Turning this vision into reality is the mission of the Bell Policy Center.
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New Report: The Truth About Payday Loans
A new report from the Bell and the Center for Policy Entrepeneurship that uses data from the Colorado Attorney General's office to show that payday loans trap hard working Coloradans in a long-term cycle of debt.
With an average APR of over 350%, state data shows that these loans are harmful products that do not help people, but rather ensnare them in a cycle of debt.
Track the payday lending reform bill, HB-1310, with the Bell
A must read!
Looking Forward
Colorado's fiscal prospects after Ref C
“We want this report to serve as a resource to Coloradans as they discuss where to go from here. It compiles a reliable set of projections about future fiscal conditions and provides the context in which future decisions need to be made.” — Wade Buchanan, president, The Bell Policy Center
Looking Forward is written by a team of eight analysts from the Bell Policy Center, Colorado Children’s Campaign and Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute. They focused on the six-year study period of FY 2007-08 through FY 2012-13 — the last three years of the Referendum C time-out and the first three years of the new Ref C revenue cap.Looking Forward projects revenues and expenditures for the five largest state agencies, assuming a continuation of 2007 levels of service. It analyzes the effects of TABOR, the Arveschoug-Bird 6 percent spending formula and the varying forces that drive spending, agency by agency. It also looks at the future needs of the state’s capital budgets, including transportation and capital construction.
“The bottom line is that 2007 is probably as good as it’s going to get for state services. Services aren’t back to the levels they were at before the recession, and yet the challenge now is to prevent falling behind again.” — Wade Buchanan, The Bell Policy Center
“What we need now is a serious, informed, statewide discussion about the kind of state we want our children to grow up in. If we aspire to higher goals for our schools, colleges and universities, health care, transportation systems and more, then we need to start a conversation in Colorado about how we get there.” — Megan Ferland, president, Colorado Children’s Campaign.
Under TABOR, decisions affecting state revenues in Colorado are made by the state’s 2.5 million registered voters rather than the 100 state legislators.
“We can’t just take this information up to the Capitol and think we’ve done our job. This is something we need to take to Coloradans throughout the state. This is a conversation we all need to participate in.” — Maureen Farrell, executive director, Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute.
Visit the Looking Forward homepage
Link to Health Blog • Read the press release
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The Health Blog is tracking the work of the Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform and provides a public forum to debate aspects of health care reform.
Come join the blog and help contribute to the open discussion about meaningful health care policy in Colorado.
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Highlights and News
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Legislative Status Report
The legislative session is now CLOSED!
See which bills passed out of both houses
and those that did not.
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May 8, 2008
Three Key Lessons for State Financial Aid Policies
A new working paper from the National Center for Postsecondary Research highlights three key lessons that states can learn from studies of the impact of financial aid on students’ college-going decisions. These lessons reinforce the Bell Policy Center’s message and continuing work on making college more accessible and affordable for all Coloradans. The lessons are:
1. When designing an aid program, information and simplicity are important. Research strongly suggests that the visibility and design of aid programs matter a great deal. Aid programs are most successful when they are well publicized and easy to understand and apply for.
2. All aid is not equal. Grants have been shown to be effective in influencing student decisions if designed properly, but support for this type of aid has not kept pace with inflation or rising tuition costs.
3. Need-based aid is more effective in increasing access for low-income students than other forms of aid. Research suggests that loans and tax credits are less effective than need-based grants in increasing enrollments, especially for low-income students.
The report, What Is Known About the Impact of Financial Aid? Implications for Policy
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April 29, 2008
Bell President Wade Buchanan testifies in support of House bill 1014 in front of the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs committee today
Read the testimony to learn why the Bell supports HB1014 and how it would help strengthen Colorado's fiscal situation.
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April 25, 2008
Six Key Tasks in Expanding Adult Education and Career Opportunities
State policymakers must address six key tasks if they are to “harness the power of community colleges and address the issues of economic growth and individual prosperity,” a new report on expanding opportunities for low-skilled adults concludes. Overcoming Obstacles, Optimizing Opportunities: State Policies to Increase Postsecondary Attainment for Low-skilled Adult is the first in a series of planned publications from Jobs for the Future and the National Council for Workforce Education as part of their joint “Breaking Through” initiative. The reports are intended to provide insights into state policies that can be most influential in helping lower-skilled adults enter and succeed in college and careers.
For more information, read the whole report here
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April 22, 2008
Sponsors kill the Payday Lending Reform Bill. Senate amendments protect industry profits, but the coalition vows to return next year
Passed out of the Senate with amendments that protect the payday lending industry's abusive interest rates and fees, the sponsors of the Payday Loan Reform Act plan to kill the bill in committee.
“The amendments are good for the industry, not the consumers,” said Rich Jones, Director of Policy and Research at the Bell Policy Center. “House Bill 1310 intended to put back into the pockets of hardworking Coloradans the $75 million spent each year on excessive payday loan interest and fees. It’s disappointing that the amendments are in opposition to the bill’s intent and make things worse for borrowers, but we’ll be back next year.”
Read the press release here
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Archive of Highlights
2008 • 2007
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