On Labor Day, we celebrate the contribution of workers to our nation’s growth and prosperity. While I was growing up in my home state of Wisconsin, that meant gathering with family on my grandparent’s dairy farm, grilling brats and talking politics. Wisconsin had long...
Michelle Webster
Michelle Webster
Articles by Michelle Webster
How are we meeting Colorado’s basic needs? The Gap Map has answers
Human service programs ensure that Coloradans have the building blocks for a prosperous future, such as food, health care, child care and financial assistance. Due to a number of reasons, access to these important programs varies from county to county. Wide enrollment...
Working Colorado: Six months into the minimum wage increase, job growth is robust
Last November, Colorado voters approved Amendment 70 raising the state’s minimum wage from $8.31 to $12 an hour by 2020. The first step increase occurred on Jan. 1, with an 11.9 percent increase in the minimum wage to $9.30 an hour. According to data from the Colorado...
How Colorado’s largest subprime lender has raised the cost of borrowing
In the final frenzied days of the 2015 legislative session, legislators passed a bill raising interest rates on Colorado borrowers accessing certain types of credit. Policymakers were persuaded by the industry sponsor’s story line: an interest rate hike is needed to...
TANF’s cautionary tale about block grants
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF, is the block-grant created by Congress in the 1996 welfare reform legislation. Designed “to end welfare as we know it,” TANF replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) which had provided cash assistance to...