In the mid-90s, President Bill Clinton famously promised to “end welfare as we know it,” by capping the number of years for eligibility and imposing restrictions for certain public benefits. Non-citizens were hit particularly hard as part of that misguided goal as...
Recent articles
Part 2: What is Credit Reporting, and How Does It Harm People with Medical Debt?
Accessing and maintaining good credit is essential to achieving economic mobility. However, a derogatory mark on a credit report can likewise significantly harm one’s life. When an individual struggles to pay off medical debt, the resultant poor credit report can...
March Letter from Bethany Pray, Interim Executive Director
March brings change. The session is nearing the halfway point, the sub-zero temperatures are over in Denver — we hope! — and over the next four weeks, the thousands of fiscal decisions that go into the budget will come together and the legislative landscape will begin...
Private Duty Nursing: One Family’s Story
When we think about complicated health insurance programs like Medicaid, it’s easy to miss the stories of the individual people and families who receive these benefits. A few months ago, one remarkable mother shared her family’s story in a public hearing to the...
Legislative Update: April 12, 2019
Bill to Watch: HB 1280
Not very many bills pass through the House Finance Committee with a unanimous vote, but HB 1280 did exactly that on Monday.
The legislation would have College Invest, the state’s 529 college savings account program, provide $100 in seed money to open a college savings account for every baby born in Colorado over the next 20 years — without using state tax revenue. Similar programs are already in effect in 32 other states.
Such accounts help defray some education costs and tend to encourage additional family contributions while establishing an expectation of post-secondary education for Colorado kids. Funding for the program would be provided by College Invest. CCLP supports this bill which is sponsored in the House by Rep. Leslie Herod and Rep. KC Becker and in the Senate by Sen. Stephen Fenberg.
Congratulations to the sponsors, and Colorado Fiscal Institute and College Invest for developing a bill that would create such a potentially life-changing benefit for future Coloradans.
On the Radar: CCLP bills move forward
Several bills developed or supported by CCLP made progress over the past week, among them:
* HB 1118, which would extend eviction notice in Colorado from three to 10 days, passed through the Business, Labor and Technology Committee on a bipartisan, 4-1 vote on Monday. The bill now goes to the Senate floor. Learn more about HB 1118 in this op-ed in The Colorado Sun.
* HB 1189, which would reform Colorado’s wage-garnishment laws to keep people with consumer debt from sinking into bankruptcy or homelessness, passed out of the House floor on a 37-27 vote and will soon be considered by the Senate. You can read more about the HB 1189 in this op-ed in Colorado Politics from Bob Connelly, a retired attorney and friend of CCLP.
* HB 1309, which would give the Department of Local Affairs’ Division of Housing the authority to administer a dispute resolution and enforcement program funded by a small lot fee on mobile-home park owners, was approved on a 7-4 vote by the House Transportation and Local Government Committee on Wednesday. The bill goes to the House Finance Committee next.
* HB 1025, which would prohibit employers from asking about criminal history on an initial employment application, received preliminary approval on the Senate floor on Thursday. If approved on the final vote, the measure will head to the governor’s desk to become law. CCLP tilled the ground for this bill by developing two previous iterations and built support for “ban the box” legislation in 2016 and 2017.
– By Bob Mook
Recent articles
Myths & Facts: Ending Colorado’s Unconstitutional Sponsorship Law
In the mid-90s, President Bill Clinton famously promised to “end welfare as we know it,” by capping the number of years for eligibility and imposing restrictions for certain public benefits. Non-citizens were hit particularly hard as part of that misguided goal as...
Part 2: What is Credit Reporting, and How Does It Harm People with Medical Debt?
Accessing and maintaining good credit is essential to achieving economic mobility. However, a derogatory mark on a credit report can likewise significantly harm one’s life. When an individual struggles to pay off medical debt, the resultant poor credit report can...
March Letter from Bethany Pray, Interim Executive Director
March brings change. The session is nearing the halfway point, the sub-zero temperatures are over in Denver — we hope! — and over the next four weeks, the thousands of fiscal decisions that go into the budget will come together and the legislative landscape will begin...
Private Duty Nursing: One Family’s Story
When we think about complicated health insurance programs like Medicaid, it’s easy to miss the stories of the individual people and families who receive these benefits. A few months ago, one remarkable mother shared her family’s story in a public hearing to the...