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...
STATEMENT: Government shutdown is both immoral and unnecessary
The news out of Washington today of an impending shut-down of the federal government is the latest in a series of unnecessary disruptive and irresponsible developments. We are in this situation because political grand-standing has replaced principled governance.
The country stands on the brink of a government shut-down because Congress refuses to resolve the status of undocumented immigrant children, with the health care of thousands of children and pregnant women as collateral damage.
If the lessons from the government shutdown of 2013 are any indicator, tens of thousands of Coloradans and their families could be deprived of the wages they rely on to meet their basic needs. Tribal governments overseeing some of the most impoverished communities in our state and the nation could go without the critical federal resources they rely on to support the needs of their citizens.
Veterans and others awaiting a decision on their disability claims could wait longer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will have to cease responding to the flu season just as record numbers are being hospitalized. Federal loan processing for mortgages and small businesses will halt and grants that keep Head Start programs operating will begin drying up.
The position of Colorado Center on Law and Policy is unequivocal:
- The future of over 17,000 Coloradan DREAMers should be laid to rest with legal protections that include a pathway to citizenship.
- The health care of over 75,000 kids and pregnant women in Colorado’s CHP+ program should not be a bargaining chip and must instead be protected by a long-term funding bill.
- Congress should stop lurching from deadline to deadline, return to regular order and pass a budget that invests in the future of Colorado’s communities and residents.
As the turmoil continues to unfold at the federal level, CCLP staff will continue working on solutions to improve the lives of low-income Coloradans.
In the meantime, we ask that you take action on your own and contact your elected officials to demand that they fulfill the constitutional, and moral, obligations of their respective offices. Click here to learn how.
–Claire Levy
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...