The Joint Budget Committee of the Colorado General Assembly met this afternoon to discuss the merits of the report Priority Colorado, co-sponsored by the Independence Institute and the Reason Public Policy Institute, recommending efficiencies that could be achieved to save money spent by the Colorado state government. In the end, the committee largely dismissed its proposals. The report burst onto the scene 10 days ago, throwing a wrench into the State Capitol's prevailing paradigm that something either needed to be done to the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) or vital state programs would need to be cut in order to fix the state's budget problems. Priority Colorado suggested a series of other possible reforms to balance the … [Read more...]

Tired of the bickering at the State Capitol about how to solve Colorado's budget problems? Have you tuned out already? Have you heard...? If you heard that the budget so-called "crisis" can be solved without tampering with TABOR, raising taxes, or cutting effective state services, what would you say? I know what I said when I heard: "What are they arguing about?" Because it's true. Experts from the free-market think tank Reason Foundation, Geoff Segal and George Passantino, teamed up with the Independence Institute to take a close look at the Colorado state budget. These guys have advised Gov. Schwarzenegger how California can emerge from its multi-billion dollar deficit. By comparison, Segal and Passantino say that Colorado … [Read more...]