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"Happy to come back to Michigan, but I miss the mountains!"

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4/16/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Good News, Bad News Today at Colorado State Capitol

This morning, good news comes from the Colorado State Capitol: the state house approved House Bill 1288 (PDF), the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act, by the overwhelming margin of 61-4. This legislation will create a detailed online searchable database of state government revenues and expenditures. The bad news? Among the four (all Democrats) voting against open government are my own representative Sara Gagliardi and Gwyn Green, also from Jefferson County. Rest assured, I will do my part to make it known their No votes will not be forgotten. And I will be watching how the senate votes, as well. In other bad news, Senate Bill 180 (PDF) squeaked past the finish line in the state senate, 18-17. This union-backed bill is bad for a host … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, PPC Tagged With: bad news, bill, Bill Ritter, Colorado, consequences, costly, Democrats, desk, difference, elections, expenditures, fail, finish line, good news, good sense, Governor, Gwyn Green, House, House Bill 1288, intrusive, Jefferson County, Jim Isgar, Joyce Foster, legislation, measure, Moe Keller, not forgotten, online searchable database, open government, pass, positive note, rest assured, revenues, Sara Gagliardi, Senate, Senate Bill 180, Senate District 26, signature, State Capitol, state government, Taxpayer Transparency Act, union-backed, votes

3/18/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Follow Me: You Can Help in Thursday’s Fight for Transparent School Spending

Tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon is the moment of truth at the Colorado state legislature for Senate Bill 57, a measure that would require school districts to open up their financial books online so citizens can search them. It goes before the House Education Committee. Here are things you can do: Starting at sometime shortly after 1:30 PM local Mountain time, listen to the hearing online (House Committee Room 0112) Follow me on Twitter during the proceedings, or join the Tweeting yourself Show up at HCR 0112 and testify yourself, or just pack the room and provide moral support - nothing like an extra concerned citizen or two to remind lawmakers whom they serve Call or email members of the House Education Committee to make your voice … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC Tagged With: accountability, call, citizen, Colorado, Denver Post, email, endorsed, expenses, financial, follow, hearing, House Education Committee, involved, kill the bill, lawmakers, listen, lobbying groups, members, message, moral support, online, pack the room, Peoples Press Collective, proceedings, quietly, revenues, right thing, Rocky Mountain News, salaries, school administrators, school districts, schools, searchable format, Senate Bill 57, serve, Show me the money, small part, taxpayer-funded, terminate, testify, Transparency, Twitter, voice

3/13/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

The Education Empire (Quietly) Strikes Back at SB 57 School Transparency

Senate Bill 57, the school financial transparency bill, has defied anyone's expectation and made it through one-half of the legislature. From the senate, it's now on to the house. Apparently, but not too surprisingly, the lobbyists for the education establishment are looking for a way to kill the bill without looking like they oppose transparency. The COST blog exposes the details. School districts can use low-cost technology to place expenditures and revenues online in a searchable format; that excuse has been worn thin. So I guess it's time to resort to other ineffective arguments, along with procedural tactics and other technicalities. What about the people's lobby? Will they turn out again to speak out for their right to see … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC Tagged With: Colorado, education establishment, excuse, expenditures, financial transparency, House, House Education Committee, ineffective arguments, kill the bill, legislature, lobbyists, low-cost, online, oppose, people's lobby, procedural tactics, revenues, school, searchable format, Senate, Senate Bill 57, speak out, spent, tax dollars, technicalities, technology, turn out

1/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bill Ritter in a “Straightjacket” over Colorado’s Taxpayer Protections

Sean Paige at Local Liberty Online made a great catch, picking up on this excerpt from Bill Ritter's State of the State speech earlier today (H/T Complete Colorado):"There is also an opportunity here – a chance to address TABOR and the constitutional and statutory straightjacket* that makes modern, sensible and value-based budgeting an impossibility. Last year, former House Speaker Romanoff started the conversation, and we need to keep it alive. We need to talk about life after Ref C – whether and when to extend it. We have a chance to find a better way forward, a Colorado way forward." Bill Ritter said what? About 2 months after Colorado voters said No to a proposal to gut TABOR refunds forever and rejected two other major statewide … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: Amendment 59, Andrew Romanoff, Bill Ritter, budgeting, Colorado, comment section, Complete Colorado, creative caption, current budget mess, forward, great catch, House Speaker, Local Liberty Online, photo, politically irresponsible, rainy day fund, Referendum C, revenues, rigors, Sean Paige, silly, state constitution, State of the State, straitjacket, TABOR, TABOR refunds, tax increases, taxpayer protections, voters

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

  • AI-Enhanced Cyberbullying: The Dark Side of Teen Innovation
  • My Baker’s Dozen of Top 2023 Reads
  • Common Learning Disabilities in Children
  • Tips to Teach Kids to Set and Achieve Goals
  • The Christmas Music Countdown You’ve Been Looking For: 2022 Edition

Colorado News

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Completing the Blogroll

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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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