Testing
Results worth reporting
Legislature mulls ballot measure that would ask voters to raise TABOR cap by billions primarily to fund Colorado’s schools
“This addresses that challenge and it does so in a way that guarantees that K-12 is the primary beneficiary of this,” [Sen. Jeff] Bridges said, saying it has “the potential to be one of the most transformative measures for K-12 funding” in a long time.
Colorado Democrats propose plan to ask voters for major TABOR change for K-12 funding
“(The Colorado Education Association) is working in partnership with teachers across the state to ask the legislature to consider increasing funding for K-12 public education by 2% every year for the next 10 years, paid for by raising the fiscal limit we have here in the state — raising the TABOR rationing limit — by what it is we spend on K-12 public education,” said Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat who’s vice chair of the powerful Joint Budget Committee.
Editorial: A bad bet for the Colorado Lottery
it was heartening to see a legislative committee at the Capitol last week second-guess a new Colorado Lottery Commission policy that would make it even easier to play — and easier to bet the rent, as well… Sen. Jeff Bridges, D-Greenwood Village, one of the bill’s lead sponsors, told Colorado Politics, “especially at a time when Coloradans are struggling to afford the cost of living, now is not the time to make it easier for folks to lose money to the state government through lotto.”
Colorado Lottery wants to start selling tickets online, but a legislative bill would scratch the plan
“If you look at what these online scratch ticket companies do, it is iGaming,” [Sen. Jeff] Bridges said. “The state not only should not be participating in that, but they shouldn’t be pushing it with more than $10 million in advertising. This is iGaming sponsored by the state to the benefit of the state at a time when Coloradans can’t afford to live here.”
Opinion: Got ideas how to cut $1 billion without harming Coloradans? I chair the budget committee. Call my cell.
Unlike a household budget, Colorado’s budget is almost entirely just the necessities. We don’t have an entertainment category, so we can’t just skip the Dave Matthews concert and save a billion dollars. Any cuts hit the government equivalent of utility bills. Sure, we can turn down the thermostat a bit, but we can’t cut a billion dollars without real consequences for folks across our state… For anyone with ideas, my cell phone is 303-358-5551. Not kidding.
Governor signs new school funding formula into law, securing an extra $500 million for Colorado schools
Sponsor Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat and JBC chair, said the new law creates a school finance act that, for the first time, funds Colorado schools in an equitable way. “This matters because every kid deserves the chance to succeed no matter where they come from and for too long in this state … we have not been ensuring that the kids who need the resources are getting those resources. This formula… ensures that kids in our state are getting the resources they need. We know that different kids cost different amounts of money to get to where we want them to be, which is reading by 8 and ready by 18.”
Get More Smarter: Fun in Fungible
This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, we already make the joke about the actor Jeff Bridges in the intro to the interview but we’ve got the Chairman of Colorado’s powerful Joint Budget Committee -- State Senator Jeff Bridges -- on the show to explain the insane math problem that is the Colorado state budget.
The economy is rolling along, unemployment is low, and revenue is more than enough to meet spending obligations, so why are we about to cut $1.2 billion from the state budget? Senator Bridges makes it make sense in this interview-only episode.
Get More Smarter: Campaign Interview
Our guest today in our seemingly never-ending quest to interview every viable democratic candidate for a major race in Colorado, friend of the pod Jeff Bridges joins us once more to explain his campaign for State Treasurer and his love for "T-pools."
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