Common Sense Unfiltered

The Colorado Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund was not built to handle the crushing demand of a global health emergency that impacted virtually every aspect of our daily lives. The program finds itself running a deep deficit, and fraudulent claims have overwhelmed the system. What to do about it?

Join Host and Chairman of Common Sense Institute Earl Wright as he welcomes J.J. Ament, Chief Executive Officer of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation and Chris Brown, Director of Policy and Research with Common Sense Institute, as they discuss the status of the trust fund, what’s led to its current situation, and diagnose what needs to happen to ensure its viability. Are potential tax increases on the way for businesses? What will the state do with money from the federal government? And what can you do about it to stay involved? All of this and more are covered in the latest episode of Common Sense Digest. Please be sure read our report on the issue here.

Thank you for listening to Common Sense Digest. Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcatcher. And tell a friend to get a dose of Common Sense, too!

Colorado’s education funding system is broken in several ways: inequitable revenue collection, an inefficient and outdated allocation formula, and a retirement system that costs the state nearly a billion dollars annually just to pay down the $30 billion in unfunded liability.

As cities, states, the United States, and the international community consider ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the latest episode of the Common Sense Digest focuses on initiatives instituted or under consideration in our own backyard. 

Recently, the state launched its “Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap.” The roadmap outlines potential state actions which would help to comply emission reduction targets set in 2019 legislation, HB19-1261. The overall targets are a 26% reduction by 2025, a 50% reduction by the year 2030 and 90% reduction by 2050, all relative to emission levels in 2005. Currently, state GhG emissions are somewhere between 10% and 15% below 2005 levels, and the latest projections, inclusive of recent policy changes indicate more policy changes will be required to achieve the state’s targets.

Our built environment, including commercial, residential and industrial buildings is now squarely in the sights of regulators and policy makers.To unpack the multitude of initiatives pertaining to the built environment, their costs, the high hurdles that exist to achieve the goals, and more, we have invited Kathie Barstnar, the Executive Director of Colorado Chapter of NAIOP, and Dave Davia, EVP and CEO of the Rocky Mountain MCA. The issue is complex and multifaceted, but as always, thanks to the input of our experts, we hope this episode gives the issue clarity, and provides a dose of common sense. 

Thank you for listening to the Common Sense Digest. Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcatcher.

As Colorado once again considers a public option for healthcare coverage, the Common Sense Digest considers and discusses in depth the likely impacts a public option for healthcare coverage would have on our system, our state budget, and our quality and access to healthcare services.

Joining our Host and Chairman Earl Wright are Chris Brown, Director of Policy and Research with the Common Sense Institute, and Sally Pipes, President and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, whose mission is to champion freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility for all individuals by advancing free-market policy solutions. Ms. Pipes addresses national and international audiences on health care. In April 2018, she received an honorary Ph.D from Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy for her work on health care reform. She has written a multitude of books, written for a vast number of publications, and is an internationally recognized expert on healthcare policy.

Thank you for listening to the Common Sense Digest. Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite podcatcher.

Homelessness is a complex, contentious, and multifaceted issue with multiple causes, and advocates on all sides of the issue advocating for different solutions and approaches. On this edition of the Common Sense Digest, we discuss the homelessness issue in-depth with two people working on it from two very different angles.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an outsize impact on women in the workforce, resulting in what has been dubbed a “She-cession.” On this week’s episode, we’re joined by Heidi Ganahl, Founder of Camp Bow Wow and SheFactor.She is also a fellow board member of CSI, and a CU regent, as well as Nicole Riehl, President and CEO of Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC). EPIC is the business community’s nonpartisan voice for early childhood care and education, and has recently launched a new initiative that aims to help solve the child care issue.

A global pandemic and corresponding economic crisis have brought about a time of severe disruption. Business and our way of life have been transformed. While we are faced with unprecedented challenges, we have also been presented with unique opportunities to shape our future with purpose.

The Colorado Business Roundtable and Common Sense Institute have provided a forum to formulate and influence public policy through collaboration and research in response to the pandemic’s economic realities called The Colorado Road to Recovery Initiative.

Common Sense Institute wants to ensure you are equipped with as much knowledge as possible as 2020 gratefully comes to a close and we look ahead to 2021. On this week’s episode of the Common Sense Digest, Speaker of the House KC Becker and President & CEO of Colorado Concern join Chairman of CSI Earl Wright to discuss the 2020 Special Session providing analysis on what went well and where opportunities still exist. They then discuss the uniqueness of finding compromise in Colorado in an increasingly polarized world and discuss what the 2021 Legislative Session could look like.