Continuing to prop up the sagging "Colorado Option", Gov't Reg's harm small business differently than big biz, and speak up for local control of "magic mushrooms".
Continuing to prop up the sagging "Colorado Option"
The Colorado Option, a half-assed compromise attempt to bring in government-run health insurance to this state without really fully bringing in socialized medicine.
As I have written about before, depending on who you ask it's either a flop or a big success (for its first year anyway).
It's been pushed hard by our government, with the state making sure it gives it preferential treatment.
Despite the boosting, it's not the A1 most popular single-payer plan. I can't help but think this is related at least partially to the fact that it's not the cheapest. To wit, consider the quote from the op ed linked first below:
"This week, for instance, the actuarial health care consulting company NovaRest confirmed with hard data what most of us signing up for health insurance have already seen with our own eyes and felt in our own wallets: that for the 2023 plan year in the individual market, the Colorado Option Plans fail to offer the lowest premiums to consumers shopping on the health care exchange. This is true in 60 of 64 counties for the bronze tier, 54 of 64 counties for the silver tier and 32 of 64 counties for the gold tier [the Colorado Option was to offer 3 different plans labeled by the Olympic standard]."
**Yes, just as with Obamacare, mandating coverage that the market may or may not want does actually increase the price on things.
And lastly, insurance companies are starting to leave the market because they are struggling to meet the Colorado Option laws mandates on price reductions.
A rousing success indeed.
Undettered, some Democrats in the Assembly are pushing ahead with (and given its success so far the other Democrats are receptive to it) changes to the Colorado Option.
None of what I see in the bill linked second below seems to me to be a fix to the problems listed above. None of what I see in the bill seems to acknowledge the basic economics behind why the Colorado Option has, at best, sagged since its inception.
But hey, why not step in and further mess things up right? I mean that's what government does best.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/opinion/dont-double-down-on-colorado-options-failure-opinion/article_cfce3290-da5c-11ed-b104-f7825dd40c65.html
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1224
And while we're on the topic of government "fixing" things ...
The op ed below had some sobering numbers in it. The one that jumped out most at me was (quoting): "Among the seven [new government regulations] costing Colorado’s economy some $2 billion are the state’s paid family and medical leave program, imposed by voters via the 2020 ballot; an expansion of the number of employees eligible for unemployment insurance, approved by the legislature that same year; a host of new restrictions on oil and gas exploration and production enacted by state lawmakers in 2019, and the new energy standards they mandated in 2021 for the state’s larger buildings."
**Quick note on sourcing here, this number comes from a study done by a Republican working for the Common Sense Institute (a conservative leaning think tank). I would say the first two items in the quote are pretty simple to calculate and the last two are more nebulous. Keep that in mind: the regulations are costing the state, but the real cost may drift some from $2 billion claim.
The ever-increasing regulatory burden in this state is hard enough on big companies and I believe in the long run it will (along with other factors like the cost of living in general for things such as housing, heating, etc) drive prospective businesses away from locating here, but I would like to put in a word for the small companies.
You know, those small businesses that our policymakers claim to care so much about.
Stop and think for a second how hard it is to spend all day trying to start a business and then have to take more time out of your day (or hire an expert at retail and not wholesale prices) to tangle with the permitting rules about electric appliances in a shop you want to build.
Stop and think about how much time you'd have left at the end of the day to grow your existing business when you are drug down by dealing with government compliance (and I'm not talking about them preventing you from doing anything, I'm talking the sheer amount of hours spent on documenting that you do indeed follow the ever-expanding list of rules).
Stop and think for a second how easy it would be to walk away from starting a small business in this state when you look at all the departments you would have to navigate and all the paperwork you would buy yourself.
And this study only goes into statewide policy. Layer on top of this all the local policy. You see, while the state policymakers and bureaucrats are making more and more rules, so are their counterparts at the local level.
We need a big overhaul in our approach in this state or we'll end up exactly like the states that so many young, left of center people moved out of for our freedom and low cost of living.
https://denvergazette.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-strangling-regs-are-costing-colorado/article_cd5ab924-9738-5c06-a6d2-7354ec57295c.html
Stand up for local control if you value it.
***Time sensitive if you intend to testify today (but there will be another hearing on May 1 if I read it right).
Gov Polis' zoning bill has brought local control back to the fore and I'm glad for it. That bill would be a drastic overreach.
Perhaps because this one got a lot of media attention, however, other bills are sneaking in under the radar that would have the same ultimate effect.
An example is linked at the very bottom below: SB23-290, Natural Medicine Regulation And Legalization. The bill itself, at least by my reading, is mostly procedural and I don't have an issue with a large part of it. What I do take exception to is the provision that prevents local jurisdictions from deciding for themselves about magic mushrooms.
That's a shame given how many communities across this state voted against allowing them to be legal in the first place.
I worked up an email yesterday when I first learned of it and signed up to testify. I urge you to join me in some way or another (whether that's trying to get an email in now or contacting your state rep on the assumption it will pass committee). I included my email, which will become my testimony if it's of any help.
Email follows
An open email to the sponsors of SB23-290 Natural Medicine Regulation And Legalization and the House Finance Committee
Good afternoon,
My name is Cory Gaines. I am a resident of Logan County, CO. I hope to be able to testify in person at tomorrow's committee hearing, but in case my teaching schedule prevents it, I wanted to email. If I am unable to attend and anyone on the committee would like to read some or all of this into the record, please feel free.
I write in opposition to parts of SB23-290, but not in its entirety. If the bill could be amended to remove the parts I object to, I would not be concerned.
I was a no vote on proposition 122 and many people across the state joined me in a no. As you can see in the map screenshot I included below (from a Denver Post article linked below for reference), quite a wide swath of Colorado was opposed to its passage.
The concern I have over this bill is the fact that it does not allow for local control, specifically, and quoting from the bill's summary, "A local jurisdiction is prohibited from adopting, enacting, or enforcing a conflicting law".
In plain language this means that I, and the millions of other voters across this state that did not want to have psychedelic mushrooms in our area have no choice in the matter. I ask myself why Sen Fenberg and Rep Amabile think this is important enough to include. Do either know anything about where I live that the people living here don't? Would either actually be able to name the county seat of Logan County and find it on a map?
Perhaps it is because of a paucity of media coverage that stepping so brazenly in on local control is largely being ignored while that of zoning is taking up all the air in the room. Pheraps Governor Polis will sign this bill (if passed) and tout it as more "local control".
Whatever the reason, whatever the soundbites, do not let it blind you to the fact that this bill is indeed an intrusion, and will be seen as such by the people who do not live in the districts that voted yes. It should be our right to determine how we live and to determine the circumstances and values that we want to emphasize, not those of a pair of Boulder legislators.
I urge a no vote without an amendment to allow as much local control as Prop 122 enables.
Thank you for your time.
Cory
https://elections.denverpost.com/results/county-break-down/?Prop-122/7749
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-290