Video 2 in my series on school funding: how does Colorado decide how much money schools need? And the straw that broke the camel's back.
Video 2 in my series on how schools are funded.
In this video I cover how it is that the state calculates how much different districts need to pay for schools.
**FAIR WARNING! There is a lot of math and detail here. I made it as friendly as I could, but if you intend to be fully informed on the topic, you'll need to reckon with some math. Think of it like eating your vegetables: may not be fun, but it's good for you.
Also, if you didn't watch part 1 and think that an overview would be helpful, there is a link to my part 1 in the description.
The straw that broke the camel's back ...
I have written here a lot about regulatory burden on this page, but I want to touch on a different aspect of it with this post. Have you heard the story of the straw that breaks the camel's back? The idea that one more thing piled on, insignificant in itself, has, along with its fellows, the cumulative effect of catastrophe.
That's an apt metaphor for a situation that has been on my mind lately. If you've read this page long enough, you'll know that my wife and I rent out her condo in Denver (we decided to rent rather than sell so she could stay home with our baby after she moved up here with me).
The problem with regulations is sometimes not any one thing. Any one regulation may not be overly burdensome or onerous. The problem is sometimes that they pile on and that they pile on from multiple governmental bodies.
Consider the laundry list of things that I either have to do or pay someone to do that are imposed on me by the state. Now remember that this condo is in Denver and is subject to the laundry list that Denver imposes.
And I don't think either group is watching or considering what the others are doing. So, when any one regulation comes up before one or the other body, I'm sure the attitude is like that of Senator Winter whose bill is linked first below.
I attached a screengrab of a quote from a Colorado Politics article on the bill linked second below.
I remember testifying against this bill and bringing up the idea of added costs and burdens of regulation and the fact that I have the state's on top of Denver's. I was not alone. Another small(ish) landlord spoke up and she was quoted in the article. Her part appears boxed in blue.
Sen Winter's reply in the article comes in red. Being charitable and assuming more positive intent than I probably should, it's clear that she doesn't see what she's asking as that bad.
Again, maybe her one bill isn't, but in the context of the output of the Assembly this session, last session, and the output of the Denver City Council, it is.
It's close to the straw that broke the camel's back. Perhaps new legislation and new city ordinances need to be considered in the light of the entirety of regulation on the group under consideration.
p.s. as of this writing, Gov Polis had not acted on this bill. If I hear of his veto, I'll update. Otherwise you can assume he signed it or that he allowed it to become law by not acting.
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB23-184
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/legislature/cap-income-requirement-rent-colorado-lawmakers/article_80e30ce2-d8a3-11ed-a0d5-f740af7f27dd.html