Legislature open thread

by: johne

01/07/09 @ 08:34:27 AM MST

Yesterday Aaron and I were able to catch the CU Regent swearing in ceremony for Joe Neguse and Monisha Merchant:

Both are Squarestate readers and we're going to schedule formal live Q&As with them soon.

Anyone get blown away last night?  

• In other news, SAFER is calling attention to the town of Federal Heights potentially reducing it's fine for marijuana possession.
• This I like!
  

  
  Roughly 200,000 Coloradans could be added to public insurance rolls under a new hospital fee proposal that could revive Gov. Bill Ritter's stalled health care reform effort.

  Hospitals would pay a per-patient fee to the state, which would be used to win federal matching funds. The new money - up to $600 million a year - would expand eligibility for publicly funded health insurance programs, allow some people to buy into Medicaid and increase reimbursements for doctors and hospitals that treat Medicaid patients.

  The governor's office and the Colorado Hospital Association continue to negotiate a fee, but association leaders are on board with the concept, CHA President Steven Summer said.
  ...
  Half the new revenues would come from hospitals. But health care providers could save significantly by treating fewer uninsured patients who can't pay their bills, Summer said.

  
  It's a win-win.
• How bad are our roads?  Bad.  While a report by the American Society of Civil Engineers rates Colorado's overall infrastructure a C+, roads and bridges get a D+.
• The GOP's plan for funding this is to put it all on credit.  Well, heck, why don't we just consider selling naming rights to the capitol?  Coors seems to have lots of money.  What color neon should they use to best reflect off the gold of the dome?  The best part of the plan?  It would generate $500 Million.  The bad part of that?  We need something on the order of $2 Billion PER YEAR.