Common Sense Digest & Colorado Clarity

The Future of Water in Colorado and the West featuring Jennifer Gimbel and Eric Kuhn

As Colorado continues to grow, one of the key issues the state faces is the reliable availability of water. When investing in our state, developers, businesses, and even the general population all face apprehension with what the future may hold with this key life-giving resource. Water is the lifeblood of any community and how the resource is managed is a subject about which interested entities fight, negotiate, and discuss.
On this episode of Common Sense Digest, Host and Chairman Earl Wright welcomes Terry J. Stevinson fellows Jennifer Gimbel and Eric Kuhn to discuss the history, evolution and future of Colorado water. An old saying, incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain, says, "Whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting." True enough, but the history, reality and path forward for water in Colorado and the West is much more nuanced and fraught than that. Tune in for more detail.
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Jennifer Gimbel is a Senior Water Policy Scholar and former Interim Director and at the Colorado Water Center.  Jennifer has experience in law and policy on national, interstate and state water issues. She was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water & Science at the Department of the Interior, overseeing the U.S. Geological Survey and Bureau of Reclamation. She also was Deputy Commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation and Counselor to the Assistant Secretary. Jennifer was the Director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, the water policy agency for Colorado. As a water lawyer, she worked for the Attorney General’s Offices in Wyoming and Colorado. She has over 35 years of experience on water issues
Eric Kuhn is the retired General Manager of the Colorado River Water Conservation District and co-author with John Fleck of Science Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River, University of Arizona Press, 2019.
The Colorado River District is the largest and oldest of Colorado’s four conservation districts. It covers most of the Colorado River Basin within Colorado. Almost two thirds of the flow at Lee Ferry originates in or flows through the district. Eric started employment with the Colorado River District in 1981 as Assistant Secretary-Engineer. In 1996 he was appointed General Manager, a position he held until his retirement in 2018.
 

Fentanyl’s Impact on Arizona featuring Glenn Farley and Jobe Dickinson

With the decriminalization of the possession and use of illegal drugs in some jurisdictions, the surge in migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the recent increase in fentanyl overdoses in Arizona, Common Sense Digest explores what impacts these events may have to law enforcement and the Arizona economy. With more than 2,000 fatal opioid overdoses occurring in Arizona in 2021, it is evident that there is a drug crisis in Arizona.
Joining Host and Chairman in this conversation are report author and Director of Policy and Research of CSI, Glenn Farley, and President of the Border Security Alliance, Jobe Dickinson. To view the report, Fentanyl, Crime, and Arizona's Southern Border, please click here.
Thank you for listening to Common Sense Digest. Please rate, review, and subscribe on your favorite podcatcher. All of our podcasts can be found here. 
Glenn Farley is CSI Arizona’s Director of Policy & Research. For the past eight years he has worked in the Office of the Arizona Governor, most recently as Gov. Doug Ducey’s Chief Economist and a policy advisor. In that role he advised on issues of tax, fiscal, and regulatory policy, and was one of the Governor’s lead architects of his two major tax reforms – the 2018 tax overhaul that established the State’s first remote sellers sales tax and dedicated the proceeds to a major simplification and overhaul of the individual income tax, followed by the 2021 income tax omnibus which phased in a 2.50% flat tax (the lowest in the country).
Jobe Dickinson is a retired law enforcement officer of the Tucson Police Department. During his tenure with Tucson Police, he served as a patrol officer, undercover surveillance officer, auto theft investigator, field training officer, patrol sergeant, and Special Events Sergeant. As an auto theft investigator, Jobe worked on several cases with border crimes nexus, including human and drug smuggling.

The 2022 CSI Colorado Ballot Guide featuring Evelyn Lim and Chris Brown

From affordable housing to an income tax reduction, this November Colorado voters will face 11 different questions on their 2022 statewide election ballot. City & County of Denver residents will face 3 unique questions on their 2022 election ballot. Unfortunately wading through the ballot language of these measures does not always provide clear choices. Political ads and campaign rhetoric make casting a vote even more daunting. The 2022 Common Sense Institute Ballot Guide outlines the facts and provides an objective analysis of the economic impacts – without the spin. Based on economic models and comprehensive fiscal analysis, each issue is presented in a clear and concise manner that gives voters the information they need to make educated and informed decisions on each question.
On this episode of Common Sense Digest, Host and Chairman Earl Wright welcomes CSI's Vice President of Policy and Research Chris Brown and CSI 2022 Mike A. Leprino Fellow Evelyn Lim to discuss four measures, of which CSI has done analysis. Those measures are:
Proposition 123: Dedicate Revenue for Affordable Housing Programs
Proposition 121: State Income Tax Rate Reduction
Proposition FF: Healthy School Meals for All
Denver Ordinance 305: No Eviction Without Representation
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SPECIAL EPISODE: On the Road to $1 Billion in Vehicles Stolen

Common Sense Digest proudly presents this special episode titled "On the Road to $1 Billion in Vehicles Stolen: The Data Trends Behind Colorado’s Motor Vehicle Theft Crisis." This follows our recently released report of the same name found at the link. Despite the complexity of the issues surrounding motor vehicle theft, there is a crystal-clear trend in the Centennial state. Theft rates continue to rise, and Colorado maintains its unenviable distinction as the number one state in America for car theft. Common Sense Institute (CSI) Criminal Justice Fellows Mitch Morrissey and George Brauchler explore the data and trends through the first six months of 2022.
You will also hear from CSI Senior Economist Steven Byers and President of the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, David Hayes. 
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Will Proposition 123 Help the Affordable Housing Issue in Colorado? featuring Peter LiFari and Chris Brown

Housing affordability is one of the hottest topics in Colorado, and is likely to remain so. On this November's ballot Colorado voters will decide on the fate of Proposition 123, titled, “Dedicate Revenue for Affordable Housing.” To discuss this measure Host and Chairman Earl Wright welcomes CSI's Vice President of Policy and Research Chris Brown, and CSI 2022 Housing Fellow to discuss what issue the measure hopes to solve, how it would be implemented, its potential limitations and much more. 
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Peter LiFari is the 2022 Housing Fellow & 2021 Terry J. Stevinson Fellow and is the Executive Director of Maiker Housing Partners, a socially conscious public housing authority based in Adams County, Colorado. In his role as Executive Director, LiFari leads a passionate team committed to ending the cycle of generational poverty by providing individuals and families with access to affordable housing, support programs and by engaging in community development. LiFari is a compassionate visionary whose leadership style is grounded in treating individuals with empathy, warmth and grace. 

Dollars and Data: Education Funding and Achievement featuring Jason Gaulden and Brenda Dickhoner

As the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, it leaves in its wake declining public school student enrollment and achievement, local, state, and federal dollars continue to flow to Colorado school districts in ever-larger amounts. Despite this, student achievement made only a modest recovery in English Language Arts (reading and writing) in 2022 after a huge plunge in 2021, and fewer than four in 10 Colorado students can perform grade-level math proficiently.
To discuss these issues and much more including teacher pay and innovation in the classroom, our Host and Chairman Earl Wright welcomes CSI’s current and former education fellows. Brenda Dickhoner was CSI’s Mike A. Leprino Free Enterprise Fellow in 2021 and is now the President and CEO of education advocacy group Ready Colorado. Jason Gaulden, is this year's CSI Education Fellow and the author of the latest Dollars and Data report.
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Brenda Dickhoner is the President and CEO of Ready Colorado, an education advocacy organization. Brenda has spent her career working in education policy at the national and state level. She has previously served as a policy expert at the Colorado Department of Education, helping design and implement programs to help improve the state’s lowest-performing schools and districts. Brenda also supported education policy efforts at the Colorado Department of Higher Education and the National Conference of State Legislatures. Brenda earned a Ph.D. in Public Policy at the University of Colorado Denver's School of Public Affairs and a B.A. from Duke University.
Jason Gaulden, 2022 Education Fellow at Common Sense Institute and Partner at Oak Rose Group, a strategy consulting firm specializing in education, workforce development, and economic mobility. From 2015 to 2020, he worked with America Succeeds, a national network of business leaders focused on modernizing the nation’s education system. He co-authored the report The Age of Agility: Education Pathways for the Future of Work. The initiative empowers business leaders, educators, and policymakers to better prepare students for the new workforce and economy. Jason served as the program officer for education at Daniels Fund from 2005 to 2009, and before that, a Senior Fellow at El Pomar Foundation from 2001 to 2005. Jason is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. 

The Impact of New Energy Codes on Colorado’s Fraught Housing Market Part 2

Following Part 1 of this series, we re-join Host and Chairman Earl Wright, CEO of the Colorado Association of Homebuilders and CEO of the HBA of Metro Denver, Ted Leighty, Founder of Confluence Companies Tim Walsh, and CSI 2022 Mike A. Leprino Fellow and report author Evelyn Lim. They continue their conversation about the state of the Colorado housing market, the goals of recently passed energy code legislation, the increased costs those new codes will result in for builders (and ultimately homebuyers and employers), and what challenges exist in implementing them.
Our recent report The Uncertain Future Cost of Colorado’s Energy Infrastructure and Housing Affordability, foregrounds this discussion as our experts dig into the cost of implementing recently passed legislation that requires the adoption of a new energy code for buildings as well as what electrification of the built environment could cost Coloradans.  
Thank you for listening to Common Sense Digest. Please rate, review, and subscribe on your favorite podcatcher. All of our podcasts can be found here. 
In addition to being the CSI 2022 Mike A. Leprino Fellow, Evelyn Lim is the Former Region 8 Director at the US Housing and Urban Development and is now the Director of Policy and Research at the American Cornerstone Institute.
Since 2017 Ted Leighty has been the CEO of the Colorado Association of Home Builders and CEO of the HBA of Metro Denver since 2020. Ted has extensive experience in Colorado real estate, having served as Vice President of Government Affairs for the Colorado Association of Realtors.  He has also chaired the Colorado Real Estate Alliance and the Colorado Competitive Council.
Tim Walsh is the founder of Confluence Companies which plans, designs, develops, and provides construction management services here in Colorado. Since its founding, Confluence has managed the development and construction of over $750 million in projects including 2,000 multi-family residential units.

The Impact of New Energy Codes on Colorado’s Fraught Housing Market Part 1

The issue of housing is one we tackle repeatedly on Common Sense Digest because it touches every single Coloradan in some way and impacts the overall economic health and well-being of the state. Building off our recent report The Uncertain Future Cost of Colorado’s Energy Infrastructure and Housing Affordability, this first in a two-part series on Common Sense Digest discuss the cost of implementing recently passed legislation that requires the adoption of a new energy code for buildings as well as what electrification of the built environment could cost Coloradans.  
Joining Host and Chairman Earl Wright are CEO of the Colorado Association of Homebuilders and CEO of the HBA of Metro Denver, Ted Leighty, Founder of Confluence Companies Tim Walsh, and CSI 2022 Mike A. Leprino Fellow and report author Evelyn Lim. In Part 1, the four discuss the state of the Colorado housing market, the goals of recently passed energy code legislation, the increased costs those new codes will result in for builders (and ultimately homebuyers and employers), and what challenges exist in implementing them. 
Thank you for listening to Common Sense Digest. Please rate, review, and subscribe on your favorite podcatcher. All of our podcasts can be found here. 
In addition to being the CSI 2022 Mike A. Leprino Fellow, Evelyn Lim is the Former Region 8 Director at the US Housing and Urban Development and is now the Director of Policy and Research at the American Cornerstone Institute.
Since 2017 Ted Leighty has been the CEO of the Colorado Association of Home Builders and CEO of the HBA of Metro Denver since 2020. Ted has extensive experience in Colorado real estate, having served as Vice President of Government Affairs for the Colorado Association of Realtors.  He has also chaired the Colorado Real Estate Alliance and the Colorado Competitive Council.
Tim Walsh is the founder of Confluence Companies which plans, designs, develops, and provides construction management services here in Colorado. Since its founding, Confluence has managed the development and construction of over $750 million in projects including 2,000 multi-family residential units.

SPECIAL EPISODE: Affordable and Accessible Child Care: Colorado’s Workforce Challenge

This special episode of Common Sense Digest is brought to you by Colorado Politics and the Denver Gazette and hosted by Common Sense Institute and EPIC.
The high cost of child care acts as a barrier for parents, particularly women, seeking to return to the workforce, exacerbating Colorado’s labor shortage. Join industry experts and policymakers in exploring ways to create better access to quality and affordable child care for working families.
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SPECIAL EPISODE: Eggs & the Economy - Affordability

The following is a special episode of Common Sense Digest. On June 21, 2022, Common Sense Institute hosted Eggs & The Economy, a quarterly symposium featuring guest speakers on a variety of public policy issues highlighting the most pressing issues Colorado is currently facing. Our most recent event featured discussed the issue of affordability in Colorado. This podcast captured audio from the event in full, and features remarks from Chairman of the Board Earl Wright, and the following panelists:
Senior Economist Steven Byers
Mike A. Leprino Fellow Evelyn Lim
Vice President of Policy & Research Chris Brown
Representative of Colorado’s 35th District Shannon Bird
Luigi Del Puerto, Managing Editor of Colorado Politics (Moderator)
Thank you for listening to Common Sense Digest. Please rate, review, and subscribe on your favorite podcatcher. All of our podcasts can be found here.