The Colorado Fiscal Institute’s 2016 Fiscal Forum
“The Road to Prosperity Starts with Equity”
Featuring Dr. Manuel Pastor
Friday, Jan. 15, 2015
History Colorado Center

Agenda

8 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. – Registration

8:30 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. – Welcome

Carol Hedges, Executive Director, Colorado Fiscal Institute

8:45 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. – The Colorado Budget Conundrum
Natalie Mullis and Henry Sobanet will engage in a panel conversation about current economic trends that will provide new insight into economic and tax policy.

Natalie Mullis, Chief Economist, Colorado Legislative Council Staff
Henry Sobanet, Director, The Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting
Carol Hedges, Executive Director, Colorado Fiscal Institute, moderator

9:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. – Kansas: “A Real Live Experiment” that Went Horribly Wrong
Remember when Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said he was going to conduct “a real live experiment” in Kansas by slashing taxes? We will hear from two Kansas politicos, former state Sen. Wint Winter Jr. and current Rep. Stephanie Clayton, on how this experiment is going.

Wint Winter Jr., former Kansas senator
Stephanie Clayton, current Kansas representative
Tim Hoover, Communications Director, Colorado Fiscal Institute, moderator

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Engaging Coloradans on Tax, Budget and Government
Researchers with the Topos Partnership, a national firm with unique expertise on the “cultural common sense” that frames the way people think about issues, will present research on public attitudes about the role of government, taxes and public investments. This research was conducted in four states, including Colorado.

Axel Aubrun, co-founder, Topos Partnership

11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Networking break and Lunch

12 p.m. – 1 p.m. – Looking Forward: Equity and Sustainable Prosperity
Dr. Manuel Pastor will speak about how the answers to growing economic challenges, increasing income inequality and political polarization in the United States can be addressed through a focus on equity. This relationship between real economic growth and equity is the topic of his newest book, Equity, Growth and Community.

Dr. Manuel Pastor, Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity, University of Southern California