Common Sense Unfiltered

It’s no secret that Colorado has been hit with a crime wave. Skyrocketing crime rates, fentanyl deaths, and the number one rank in the country when it comes to auto thefts, are all factors that have put Colorado’s economic future at risk and made Coloradans less safe.
Public safety plays a critical role in the economic vitality of a community. Increasing population, attracting new businesses, generating a workforce, and bolstering the ability to attract tourism are all directly related to real and perceived safety challenges. If people are not safe, they cannot learn, work, or enjoy their communities. Ultimately, high crime rates result in a failure to thrive. Our recent report "The Fight Against Crime in Colorado: Policing, Legislation, and Incarceration," poses the question: Why has Colorado become less safe? A comparison of policing and crime rates in the two largest cities in Colorado, Denver and Colorado Springs, uncovers distinctly different trends in policing and police resources that have produced differing outcomes.
2023 Public Safety Fellow Chief Paul Pazen is the former Chief of Police in Denver, Colorado where he rose through the ranks of the department up to his appointment in 2018 as the Chief. He joins Chairman and Host Earl Wright to discuss his report, what contributing factors have led to the increase in crime, what can be done about it, and how the community can play an active role in supporting those who protect us. 
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During his tenure as Police Chief, Paul Pazen (retired) led the creation and expansion of innovative solutions to address complex public safety issues. These programs include spearheading the creation of the Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program, Outreach Case Coordinators (case managers) and the Domestic Violence Prevention Program. He directed a significant expansion of the mental health clinician Co-Responder Program, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), the implementation of a forward-thinking use-of-force policy and training curriculum. 
Chief Pazen graduated magna cum laude from Colorado State University – Global with a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership, holds a Master of Arts in Homeland Security and Defense from the Naval Postgraduate School, and is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Executive Institute (NEI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy (FBINA) and the Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP) through the Police Executive Research Forum. Chief Pazen served in the United States Marine Corps and is a Veteran of the Gulf War.

As we near the year's midpoint, we take time to reflect on what we've accomplished and discuss where we go from here. It has been a busy year for Common Sense Institute, which means there is plenty of fertile ground to cover as we discuss the legislative session, touch on our studies and reports, and look ahead to election season and beyond.
Host and Chairman Earl Wright welcomes 2023 Mike A. Leprino Fellow Lang Sias, 2023 CSI Owens-Early Criminal Justice Fellow, and Kelly Caufield, Executive Director of Common Sense Institute for a spirited and wide-ranging conversation about an abundance of topics. Some of the issues touched on include crime (with a particular focus on auto theft and sentencing), housing, economic development, competitiveness and workforce, education, TABOR, the "fair work week," PERA, and many others. This episode is loaded and our panel of experts dive deep into the issues most directly affecting Coloradans.
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Lang Sias is the 2023 CSI Mike A. Leprino Fellow is a former Colorado State legislator, attorney and Navy and Air National Guard fighter pilot. As a Colorado State Representative from 2015-2019, Lang represented House District 27 in Jefferson County. The ranking member on the business committee, Lang also served on the education, public health and health exchange oversight committees, and was a member of the legislative tax simplification task force and the JeffCo school safety task force. Over 85% of the bills Lang sponsored were bipartisan. He focused on solving problems in the areas of education, health care and small business, and on government transparency and accountability. He played major roles in passing legislation expanding public school choice, increasing healthcare transparency and reforming the public pension system to benefit retirees and taxpayers. Lang currently serves on the legislative subcommittee that oversees Colorado’s state pension fund. He was the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 2018 and State Treasurer in 2022.
George Brauchler is the 2023 CSI Owens-Early Criminal Justice Fellow, and served as the elected District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District (JD), Colorado’s most populous district, which includes Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert, and Lincoln counties, from 2013-2021. As a state prosecutor, he handled the felony cases from the Columbine High School mass shooting case, the Aurora Theater (Batman) mass shooting case, and recently, the STEM Academy school mass shooting case.
Kelly Caufield is the Executive Director of Common Sense Institute. In this role, Kelly is the key management leader of CSI and oversees the administration, strategic plan, and programming for the organization. Kelly brings nearly 20 years of policy, research, and advocacy experience to CSI.  

Our recent report, The Economic Impact of Arizona’s Manufacturing Sector, demonstrates how the manufacturing sector has been one of the fastest growing parts of the Arizona economy over the past decade. In March, manufacturers added 2,000 jobs in Arizona (1st in the country), even as the overall labor market shrank. The manufacturing sector has for decades been a focus of public policy and public investment, but despite these efforts, the story of American manufacturing since the late 1970’s has been one of slow decline – at least in terms of employment and at least relative to the rest of the world. However, since 2017, the state and to some extent the country have been undergoing something of a ‘manufacturing renaissance’.
On this edition of Common Sense Digest, Chairman and Host Earl Wright welcomes CSI Board Member and Co-Owner of Pivot Manufacturing Steve Macias and CSI Director of Policy & Research Chris Brown to the show to discuss how policies enacted at both the state and federal level have contributed to manufacturing growth, what obstacles remain, the complex puzzle of workforce development, and much more. What has contributed to Arizona's manufacturing renaissance? What challenges remain? Where do we go from here? All that and a lot more await you in this episode.
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Steve Macias is a co-owner of Pivot Manufacturing and has been the President and CEO since the company’s inception in 2000. Pivot is a vibrant part of the manufacturing community that does machining and assembly work for a variety of companies, primarily in the defense industry. Pivot has grown significantly during the last several years by leveraging the excellent relationships the company has built with existing customers into new manufacturing opportunities. Those opportunities are currently translating to another growth period as Pivot is expanding their building footprint to accommodate future production.
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. Mr. Farley has also led the budget team that produced the Executive revenue forecasts and caseload spending numbers that have helped ensure the longest run of conservative, structurally balanced budgets in State history. Mr. Farley has a Masters in Economics from Arizona State University’s WP Carey College of Business, as well as a B.S. from Arizona State University.
 

In this special edition of Common Sense Digest Arizona, we feature discussion from one of our recent events. On Tuesday, May 2, Common Sense Institute hosted Coffee & Common Sense: A Conversation About Arizona's Changing Economy. 
We welcomed an expert panel to discuss how Arizona's economy has transformed over the last decade, what's driving this, and what obstacles will policymakers need to overcome to ensure it continues to thrive. 
Hosted by CSI Director of Policy & Research Glenn Farley.
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The Colorado legislative session wraps up imminently. The budget for 2023-2024 has passed, which outlines state spending totaling $41.1 billion. It’s a number larger than the GDP of Libya, Bolivia, Uganda, Iceland and dozens of other countries. $41.1 billion also represents a 4.2% increase over last year and the largest budget in Colorado history. As the legislature works fast and furiously to finish out the session, much debate remains on top issues pressing to Coloradans, including housing, crime, workforce, to just name a few.
Host and Chairman Earl Wright welcomes Owner and Principal Lobbyist at Sanchez Policy Works, Jordan Sanchez, and CSI's Director of Legislative Services, Jake Zambrano to recap this year's legislative session, discuss emergent themes, unpack fiscal policy, and delve into the key issues faced. What should Coloradans focus most pressingly on? What issues remain? And fiscal cliffs has the body faced as they seek to move Colorado forward? All of these questions and more will be answered in the latest edition of Common Sense Digest. 
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Jordan Sanchez is the Owner and Principal Lobbyist at Sanchez Policy Works which specializes in fiscal policy lobbying. Services include tracking, monitoring, and active advocacy throughout the annual budget process as it unfolds within the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of Colorado. Additionally, Sanchez Policy Works monitors and advocates on policy implementation.
Jake Zambrano is Director of Legislative Services for Common Sense Institute. Jake has specialized in state government relations, public affairs, grassroots advocacy, and political campaign management for over 20 years. He has represented a number of clients at the Colorado General Assembly including Colorado Mesa University, Medtronic, Boehringer – Ingelheim, Extraction Oil and Gas, and Teladoc to name a few.

For much of the last two decades, Colorado has been very highly ranked among U.S. states for being business friendly. This has been
reflected in state-by-state rankings extolling Colorado's relatively low tax rates, highly educated workforce, and high quality of life. These positive factors reinforced patterns that increased the size and scope of Colorado's business community and workforce.
In 2023, however, the outlook has changed. On the one hand, there are certainly reasons to be optimistic about Colorado's business
environment as recent job and business formation data suggest that our economy has rebounded quickly from the pandemic and as is weathering the storm amidst the battle to lower inflation. CNBC recently ranked Colorado #4 on its list of Top States for Business for 2022. On the other hand, beneath these positive indications, there are signs that the direct and indirect costs of doing business in Colorado are beginning to threaten our state's competitive edge.
Chairman and Host Earl Wright welcomes Loren Furman, President & CEO of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, and Lang Sias, CSI's 2023 Mike A. Leprino Fellow. Together they discuss Colorado's competitiveness, net migration, recent policy initiatives, trends and much more. If you care about the future of Colorado from a business perspective, this is a conversation you will not want to miss. You can read our full report on the issue here.
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Loren Furman was named President & CEO of the Colorado Chamber on January 1, 2022. Prior to becoming President, she served as the Chamber’s Senior Vice President of State & Federal Relations since 2008 and led the Chamber’s engagement on all State and Federal governmental issues that affect businesses statewide. In that role she was the primary spokesperson for the organization, and as a member of the leadership team, was actively involved in operational issues including hiring and communications strategies, membership, and strategic approaches for the organization.
Lang Sias is the 2023 is a former Colorado State legislator, attorney and Navy and Air National Guard fighter pilot. As a Colorado State Representative from 2015-2019, Lang represented House District 27 in Jefferson County. The ranking member on the business committee, Lang also served on the education, public health and health exchange oversight committees, and was a member of the legislative tax simplification task force and the JeffCo school safety task force. Over 85% of the bills Lang sponsored were bipartisan. He focused on solving problems in the areas of education, health care and small business, and on government transparency and accountability. He played major roles in passing legislation expanding public school choice, increasing healthcare transparency and reforming the public pension system to benefit retirees and taxpayers. Lang currently serves on the legislative subcommittee that oversees Colorado’s state pension fund. He was the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 2018 and State Treasurer in 2022.

According to CSI Housing fellow Peter LiFari’s latest housing report, as of 2021, 80% of Coloradans live in a county with an aggregate housing supply shortage. As a result, home affordability has decreased by 85% since 2015. Now, as of 2022, Colorado is the 8th most unaffordable state for renters in the country. Governor Polis and leaders in the legislature on both sides of the aisle have named housing a top tier policy priority issue this year and long-awaited legislation addressing state land use was just introduced last week (SB23-213).
On this episode of Common Sense Digest, Chairman and Host Earl Wright welcomes Peter LiFari, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce Adam Burg, and CSI's Vice President of Policy & Research Chris Brown to discuss the recent developments in housing, what bills are before the state legislature, and ideas to make housing more affordable for Coloradans. There is no single silver bullet to solve the issue, but rather a coterie of solutions that could make a substantive impact. 
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Peter LiFari is CSI's 2023 Housing 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. 
Adam Burg is Vice President of Government Affairs for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. Burg most recently served as legislative and government affairs senior advisor for Adams County. Before joining Adams County in 2017, Burg spent two years working for Joint Budget Committee Chair Sen. Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, when Sen. Moreno was the assistant majority leader in the House. Burg also co-founded a political consulting firm, L&B Strategies, LLC, in 2015 with a focus on political consulting, government relations and business strategy.

In the coming weeks, CSI will release a report focused on how minimum wage policy and other benefits like Medicaid impact the state, employers, and workers. More than 1 of every 4 Coloradans, is currently on Medicaid. We believe this research that will help us better quantify the costs to the state’s growing budget and how we can ensure policy incentivizes work rather than trapping individuals in dependency and benefits from the government.
Chairman and Host Earl Wright welcomes new Economic Mobility Fellow Tamra Ryan and Chief Program Officer of Cross Purpose Juan Pena to the show to discuss these issues. In a loaded episode, the three discuss how the system unintentionally disincentivizes work, the dignity of work, and how to help our citizens avoid the "benefits cliff." Issues like these are complex, therefore a nuanced and deep discussion is warranted. 
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Tamra Ryan is the CEO of Women’s Bean Project, a social enterprise providing transitional employment in its food manufacturing business to women attempting to break the cycle of chronic unemployment and poverty. She serves as an Economic Mobility Fellow for Common Sense Institute Colorado. Tamra is a former partner and board member for Social Venture Partners-Denver and Social Enterprise Alliance.
Juan Pena is the Chief Program Officer of CrossPurpose, and is passionate about helping Denver families escape poverty and pursue their dreams through our six-month career and community development program. Juan received his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Massachusetts and his Master of Divinity from Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit, P.A. While attending seminary, Juan worked as an engineer and planted a multiethnic, socioeconomically diverse church in the Poconos. In 2008, he moved to Denver to be a part of the elder team at Providence Bible Church.

The Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority estimated the impact of hosting the Super Bowl in 2015 to be $719.4 million. By all accounts, the upcoming 2023 event should be even larger. The entire sector of sports and tourism in Arizona, however, adds billions of dollars and thousands of jobs annually and independent of major events like the Super Bowl. This brief will give an overview of the impact the whole sports and tourism sector has on Arizona’s economy throughout the year and its prospects for future growth.
$24.2 billion: Contribution of the sports and tourism sector to Arizona’s Real Gross Domestic Product in 2022 (6.4% of the state’s economy).
$13.7 billion: Direct sales by Arizona’s hotels, casinos, performance venues, and other components of the state’s sports & tourism sector in 2022.
347,500: Number of people directly and indirectly employed by Arizona’s sports and tourism sector, or 11% of the state’s total workforce.
3.0%: Projected average annual growth rate of the sector over the next decade.
Sports and tourism, as a sector composed of various shares of NAICS classification industries, is no small share of the Arizona economy, and recognizing the impact of these industries can help encourage the adoption of public policy that enables the continued growth and development of this area. You can read our report on the total economic impact here.
On this episode of Common Sense Digest, Host and Chairman Earl Wright welcomes Kim Sabow, President & CEO of Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association, and Glenn Farley CSI Arizona's Director of Policy and Research to discuss CSI's recent report, how big a share of the state economy is comprised of sports and tourism, and their wish list for policymakers to embolden and grow the industry. 
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 this special edition of Common Sense Digest, we feature discussion from one of our recent events. On Tuesday, March 7, Common Sense Institute hosted Eggs & the Economy which featured an in-depth conversation on the upcoming local election and the facts you need to know on issues that matter most - crime, housing, workforce and homelessness. The panel was moderated by Ed Sealover and features the following panelists:
Kelly Caufield - CSI Executive Director
Mitch Morrissey - CSI 2023 Early-Owens Criminal Justice Fellow
Tamra Ryan - Economic Mobility Fellow
Chris Brown - Vice President of Policy & Research
Peter Lifari - CSI Housing Fellow
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.