Report: Colorado’s 32 Percent Increase in Crime Due to Changes in Prosecutions, Sentences

The crime rate in Colorado increased 32 percent from 2010 to 2022, a new report from a research group says.

The Common Sense Institute’s report, titled “The Fight Against Crime in Colorado: Policing, Legislation and Incarceration,” found the cost of crime in the state was nearly $30 billion in 2022. The cost of crime in Denver was $4 billion and $2.7 billion in Colorado Springs.

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New Report Shows Arizona Manufacturing ‘Renaissance’

New data on the manufacturing sector in Arizona shows rapid growth in recent years for the industry.

A report from the Common Sense Institute, a Phoenix-based conservative think tank, determined that Arizona topped all other states in March for adding 2,000 manufacturing jobs and $77.6 billion in “direct sales and output” from the sector in 2022, which the group said in a roughly 40 percent uptick since 2017.

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Inflation Hits 10.9 Percent in Metro Phoenix, Highest of Major Metro Areas and Substantially Above National Average

Inflation is soaring under the Biden administration, and it’s even worse in Phoenix. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation in metro Phoenix jumped 10.9% from February 2021 through February 2022, significantly more than the national average increase of 8.5% and higher than any other major metro area. This is one of the highest levels reported for Phoenix, the Common Sense Institute found.

The 8.5% inflation rate is the highest in the U.S. in 41 years. In 2020, the last year of Donald Trump’s presidency, it was only 1.5%. It began spiking as soon as Joe Biden entered office. The main goods driving the spike nationally are food, gas, and housing. 

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Denver Spends More on Homeless Than Schools and Police

Denver spent twice as much money on its homeless population than it did on its students and police, a Common Sense Institute August report showed.

The city spent between $41,679 and $104,201 per person on its homeless population, compared to $19,202 per student in K-12 public schools in 2020, according to the report. In total it spent $481 million on healthcare, housing and other services for homeless people, over $100 million more than the Department of Public Safety’s budget.

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