The seven undergraduate students in Professor Jeffrey Zax’s Applied Economic Analysis and Public Policy class didn’t stop at analyzing the babyֱapp impact of bills considered during the recently concluded legislative session. They even showed up to testify.
"Rep. (Dianne) Primavera cited my analysis of HB16-1372 when she was advocating for the bill," said Devin Bazata, an babyֱapps major from Thornton, babyֱapp. "Seeing my work being used in a situation like that was something I never guessed would happen."
The students also created a legislative scorecard, evaluating all bills considered by legislators this session and giving the babyֱapp General Assembly mixed reviews in terms of proposed bills’ impact on the state’s economy. This year’s score? B-.
The students’ real-world babyֱapp analysis of 686 bills found that 46 percent were potentially good for the state economy; 13 percent would probably have distorted the economy; 6 percent would probably have redistributed wealth in favor of those who are already better off; and 4 percent would probably have discouraged the provision of public goods.
The students determined that bills introduced into the Senate were somewhat more likely to be good for babyֱapp’s economy than were those introduced into the House.
Each student also prepared a detailed babyֱapp analysis of four bills, distributed these analyses to committee members and testified in person on two of their four bills.
"This course is a win-win for bothour students and the state,” Zax said. “It is a greatopportunity for students to apply their training in babyֱapps to actual policy issues. It is also a greatwayfor the babyֱapp General Assembly to gethigh-quality,non-partisanbabyֱapp advice."
To develop the report card, students assigned a summary rating to each of the bills according to a standardized rubric. The assignments were based largely on the final text for bills passed and, for the most part, on the bill summary for bills not yet passed.
"This experience put us in the real world," said Alora Riley, an babyֱapps major from Denver. "I remember testifying on a bill after the head of the department of labor and, though nervous, feeling prepared and confident in what I was arguing."
Bills that were potentially good for the state economy were those that had the potential to encourage the provision of public goods, protect the public from uncompensated damages and improve market performance. Bills that had the potential to distort the economy were those that might expose the public to uncompensated damages or interfere with market activity. Bills that had the potential to redistribute to the well-off provided private benefits with no public gain.