In response to a petition from public interest groups, the EPA has extended the deadline for public comments on its proposed cutbacks to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to Jan 13. In an unrelated change, the agency also moved the electronic docket of public comments from its own website to the federal government's www.regulations.gov. The transition was far from seamless, and the possible effects of the location change in the midst of the rulemaking process are uncertain.

Earlier this month, voters in Colorado demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the state's constitutional spending limit law — otherwise known as TABOR--by voting in favor of suspending its spending limits for five years. TABOR, the "taxpayer's bill of rights," had contributed to a significant decline in the state's public services since its enactment in 1992. Unfortunately, this victory in Colorado has come after years of disastrous tax and spending practices eroded state services, harming Colorado's education system, health care programs, and transportation infrastructure.

Based in part on flawed cost-benefit analysis, a proposed rule to reduce injuries sustained when vehicles roll over and their roofs are crushed inward fails to require the level of safety available in current technology and threatens to eliminate the rights of roof crush victims to sue manufacturers. Caving in on Roof Strength