As Colorado lawmakers grapple with a budget shortfall, a familiar argument has resurfaced: Does the state have a "revenue problem" or a "spending problem"?

The answer typically depends on whom you ask and political leanings.

A closer look at 25 years of budget data reveals a more nuanced picture that challenges both narratives.

Policymakers have long explored how best to achieve the objectives of avoiding unnecessary youth involvement in the criminal justice system, ensuring public safety and reducing recidivism. This effort has included an ongoing debate on the necessary and appropriate number of youth detention beds to detain youth offenders while they are awaiting trial. Conflicting opinions on this number has arisen in part due to the “mixed messages” of the data. The number of crimes committed by youth has decreased in Colorado while the severity of those offenses has increased.

A debate is taking place among state legislators in Colorado over whether to effectively increase the penalties for theft of a firearm by making it “a class 6 felony, regardless of the firearm’s value.”  The proponents and opponents have expressed a shared objective of reducing the number of stolen firearms and gun violence, but they cite conflicting research to support their differing positions on House Bill 1062.