Today marks the end of the eighth week of the legislative session. We’re almost half way through.
Farewell to the Rocky Mountain News
I was born and raised in Colorado. Every morning, there were two papers on our doorstep. My father preferred the Denver Post, but my Grandma was a Rocky Mountain News fan. I’ve always enjoyed reading both perspectives on the news.
Today, after nearly 150 years running, the Rocky shut down its press.
The paper has reported Colorado’s current events as our state was settled, told our citizens’ stories, and carried the voices of governors and legislators far beyond the Capitol walls for a century and a half. I am saddened that when I get to work in the mornings now, only one statewide paper will be on my desk.
I extend a heartfelt thank you to the thousands of reporters who have served our state as Rocky Mountain News journalists. As we prattle on, your voices will be missed.
Senate Bill 108
We readopted Senate Bill 108, or FASTER, the transportation omnibus bill. It will now make its way to Governor Ritter’s desk to become law.
Transportation in Colorado is funded inadequately, and the way we pay for transportation is structurally flawed. It’s scary to restructure the way we direct dollars to transportation because change is scary, but it also takes courage to move this state forward, and that’s what we are doing with this bill. This bill will create thousands of jobs, and at the same time provide a stable, sustainable way to maintain and improve our transportation infrastructure. It’s one of the most important things we will accomplish this session.
Click here to read what the Denver Post had to say about it.
Peace Corps Resolution
Today we passed a resolution honoring the nearly 200,000 American men and women who have devoted years of their lives to the cause of peace by volunteering in developing nations. I praise their dedication and willingness to commit so much of their lives and give so much of themselves to the disadvantaged people of other nations. They are spreading peace one person at a time.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog at 5:05 PM UTC []
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A Chinese Fable
There was once a stonecutter, who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life.
One day, he passed a wealthy merchant’s house, and through the open gateway, saw many fine possessions and important visitors. “How powerful that merchant must be!” thought the stonecutter. He became very envious, and wished that he could be like the merchant. Then he would no longer have to live the life of a mere stonecutter.
To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever dreamed of, envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. But soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants, and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. “How powerful that official is!” he thought. “I wish that I could be a high official!”
Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around, who had to bow down before him as he passed. It was a hot summer day, and the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. “How powerful the sun is!” he thought. “I wish that I could be the sun!”
Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. “How powerful that storm cloud is!” he thought. “I wish that I could be a cloud!”
Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. “How powerful it is!” he thought. “I wish that I could be the wind!”
Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, hated and feared by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it – a huge, towering mountain. “How powerful that mountain is!” he thought. “I wish that I could be a mountain!” he thought. “I wish that I could be a mountain!”
Then he became the mountain, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the solid rock, and felt himself being changed. “What could be more powerful than I, the mountain?” he thought. He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stonecutter.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog at 3:31 PM UTC []
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The select committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth finished its work yesterday, bringing forth more than two dozen pieces of legislation that will help Colorado climb out of this recession. By expanding the new energy economy, creating jobs in rural areas, improving transportation infrastructure, and offering incentives to small businesses, we will stimulate our economy and continue to achieve the Colorado Promise.
The culmination of months of work by the select committee has resulted in an extensive set of proposals that will provide a long-term plan for creating and keeping good jobs for Coloradans. All of the bills must undergo the standard rigorous legislative review process, so some of them may not pass in the end, but these are the bills introduced thus far that we’ll consider in an effort for economic recovery:
SB 108
FASTER: Funding Advancements for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery
HB 1001
Income Tax Credit for Colorado Job Growth
HB 1105
Colorado Innovation Investment Tax Credit Act
SB 85
Phase Out Business Personal Property Tax
HB 1035
Tax Refund for Colorado-based Technology Companies
SB 232
Local Government Financing with Severance Tax Cash Funds
SB 67
Colorado Credit Reserve Program to Expand Credit for Small Businesses
SB 233
Tax Credit for Some Home Businesses
SB 178
Unemployment Insurance for Unemployed Individuals Available to Small Business
HB 1126
Encourage Solar Thermal Installations
HB 1149
Encourage New Homes to Use Solar Energy
SB 31
Clean Technology Discovery Grant Program
SB 171
New Energy Economy Training Programs
SB 238
Government Treatment of Solar Device Permits
SB 234
Create a Statewide Enterprise Zone
SB 162
Inventory of Broadband Service Areas
HB 1275
Emergency Medical Technician Provisional Certification
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog, Economy, Transportation at 11:47 AM UTC []
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Today my friend and colleague, Senator Jennifer Veiga, achieved a great victory in the Senate. The bill she sponsored to provide health care for domestic partners of state employees passed on second reading. This will allow the state to remain a competitive employer by offering an attractive and comprehensive compensation package.
But it does a lot more than that. It makes a powerful statement of fairness, compassion, and equality. It takes a step toward surmounting the civil rights battle of our time.
I applaud Senator Veiga for bringing this legislation forward, and I admire the courage of all my colleagues who voted for upholding the idea at the root of our magnificent democracy—that all people, without exclusion, are created equal.
Click here to read a Denver Post article about the bill. Click here for text of the legislation.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog at 5:50 PM UTC []
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Almost our entire budget is spent by arbitrary allocation formulas that are in the constitution, and therefore can’t be changed. Fortunately, there is a burdensome allocation formula that we can change.
It’s a quirky Colorado statute referred to as the Arveschoug-Bird limit, or the 6% provision, which limits the growth of our operating budget to 6% more than the previous year. It passed in 1991 and fits nicely with the Grover Norquist philosophy of drowning government in a bathtub.
In the current economic environment, the Arveschoug-Bird provision will ultimately contribute to a prolonged recession in our state. It will inhibit our ability to bounce back even when economies in the rest of the world have bounced back, and it also threatens to make permanent cuts to higher education, K-12 education, and health care. Below is a graph showing how the 6% limit will ratchet down the state’s operating budget in the future.
When the economy recovers and our revenues increase by more than 6%, all of the money above the 6% limit is allocated through laws passed in 1997 (SB97-001) and 2002 (HB02-1310) for transportation and capital construction projects. In this way, the 6% limit has become an allocation device, not a growth limit. Unfortunately, this presents an unstable mechanism for funding transportation and capital construction projects because the funding is tied to fluctuations in the economy. We absolutely must fund transportation, but we need to do so with a stable source of revenue.
My colleague from Colorado Springs, Senator John Morse, has introduced a plan that will begin to untie Colorado’s fiscal knot by eliminating the Arveschoug-Bird provision. This will allow us to develop a stable stream of revenue for transportation and capital construction projects. It will also allow us to fairly fund state services according to our values instead of by adhering to arbitrary formulas. I applaud him for taking action, and for having the courage to do the right thing for our state. I will keep you posted as his measure moves through the legislative process.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog, Economy at 6:04 PM UTC []
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Today, President Obama came to Colorado to sign the single most significant piece of legislation since our country entered this economic crisis. We are enduring a threatening, ongoing recession, but I am optimistic that Coloradans will soon climb out of this hole. I think President Obama’s stimulus package will be a big help, and we at the Capitol are also focused on creating and protecting thousands of Colorado jobs.
As I’ve said many times before, this recession has dropped major challenges at our doorstep. We have to reconcile how to provide children’s healthcare and school funding; how to care for those who cannot care for themselves—the elderly, the developmentally disabled, and the veterans disabled by war; how to keep our overwhelmed corrections and judicial operations afloat; how to maintain our transportation infrastructure so the economy can function freely and efficiently; among many other items we have to balance in our budget.
During times like these, our true values are revealed. As elected officials, we have to maintain a balance between acting in accordance with our values and representing our constituents. I believe there isn’t much difference—I think most of us believe in a shared set of values, but I want to hear from you to be sure. We’ve launched a listening tour for the Senate Democratic caucus. Please click here to tell our caucus what approaches you would support for balancing the budget. We will collect and evaluate the data before making our big budget decisions.
In addition to the online surveys to gather input, we’re also hosting a series of town hall meetings throughout the state. There’s one in Boulder County this weekend. It’s free and open to the public, and I hope to see you there!
WHO:
Senator Brandon C. Shaffer, Majority Leader of the Colorado Senate
Representative Paul Weissmann, Majority Leader of the Colorado House of Representatives
Senator Rollie Heath
Representative Jack Pommer
Representative Claire Levy
Representative Dickey Lee Hullinghorst
Todd Saliman, Director of the Office of State Planning and Budgeting
WHAT:
A town hall meeting to discuss the state budget and constitutional issues
WHEN:
Saturday, February 21
10:00am – noon
WHERE:
University of Colorado campus in Boulder
Cristol Chemistry and Biochemistry Building
Room 142
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog at 5:47 PM UTC []
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President Lincoln was born 200 years ago today. I read an article about how in Lincoln’s time, he wasn’t revered the way he often has been since his death. The article highlighted the fragility of our nation during Lincoln’s presidency and the vulnerability of our country being torn apart by a war born primarily from a crumbling economy. Many credit Lincoln for holding together the United States of America at that decisive time.
Today, 200 years after Lincoln was born, the leader of our still-unified nation is of African descent—a scenario that in Lincoln’s time, most citizens of our nation could never have imagined—and he presides over a nation that, while not torn by civil war, is involved in conflicts across the globe, and once again finds itself in financial turmoil.
The author of the article, Wilfred McClay, wrote:
We need to remember that this is often how history happens. Background music does not swell at the crucial moment, and trumpets do not sound, when the events of history are actually taking place. The orator or the soldier has to wonder whether he is acting in vain, whether the criticisms of others are in fact warranted, whether time will judge him harshly. Few great men have felt this burden more completely than Lincoln.
I believe Barack Obama will feel this burden as completely, and perhaps to an even greater extent, than good ole Abe did.
I also believe that the budget burden trickles down to all elected officials, and those of us at the Colorado Capitol are feeling the weight of the tremendous task ahead of us. We know that every decision we make will affect, in very real ways, all those living in Colorado today, and all of the generations to come. And there are no trumpeters praising our good decisions, nor gongs in the gallery to ominously signal potential mistakes. We must act in good faith to create history, balancing the outcries of our critics with the credibility of our values.
Next week, we will be facing the first major hurdle directly associated with balancing our budget. In order to balance our 08-09 budget, we’ll examine a laundry list of proposed cuts to departments, cash fund transfers, and dipping into the reserve. None of these decisions will be easy, and there are no prescribed answers. We must rely on our best judgments and hope that we choose our better history.
Even though the decisions we are currently making may not be praised at this moment, I believe that when our economy bounces back, possibly years from now, it will be because of the decisions we are making today. Understand that no one wants to make any cuts, but in order for Colorado to have a thriving future, comprehensive budget reform is necessary.
The House and Senate will convene for a joint session on Monday to begin reviewing the bills that will reevaluate the budget we passed last year. If you’d like to provide feedback or just stay informed as the process unfolds, be sure to keep checking the blog and leave comments. You can also listen to legislative audio. The bill will be in the Senate this week and the House next.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog at 5:51 PM UTC []
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On Monday, our President addressed the nation about the state of our economy and his plan to fix it. He declared that above all else, we must focus on creating jobs. Our President’s charge extends across all levels of government. Colorado has not been sheltered from this recession. When we have a billion dollar budget shortfall, we cannot be distracted. Job creation is our number one priority.
President Obama said, “I can’t afford to see Congress play the usual political games. What we have to do right now is deliver for the American people.” As Majority Leader of the Colorado Senate, my job is to deliver for the people of Colorado.
The General Assembly is focused. Democrats and Republicans alike are working steadily to create jobs, boost our economy, and deliver to Coloradans the tools they need to make a decent living.
Currently, there are more than 30 economic development bills in the works. The bills take a wide range of approaches and include everything from: extending educational opportunities, increasing incentives for environmentally conscientious research and development, and providing tax credits for job-creating investments. The legislative process can be difficult to navigate, and not all of these proposals will survive, but enough of them will get through to help stimulate our job-market by the end of the session.
Are you out of work? Write to me. Tell me your story. Share your ideas for how the legislature can continue to create jobs for Coloradans. Crises like this open the door for creative solutions, and we’re open to all ideas.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog, Economy at 10:16 AM UTC []
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The late Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey said, “The ultimate moral test of any government is the manner in which it treats three groups of its citizens…those in the dawn of life, our children…those in the shadow of life, our sick, our needy, and our handicapped…those in the twilight of life, our elderly.”
Today we passed some great legislation for our children.
Senate Bill 33 will give free lunches to hungry preschoolers. Last year, Senator Sandoval passed a bill that provided free lunches for underprivileged Colorado kids. This year’s bill extends that option to indigent students in public early education programs. Now when a young child might not have a box of cereal on the shelf at home in the morning or a dinner on the table in the evening, they will at least be nourished at school.
Senate Bill 79 will improve the well-being of kids in foster care by making it easier for birth siblings to maintain long-term connections with each other. This way, in the unfortunate circumstance that brothers and sisters can’t remain under the same roof, they will at least be able to preserve relationships with each other with ease.
Our kids are our most promising population, and at the same time, they are the most vulnerable among us. I am proud of my colleagues for passing these two bills and focusing on protecting our most precious resource: children.
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Blog at 12:58 PM UTC []
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What issue is of utmost concern to you right now? Please respond by commenting on this post.
a) Economy
b) Gas Prices
c) K-12 Education
d) Higher Education
e) Health Care Costs
f) Transportation Infrastructure
g) Oil and Gas Rules
h) Environmental Issues
i) FasTraks
j) Other (please explain)
Posted by SenatorShaffer as Polls at 5:02 PM UTC []
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