| Sen. President Groff said that unfortunately there were no sacred cows when it came to the impending cuts, and he expressed regret that at a time when people were likely to be turning to the government for help, it may be necessary to trim programs that would really help them. Nevertheless, the Democrats were optimistic that they could send the Governor new bills that would bring more of Colorado into what incoming House Speaker Terrance Carroll called the "circle of opportunity."
The ripple effect from Federal dollars could be substantial, each billion invested may create as many as 40,000 new jobs. But will that money make it's way to Colorado? If the criteria is on "shovel ready" projects, Sen. Groff said that we could see a lot of it coming our way, but that if the criteria was "needs based" then he thought Michigan, Florida, and California might receive it instead. Either way, the Federal money would be a catalyst and not the solution to our long term problems. For our roadways, Rep. Carroll hinted that legislative leaders, the Governor, and "outside groups" were working to create a "new sustainable revenue source."
Schaffer and Weismann, the Senate and House Majority Leaders, explained that their jobs would be to keep the focus of their caucus on the key priorities, but admitted that many side issues would be folded in. Weismann offered the example, "I'll be back with my death penalty bill." The press questions often explored the side issues, such as liquor sales in supermarkets and payday loans, but the leadership kept framing the answers around the topic of economics, a place where they (perhaps overly optimistically) felt that they had enough of a shared stake with the Republican members that the session can proceed with little partisan rancor. Republican legislators nearby seemed to not share the belief that economic issues are quite so collegial.
Betty Boyd, Sen. President Pro-Tem, spoke to the issue of education, and talked about programs designed to provide workers for high-tech jobs such as a partnered high-school/associates degree program. She also spoke of potential programs to mandate family leave days when employees with children need to attend parent teacher conferences. When the leadership was asked about C.U. President Benson's request that the school be "set free" to raise tuition rates, Sen. Groff suggested that, "They do need some flexibility to stay viable," but then said that there would need to be conversations about what obligations the schools would still be required to fulfil to the state if they were granted more independence.
One questioner asked if Colorado could stem job losses by revisiting our oil and gas rules, and Rep. Carroll said oil industry's claims about the rules were "disingenuous on its face" and a "red herring argument" and pointed to the general drop in oil prices and the lag in the implementation time line as evidence that the rules had nothing like the effect that the corporations were claiming.
Ultimately there are still four branches of Colorado government, the Governor, the Assembly, the Court, and TABOR. By design, what the legislators will be able to do will be shackled by the budget and by what Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid decide to do with United States' credit cards. But the legislative session convenes early this year on January 9th, and the Democrats are already getting ready, because as Sen. Boyd said in the hallway leaving the conference, "Life goes on while were waiting for Washington to act."
|
RSS Feed
