After sunning itself in the summer heat, the state’s political establishment emerged yesterday to open the campaign for fiscal recovery Referendums C and D.
They have their work cut out for them. Voters deserve a full, detailed explanation of why they should approve these measures and how the state will spend the money.
Gov. Bill Owens and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper headlined the event for the Colorado Economic Recovery Act at a rally held at Children’s Hospital. They were joined by representatives of some of the more than 500 groups endorsing C and D.
He may have not been the headliner, but Hank Brown stole the show.
Brown is now president of the University of Colorado. As a Republican congressman and senator, he built a strong reputation as a fiscal conservative. Recalling that he was an original supporter of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, Brown added, “I still believe it in it.”
But he also supports using a clause within TABOR to forestall $3.7 billion in budget cuts that TABOR’s “ratchet effect” would otherwise force over the next five years. Brown warned that such cuts will mean future generations of Coloradans will not have the same chance in life he did.
“Several decades ago, I had a chance to go to CU on an athletic scholarship for four years. When the coach had a chance to see how I played, I had another opportunity to figure out how to pay for college for three more years,” he laughed. “In some ways, it was the best thing that happened to me. I waited on tables and worked two jobs in the summers. I could work my way through because tuition was low. But many students who go to college today and work are on a shoestring.
“These are some of the best students the university has because they are a bit more conscientious. But in the last 15 years the share of state spending on higher education has fallen from 20 percent of the state budget to five percent.
“Now, if Referendum C doesn’t pass, within one decade we will not see a single penny of the state’s put into higher education. Some colleges and universities will disappear, some will survive. But with sky-high tuition, students who are willing to work their way through college won’t have that chance. Referendum C is about an opportunity to go to college, about young people having an opportunity to have success in Colorado.”
That’s exactly right, Hank.
