Democratic leaders returning to the Capitol next month say controlling all the levers of power doesn’t mean their labor friends will set the agenda.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of pent-up frustration among many of our friends after nearly 50 years in the political wilderness. The election didn’t change everything,” said Democratic House Speaker Andrew Romanoff of Denver.
“Colorado is still a conservative state and, more importantly, I think our first obligation is to our constituents, not to any particular interest group.”
When Democrats took control of the legislature in 2004, some labor officials voiced frustration that leadership sometimes killed their bills.
Democrats often argued that it didn’t make sense to pass bills that would earn Gov. Bill Owens’ veto.
“We know until we control all three houses that we’re not going to get things changed,” Steve Adams, president of the Colorado AFL-CIO, said in 2005.
But legislative leaders and a spokesman for Democratic Gov.-elect Bill Ritter say cooperation is key.
“He will reach out to both sides of the aisle. He’ll reach across traditional divides and try to bring constituency groups that may have opposing viewpoints … in the name of cooperation,” said spokesman Evan Dreyer. “The ultimate goal is to do what is best for the entire state of Colorado and all Coloradans.”
John Straayer, a Colorado State University political science professor, said he expects Democrats to give labor more than they’ve gotten in the past, but not so much as to alienate the business community.
Democrats, he said, have worked hard to build coalitions with business leaders, particularly during the debate over Referendums C and D.
“That’s a marriage the Democrats would very much like to keep in place,” Straayer said. “I don’t think that labor’s going to be out in the wilderness at all. I think they’re going to have the kind of track to the leadership that they haven’t had in a long, long time.”
Democratic Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald of Jefferson County put it this way: “Many businesses supported the Democrats’ returning to power, and they did that because our approach to many issues was much more practical than people on the other side of the aisle.”
William Mutch of Colorado Concern, an organization of leading business executives, said the business community has an open door to Democratic leadership, but their ties with labor “puts them in a spot.”
In the past, Democrats have listened to arguments about increased business cost and economic development of proposed legislation, Mutch said.
“The fear in the business community is that they just go whole hog for labor and forget some of our past partnerships,” Mutch said. “They aren’t indicating that yet, by the way.”
Chris Frates can be reached at 303-954-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
