In the 2008 legislative session, it was not the ruling Democrats but the Republicans who took the initiative. We came up with innovative yet realistic ways to address Colorado’s biggest challenges, generating the ideas that formed the cornerstone of this session’s accomplishments.
Certainly, Democrats aimed high last year, with bold talk of groundbreaking changes to the way we deliver health care and fund transportation. Gov. Bill Ritter raised everyone’s expectations with his blue-ribbon transportation panel and health care reform study committee.
But no major reform of health care ever turned up. Neither did any dramatic infusion of funding for our state’s roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure.
The one area where some progress was made was public education, which benefited at least as much from heavy lifting by Republicans as from support by the governor. Some signature bills were inspired and driven by Republican ideas, such as new standards for our public schools; ensuring that kids are competent in English; and performance incentives for teachers.
On transportation, it was the Republicans who early in the session sought to assure a steady funding stream by securing current highway revenue in the constitution. On health care, we tried to clear away regulatory hurdles so more Coloradans could afford at least a low-cost option health plan. On the environment, we worked to shore up our ability to fight wildfires, clean up pine-beetle-ravaged forests and expand the use of solar power in homes and businesses. We also tried to advance immigration reform and to address some of the needs of our state’s colleges and universities.
Unfortunately, some of the most compelling Republican ideas ran into a wall of Democratic opposition. Instead of responding with their own approach to the same issues, Democrats focused again this year on making life harder for those who own a home or business, and for everyone who pays taxes and fees to the state.
After raising property-tax bills on most homes and businesses statewide, Democrats followed up this year by voting to raise fees on everything from birth certificates to marriage licenses. For a time, Ritter and legislative Democrats even floated a proposal to raise vehicle-registration fees by up to $100 a year.
The Democrats’ assault on Colorado’s biggest industry also continued. The coming rule changes on energy exploration will likely cause a rollback of activity for the state’s thriving oil and gas industry. And a severance-tax hike on the November ballot, backed by Ritter, has the potential to further undermine this sector of our economy while driving up the cost of heating a home.
Let’s also not forget the ongoing unionization of the state government’s personnel ranks, a process started by the governor last fall when he granted organized labor the power to bargain for state employees’ pay and benefits. As state employee pay soars in years to come, taxpayers will have the governor to thank for the tab.
This session, Republicans did their best to meet public expectations, and we offered to do it with practical solutions that didn’t raise taxes and didn’t expand government. If only the other party, and our governor, could have met us at least halfway.
Andy McElhany of Colorado Springs is the Senate Republican leader. Mike May of Parker is the GOP leader in the House.
