The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce called it a “historic” meeting that brought together Colorado’s top governmental power brokers to discuss gritty details of federal economic-stimulus funding.
Inside the chamber board room at 1445 Market St. on Saturday were the governor, the state’s two U.S. senators, leaders of the state legislature’s two chambers, five U.S. representatives and chamber board members.
Although details weren’t disclosed — the media weren’t notified until after the meeting — chamber president Joe Blake said the group focused on how to bring accountability to future dollars and how to quicken their injection into the local economy. The latest estimate put Colorado’s potential haul at $2.9 billion.
“This is the first time anyone can remember that we had everyone together in one room to talk with Congress, the state House and Senate and the governor,” Blake said Monday. “We want to be sure there’s a seamless handoff of this money.”
Blake said every luminary in the room was adamant about working together to see that the stimulus money finds its way to job creation.
Other topics involved how higher education and health care for low-income populations could benefit from the disbursements, he said.
Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Gov. Bill Ritter, said the meeting served to put everyone’s concerns about how to maximize the stimulus funds’ use on the table.
“There’s a shared feeling that with the bank bailout, the help for Main Street hasn’t fully materialized, and members of Congress were sharing those concerns,” Dreyer said.
Some who attended the gathering Saturday agreed that opening the door to the media could help advance the meeting’s aims.
“I’ll work with the chamber to see whether the media can be present next time for such weighty issues,” said House Speaker Terrance Carroll.
Blake agreed that, in the interest of transparency, the media should be invited. “We don’t try to exclude,” he said.
Miles Moffeit: 303-954-1415 or mmoffeit@denverpost.com
