DENVER—This time as president, Barack Obama returned to Colorado to sign the $787 billion stimulus package into law Tuesday, using the state’s leadership in renewable energy to highlight his goal of creating jobs by transforming the U.S. energy economy.
Obama was nominated at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, drew record crowds in Colorado during the presidential campaign and won this swing state in November. He chose the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, which draws part of its electricity from a solar panel array, to sign the recovery bill.
Obama said his stimulus package won’t end the recession. But he promised: “Today does mark the beginning of the end.”
“There you go. It’s done,” he said after signing the bill with 10 pens on a desk.
A host of Colorado Democrats, including Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Gov. Bill Ritter, freshman Sen. Michael Bennett and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper attended the invitation-only event at the museum, which was closed for the day. Dozens of executives from the renewable energy industry also participated.
Blake Jones, president of Namaste Solar, a Boulder-based startup solar energy firm, joined Obama onstage and said the stimulus package was a lifesaver for small businesses. Jones said his company grew from three to 55 employees over the past three years but faced layoffs before the recovery package. Instead of layoffs, Namaste plans to hire this year, Jones pledged.
“Many of our projects have been on hold as a result of uncertainty and instability in capital markets. The stimulus bill contains provisions that will specifically address this issue,” Jones told the crowd of 250 in the museum’s atrium.
Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter, whose district includes the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, said the act underscores the need for renewable energy at a time when interest is waning because of declining oil prices. Its grants will help NREL, one of Colorado’s premier research facilities, to develop new energy technology, he said.
“We’ve seen this happen before,” Perlmutter said of the nation’s attention to its dependence on oil.
Across town, Colorado Republicans staged a bill-signing protest at the state Capitol. About 500 people staged a lunchtime protest in blustery weather on the West Steps. Organizers carved up a roasted pig and handed out sandwiches. 1/4
Jocelyn Armstrong of Parker carried a gigantic fake check for $30,000, which she said represented the cost of the stimulus package for each American family. Her 8-year-old daughter, Hannah, wore a plastic pig nose and signed the check in blue marker because, Armstrong said, Hannah would be the one to pay for the plan.
“I don’t think that’s fixing things,” Armstrong said. “It’s just digging us deeper and it’s going to be my daughter who’s going to have to pay for it.”
The state GOP ran full-page ads in Tuesday’s editions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post criticizing the bill as pork-laden and ineffective—reflecting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s bitter partisan journey through Congress.
Colorado stands to get nearly $2 billion for programs distributed by formula under the act, which backers say will create as many as 60,000 jobs here over the next two years and promote clean energy by offering tax credits. Colorado has a wish list of $1.6 billion worth of highway projects but is getting $500 million for highway and transit projects.
Colorado’s unemployment rate hit 6.1 percent in December, the highest in more than five years. State lawmakers have been trying to cut about $625 million from this year’s budget to make up for drops in tax revenue. More cuts are expected for next year’s budget.
According to Rep. Diana DeGette, Colorado will get federal tax reductions for 1.8 million workers, increased unemployment benefits for 173,000 workers, upgrades at 99 schools and increased reimbursements for hospitals providing care to the growing ranks of the uninsured.
In the weeks before Obama’s visit, Salazar visited the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and the Great Sand Dunes National Park to tout improvements to be funded by the recovery act.
A small crowd waited outside the museum for a glimpse of the president. Denver mom Karrie Lucero brought her four children, ages 3 to 9, to wave signs.
“We just came here for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and for my kids to be a part of history,” Lucero said. One child’s sign read, “Thank you for helping kids like me …” and another held a sign that said “and me.”
Obama left Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora for Phoenix, where he will unveil another part of his recovery effort—a $50 billion plan to help stem foreclosures. Arizona is one of the states hardest hit by home foreclosures.
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Associated Press Writers Ivan Moreno, Colleen Slevin and Don Mitchell contributed to this report.
