Bill Ritter was swept into the governor’s office four years ago at the vanguard of a historic Democratic takeover of state government, a moment wrapped in promises for great advances in education, health care, renewable energy and a host of other issues.
Colorado’s 41st governor leaves office this week having made important progress on a few items, but also having been sobered by a deep recession and, at times, waylaid by his own political naivete.
As he turns over the governor’s office to fellow Democrat John Hickenlooper, Ritter will be remembered for kickstarting Colorado’s green energy economy, expanding health care coverage and supporting landmark education policy.
His rise to the governor’s mansion was the improbable story of a hard- working underdog who beat the odds. Ritter was a career prosecutor from Denver with scant political experience, no statewide accomplishments and few backers.
Yet, he soundly defeated Republican Congressman Bob Beauprez. Democrats also had taken the state House and Senate two years earlier, which would have seemed to set up Ritter for at least a couple of years of smooth governing.
Indeed, in his first legislative session, state lawmakers gave Ritter a broad reform of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. That was a foundation for the eventual adoption of new rules for oil and gas drilling that protected the environment yet did not overly constrain business.
But Ritter also stumbled, a result of his own inexperience in state policy and politics.
Exhibit A is his handling of labor and business issues, which seemed to rattle the governor for much of his early tenure. Just a month into office, he found himself having to veto a union organizing bill that never should have gotten to his desk in the first place.
Months later, Ritter alienated business leaders and earned himself a scathing front-page Denver Post editorial when he signed an executive order creating a collective bargaining relationship with state workers.
It was a disappointing turn for the self-proclaimed moderate who had campaigned on forging good relationships with business interests.
Ritter, though, went on to push for legislation that froze mill levies, the rate at which taxes are charged, so school districts could collect more money to pay for preschool and full-day kindergarten programs. The legislation was challenged and the state Supreme Court held it to be constitutional.
Beyond that key funding stand, the Ritter administration lobbied for adoption of the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids, also known as CAP4K. The redesign and realignment of the state’s education systems, from preschool to college, sets up a seamless regimen of standards and expectations.
And he made progress toward transitioning Colorado to a new energy economy with the passage of bills that addressed renewable energy investment and raised the state’s renewable energy standard to 30 percent by 2020.
Interestingly, Ritter’s biggest unkept promise also may be the area in which he made the most progress — health care. On the campaign trail, he vowed to ensure everyone in the state had at least basic health care by 2010.
Though he fell well short of that goal, he did manage to help advance legislation levying a fee on hospitals that was a source of matching federal funds to cover the uninsured. Since 2006, more than 105,000 additional children and 50,000 additional adults have coverage.
Several of these accomplishments took place as the economy began to spiral downward, and the state had to bridge a cumulative budget gap of $5.5 billion during the governor’s term.
It was, no doubt, a source of frustration for the governor that funding in some of his policy priority areas, particularly higher education, suffered as a result of the recession. Yet, when the situation called for it, Ritter made budget cuts fairly and carefully so as to cause the least damage possible to the state’s most important missions.
Managing the state through this economic crisis wasn’t easy, but we thank the governor for his service. While we didn’t always see eye to eye, we knew he had the best interests of this state at heart.
