Gov. John Hickenlooper delivered his fifth State of the State address today to Colorado lawmakers. (Photo By Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)
Gov. John Hickenlooper ended his remarks to the Economic Club of Colorado on Tuesday with a warning for the state’s business leaders.
A major focus of his second term is preparing for Colorado’s impending growth — with 3 million more residents expected in the next 20 years, he said. The Democrat said Colorado is growing “almost too rapidly” and the growth costs money.
“We’re probably going to have to spend a bunch of money that will take the business community stepping up,” he said, saying industry leaders will need to recognize the need to spend money on roads and infrastructure.
“To get the infrastructure in place to make sure we have this capacity for growth certainly can’t be done just by government. So thatap my point really today to come talk to you, which is to say get ready because we are going to have to ask,” Hickenlooper continued.
The state’s economy is one of the best in the nation and Hickenlooper said he expected unemployment to fall below 4 percent soon. He credited the top business leaders in the room for taking the chances on hiring and investments to help spur the rebound. (“You guys keep taking the risks and creating the jobs and I’ll keep taking all the credit. I appreciate it,” he joked later.)
The only threat to Colorado’s improving economy is a downturn in the oil and gas industry, given the lower prices on the market. Hickenlooper said experts are forecasting oil near $50 a barrel for another year.
“At that point, it doesn’t hurt us very much,” he said, saying the state boasts low industry costs. “The benefit of having low gasoline prices is putting literally a lot, I mean many many millions, into household budgets in Colorado and thatap going to help make up for some of the layoffs in oil and gas. But we will definitely see them.”
Hickenlooper said the low oil prices aren’t expected to last as long as it did in the 1980s when he was laid off as an exploration geologist.
But the reductions in oil production, Hickenlooper said, is sure to affect the state’s collection of severance taxes, which are driving the needs for refunds under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in coming years.
“Almost without question the severance taxes are going to come down in the next year and diminish pressure for TABOR rebates,” he said.
