These are historic and somber times. And in the context of the historic occasion of the leaders of both chambers of the General Assembly being Black, and a state, national and global economic recession of yet unknown depth, in his address Colorado's Governor spoke to our legislative body in a specifically state-centric if not understated tone.
Public officials do not get to choose how historic, or how difficult their term of office will be on the outset, but it is their choices once they take office that determine how history will view them in the long term. Senator Groff, and Representative Carroll have admirably set aside the revelry in their historic charges in favor of quickly attending to the shared challenges of our state. With a budget shortfall that is conservatively estimated at 600 million dollars and will likely be proven to be significantly larger, both the speaker and the president have demonstrated leadership in character, and as this legislative session begins they will have the opportunity to demonstrate leadership through policy.
Governor Ritter made reform the theme of his speech. History and current events do not discount the continuation of the structural challenges our state government has, flaws that are at once exacerbated by downturns and the cause of the undue severity of them. Bill Ritter's pledges to reform education and TABOR where bold pieces of rhetoric in the context of a fiscally constrained state that will be reducing it's expenditures by at least 10%. In stating "We need to address TABOR which puts a straight jacket on state government preventing the ability to have rational need based budgets" (I'm paraphrasing) the Governor struck a chord that has resonated with municipal Governments border to border, most notably and recently with the leadership of the City of Colorado Springs. I will state here that while I fully support the idea of taxes being approved by the voters, however there are provisions of TABOR that independently and in concert with other parts of our state's constitution that are awkward at best, prevent our elected leaders from reacting to challenges or capitalizing on opportunities in the middle and at the very worst provide a mechanism for the shady fiscal practices TABOR meant to address, (Fund transfers anybody?). TABOR in the guise of soothing the distrust of our legislature has in its own way caused fiscal inefficiency and relieved our electorate of the personal responsibility of electing thoughtful representatives. It may have seemed like a good idea to tie the hands of our representatives but the better part of wisdom, and the understanding of the principles of diminished responsibility tell us that for the sake of a more effective state house and a more informed electorate it would benefit the State of Colorado for our elected officials to have more control (responsibility) in creating our budget, which as the Governor stated in his remarks should be viewed as a moral document, a statement of the values we elected these people to forward and protect. Further with the knowledge of increased ability to do harm, the electorate will have the increased responsibility to elect good representatives. In a state that is governed by the law of man, it is reckless to punt fiscal responsibility to the charge of policy on lifeless, unthinking, inflexible paper.
The choices are either major reforms of TABOR or an endless line of Referendum "C"'s and County "1A's". The good provisions of TABOR deserve to be retained and hopefully the general assembly will respond to the Governor's charge to begin this work in a bipartisan way.
There was optimism in the Governor's address, partly because leadership demands it, but also because there is good news in Colorado. We have a lower unemployment rate than most of the nation, (the under-employment story is VERY different and one can easily argue, as I would that that is worse). Our investments in energy of all types both renewable and traditional have yielded returns, (granted returns offset by declines in other employment sectors). Well maybe "good news" is a strong word in practical terms, however, the Governor renewed his commitment to educational reform. While we do have one the nations most educated workforces, that level of expertise is not majority homegrown. It is not enough to import skilled labor as we cannot always count on costal exodus, and further with our current infrastructure problems from transportation to water, relying on constant in-migration is as derelict to Colorado's children as it is irresponsible to her natural resources. We can and must address transportation, congestion and water rights and storage, but on the other hand we must make Colorado's workforce a competitive and homegrown workforce. The economic vitality as well as the social fabric of our state is dependent on being able to retain the lion share of our graduates. It is only through the life labor of future generations that our investments in education are repaid, and it is only through continuity that the values that make Colorado the best state in the Union, the values of environmental stewardship, the love and preservation of the lands that sustains us, and the deep spirit of community and civic pride, in both rural and urban Colorado that are strongest when transfered organically through generations from childhood, that build the foundation for Colorado's future. While I myself am not a native born son, I have developed a great love for my adopted state. The spirit of Colorado is too precious to risk that all who come from without her borders can in such short time recognize and celebrate the prize that is Colorado. The only security we have is to educate Colorado's children and provide for economic growth so that the tools they learn may be applied to provide for their families and their children. If we can meet the challenges of the 21st century economy we can ensure that Colorado of the 22nd century will continue to be the ideal of the American way of life, and that our mountains, our plains, our City's and Town's will remain recognizable in both body and spirit.
The Governor quoted a Japanese leader when he stated that "it is the role of government to ensure the transfer of the world from our ancestors to our children" not entirely different from the sentiment of Thomas Jefferson when he said that the world belongs to the living in that while we honor the past it is important that we prepare constantly for a future that will have unknown challenges and opportunities. In that context however we must not forget the urgency of now. May we all give our support to Governor Ritter and Colorado's General Assembly as they for the next 120 days work to lay the foundation for the State we will call home for the years and decades to come.
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