New Democrat Update - February 2005
”RESTORING COLORADO’S LEADERSHIP IN JOB GROWTH”
Colorado’s economy remains in the doldrums with all the numbers headed in the wrong direction. Unemployment has increased from 75,000 to almost 150,000 since 1999, placing the state a dismal 49th in job growth. Colorado leads the nation in bankruptcies, ranks third in traffic congestion and places a weak 30th in sending students to college.
Clearly, the state GOP’s agenda of the last six years has not worked. Cutting tax rates has failed to spur an investment boom, long-term growth or entrepreneurial risk-taking. Even during this downturn, Republicans have had nothing new to say about how to create jobs and what state government's specific responsibilities should be in promoting economic opportunity.
The new Democratic majority in the legislature believes that hard work and sacrifice should pay off in economic security and prosperity. To get there, Democrats promise to replace the GOP’s absent agenda with an entrepreneurial “invest and grow” strategy that recognizes two basic realities.
First, the private sector - not government - is the primary engine of economic opportunity for all. The second part is what conservatives almost always overlook. The public sector must create a climate of opportunities for ordinary citizens and equip them so that they can succeed. That is much different from those who believe government is the entire solution and others who profess that economic growth can only come from wealth trickling down from the few.
In the real world, it is not lower tax rates, but productivity increases, spurred by innovation, that is key to raising real wages and living standards. Today’s tough economic times require proactive strategies focused on creating jobs and boosting people’s personal income.
True economic opportunity for the middle class and those less fortunate requires well-educated employees, state-of-the-art technology, a fiscally disciplined government and infrastructure networks that link firms and customers to markets. That means a balanced budget, a cost-effective regulatory system and smart public investments in worker education and skills training, a strong research and development infrastructure, and top-flight transportation and communications systems.
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff’s reform proposal to “restore Colorado’s leadership in job growth” includes investments that grow the economy and help restore mass upward mobility. His plan recognizes that true increased economic opportunity, through higher levels of private and public investment, comes from the creativity, inspiration, learning and risk-taking of everyone.
His package includes job-creating investments aimed at boosting the knowledge and skills of our people, reducing traffic congestion and launching technology initiatives that will spur innovation in the private sector (Over two-thirds of economic growth stems from technological development and commercialization.). Ensuring that the state lives within its means will be enforced by tough limitations on government’s growth, cutting income taxes and maintaining the rights of voters to approve any future tax rate hikes. Budgetary reforms like precisely defining state government’s specific priorities, implementing biennial budgeting, developing specific performance benchmarks for state agencies should also be part of the package.
Finally, his proposal includes a now-prohibited rainy-day fund - a reserve built up in good economic times and used in bad years. Right now, the state is required to cut spending during economic slowdowns, just the opposite of what the economy needs. Reducing any kind of spending only worsens the prospects for recovery.
The Romanoff message could not be clearer. To spur growth, Colorado must cut tax rates, invest in the future and keep the state living within its means. If the proposal is implemented, the state will have the lowest tax burden in the country and spending capped at the level it reached in the year 2000.
It is time to reverse the trends of less jobs, stagnant living standards, and reduced opportunity. If all goes well in the legislature, voters will soon have the chance to do just that.
HELPING PARENTS AND CHILDREN
As important as the economy is, Democrats are about much more than just making financial ends meet. For example, supporting parents with our most important task - raising and educating children - is just as critical.
The ever-increasing demands of work responsibilities often get in the way of parental involvement in the education and health of children. As the pro-family, pro-work party, Democrats must empower parents with new tools to balance work and family. Parents must be able to feel that they can work and still raise their children - and do a good job at both.
Sen. Peter Groff and Rep. Terrance Carroll are pushing an innovative idea that gives parents time to take an active part in the education of their children - one of the most important factors for a kid’s success in school. Their proposal, modeled after the highly successful federal Family and Medical Leave Act, allows mothers and fathers to take unpaid leave from work to attend parent-teacher conferences and any other school-related activities related to improving their child’s educational achievement.
That time will be well worth it. It will strengthen parent-child bonds and promote student achievement.
Children in Colorado have the lowest rate of immunization in the nation, potentially exposing thousands to diseases that can result in lifelong disabilities, or all too often death. One reason for that sorry performance is, believe it or not, state government is currently prohibited from contacting parents when their child’s immunization is due.
Busy parents can overlook when their child is due for immunizations. Again, government can play an important supporting role. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Sen. Brandon Shaffer is working to make state government an active partner with parents, not a silent bystander. His proposal allows the state’s health care department to let parents know when their child is due for a shot. It also encourages local agencies to track which kids get which immunizations.
On another front, some parents know very little about their children’s potential chances of going to college. Many capable children fall through the cracks because their parents do not realize what financial aid is available or know what types of courses their kids should be taking.
Rep. Jerry Frangas and Sen. Paula Sandoval want to give families another tool to increase their children’s chances for success. Under their plan, parents will learn about the world of financial aid and will be notified if their eighth- or ninth-grade child is not taking pre-college courses. In addition, Rep. Cheri Jahn’s and Sen. Peter Groff’s proposal will make sure that parents know if their child does poorly on college entrance exams.
Finally, parents could use a hand limiting the driving habits of their teenage children. Sen. Suzanne Williams’ proposal discourages “joy rides” by restricting the number of passengers in the car. In addition to helping parents, that will save lives.
Former President Bill Clinton was well known for proclaiming “Governments do not raise children, parents do.” But, as his administration also showed, the public sector can help.