New Democrat Update - March 2001
COLORADO DEMS ARE NEW DEMS
US Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana), the new national chair of the DLC, announced Attorney General Ken Salazar, Senate President Stan Matsunaka and House Minority Leader Dan Grossman as the new co-chairs of the Colorado DLC.
This development - the three top state Democratic leaders steering the Colorado DLC combined with Denver Mayor Wellington Webb's active involvement - demonstrates the transformation of the Democratic Party in Colorado. Clearly, Colorado Democrats are increasingly New Democrats.
Having these three leaders on board is a real boost to the New Democrat movement in Colorado. They embrace a new third way in politics that emphasizes opportunity, responsibility and community. Check out the photos, news coverage and the press release.
Sincere thanks to Senator Bayh, Attorney General Salazar, State Senator Matsunaka, and State Representative Grossman for their leadership. The Colorado DLC especially appreciates Senator Bayh for taking time out of his busy schedule.
CHARACTER EDUCATION
By a margin of 2 to 1, the state House has approved Rep. Suzanne Williams' bill to encourage the teaching of character education in Colorado's public schools. Character education - teaching basic civic virtues like civility, individual responsibility, honesty and the courage to stand up to peer pressure - helps today's students become tomorrow's productive employees and responsible citizens.
We should not just simply punish kids for being bad - we should also teach them to be good. Children learn to be good the same way they learn anything - hearing, seeing, and doing. They learn by being told what qualities are good, by witnessing examples of moral behavior, and by practicing these virtues themselves.
By improving student behavior in the classroom, character education allows learning to take place in a disciplined environment, making it possible for more kids to learn and more teachers to teach. Without order, other educational reforms will not make a difference.
The Senate and Governor Owens should follow Williams' and the House's lead, making character education a reality in all Colorado public schools.
WEBB'S HAND UP
We hope that Denver Mayor Wellington Webb's proposed city Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) becomes reality. If implemented, the annual incomes of Denver minimum-wage workers, in a family of four, will be boosted by $800. Funding for the initiative, which would be the first city EITC in the country, comes from the federal welfare reform program.
New Democrats have long believed that families who work hard and play by the rules should not have to live in poverty. The very first proposal made by the DLC's think tank, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), back in 1989 was for a major increase in the federal EITC, a refundable tax credit supplementing wage income for the working poor (i.e., if you don't have any tax liability, you get a payment up to the amount of the credit).
President Clinton's 1993 boost in the federal EITC has lifted millions of working families out of poverty, going a long way toward making work pay and providing welfare recipients more incentive to enter the workforce. In 1999, the Colorado legislature passed a modest state EITC, modeled after the Clinton legislation, which put another $130 in the pockets of 226,000 low-income full-time Colorado workers.
Given the rising costs of health care and housing, implementation of this initiative cannot happen too soon. Webb should be credited for putting this innovative proposal on the table.
REINVIGORATING DEMOCRACY
New Democrat Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald has convinced the Colorado Senate to provide counties with the option of conducting their elections by mail. This initiative will boost voting participation, save money and time for busy families, increase access for those with limited mobility and prevent election fraud. In short, Vote-By-Mail delivers better service to voters at less cost to taxpayers.
Voters repeatedly have made it clear they want the two parties to cooperate on efforts to make government an instrument for solving problems and helping Coloradans improve their own lives. Common-sense ideas like Vote-By-Mail give Democratic and Republican state legislators an opportunity to work together and demonstrate bipartisanship in the legislature.
10 BIG IDEAS
Be sure to get the latest copy of Blueprint, entitled "10 Big Ideas: A New Democrat Agenda for Governing." This edition takes on the public policy challenges of our time - continuing prosperity, closing the student achievement gap, finishing welfare reform and much more. "Just Saying No" to President Bush and the Republicans is neither good for the country nor the political health of the Democratic Party.
The magazine is on the web. For a hard copy, please contact Jim Gibson.