New Democrat Update

NO TO HIGH-STAKES GAMBLING

Where others see falling state revenues as a problem, the gambling industry sees it as just another “opportunity.” As a way to address Colorado’s budgetary crunch, they are pitching a new ballot proposal that will allow casinos in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek to be open around the clock, offer new games like craps and roulette, and raise the maximum bet limit from $5 to $100.

Of course, the proposal’s projected annual additional $60 million for higher education is incredibly tempting. In just two years, state funding was reduced $173.1 million - the University of Colorado alone was cut almost 30 percent. State and tuition funding for Colorado’s one medical school is dead last in the country.

Without question, a strong higher education system is essential to keeping the state economically competitive now and in the future. However, loosening the reins on the casino industry carries a much too high price tag.

The social costs have already been staggering enough, destroying many families in the process. Gambling has been known to increase welfare rolls, homelessness, child abuse and other crimes, endangering the personal safety of residents and requiring additional tax dollars for law enforcement personnel and new prison capacity. Maybe worst of all, the notion of gambling infects the culture, promoting a quick-buck, take-it-easy ethic that attacks the values of hard work and savings.

A few years ago, Professor Patricia Stokowski, formerly with the University of Colorado and now at the University of Vermont, looked at the experience of Black Hawk and Central City and concluded that casinos took a permanent, solid hold on those communities, crowding out all other forms of land use. Many shopkeepers who thought they would benefit from gambling had their leases canceled or were bought out.

Residents were dismayed at the scale and pace of development which overwhelmed and eliminated some favorite long-standing institutions and dramatically increased traffic. Gambling took over existing businesses and the accompanying new "lifestyle" chased away residents.

Finally, the casino industry has not been a good, trustworthy corporate citizen. One of the major reasons Coloradans approved limited gambling for the three towns in November 1990 was the sensible restrictions included in the ballot measure.

For example, the initiative required that gambling activities were to be limited in a qualified building - 35 percent of total floor space and 5 percent of any one floor. The goal was to prevent the development of large-scale casinos, hopefully to ensure that businesses would focus on other retail activities.

Unfortunately, many casinos got very “creative.” Operators developed full-blown casinos by including money-counting rooms, vaults, change booths, walking aisles between slot machines and the thickness of walls as “non-gaming space.” While technically in compliance, that manipulation clearly violated the intent of voters.

There is a much better, sounder and less costly solution to Colorado’s continuing fiscal crisis.

SOLVING COLORADO’S BIGGEST PROBLEM

House Speaker and Colorado DLC co-chair Andrew Romanoff has the right idea to fix the state’s finances. In short, if voters approve, the state will be able to invest in its long-term future while maintaining strong fiscal discipline.

The beauty of his Savings Account For Education (SAFE) ballot proposal is its simplicity. It will effectively make voter-approved Referendum C (a five-year “timeout” to retain funds that would otherwise be rebated to taxpayers) permanent. The state’s budget will be taken off automatic pilot, allowing it to meet the inevitably changing needs of Colorado. The impossible math and contradiction of mandating both continuous tax cuts and constant spending increases will be eliminated.

SAFE offers a lot for both conservatives and progressives. The annual automatic spending increases now constitutionally required for schools will be gone. Fiscal discipline will be strictly enforced by preserving the constitutional right of voters to approve any tax increases and keeping transportation funding at current levels. No one’s taxes will be increased.

A savings account will be created for public education from revenues that exceed TABOR spending limits. Accessing that account will require a two-thirds vote of the legislature.

If the Romanoff fix is not implemented, the state will be back to the same dysfunctional place it was before Referendum C. The legislature had to cut higher education and let the transportation infrastructure crumble to provide minimal tax rebates and meet the mandated funding requirements for public education. Even as the state’s economy and population grew, health care, higher education and highways were seriously shortchanged.

For the sake of our future, Colorado needs to get SAFE.

PERSUADING COLORADANS

The State Democratic Convention will be in Colorado Springs later this month. Meeting in that GOP stronghold sends an important and welcome message. Democrats are not conceding any area of the state to the Republican Party.

The Democratic Party must recognize our recent successes resulted from mobilizing our loyal base voters and persuading those many Coloradans who are ambivalent about both political parties. Many independents, moderate Republicans, and yes, even those in our own party, who sometimes wander to the other side, almost always determine which side will win.

Republicans still hold a very important trump card - their voters outnumber ours. As the Secretary of State’s registration records can attest, our party is nowhere near an electoral majority.

Persuading swing voters requires a compelling message - not just slogans or meaningless sound bites - and a coherent governing philosophy, grounded in core convictions and coupled with attractive ideas for tackling our biggest problems. That is especially important now that Democrats are in charge of state government.

That also means rejecting the politics of Karl Rove - motivating one’s base with polarizing and strident partisanship strategies through ideological rigidity and, in our case, unyielding liberalism. Otherwise, these voters will either move to the other side or just stay home.

Starting at the state convention, Democrats must convey that they understand the real, everyday problems facing voters and have a vision, backed up by ideas, that will tackle Colorado’s most difficult challenges. Our party’s leaders should be armed with thematic arguments about where the state is headed and where we want to take it. The emphasis should be on a vivid picture of values and policy goals, rather than a litany of government programs.

Our agenda’s underlying values should include equal opportunity for all, special privilege for none, a public ethic of mutual obligation, as well as opportunity, responsibility, community, and reforming government. Our ideas should be about equipping people with the tools they need to solve their own problems and get ahead.

These strategies proved successful for state Democrats in the past two elections. More of the same will get it done again in 2008.