New Democrat Update - August 1999
SHARING SUCCESSES AND IDEAS
Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, Glendale Mayor Joe Rice, State Reps. Fran Coleman, Dan Grossman, Bob Hagedorn, Jennifer Veiga, Suzanne Williams and Sue Windels joined over 160 state and local elected officials from the other forty-nine states in Baltimore last month for the Democratic Leadership Council's third annual "National Conversation." The event demonstrated the growing strength of the New Democrat political movement, and offered many of its rising stars a chance to exchange ideas on cutting-edge challenges such as shaping the New Economy, completing the job of welfare reform, revitalizing the cities and impoverished rural areas, and dealing with suburban sprawl.
Webb led a panel focusing on why New Democrats must be leaders for change. In his role as President of the US Conference of Mayors, he stressed his theme of “burying the old image of mayors with a tin cup and an extended palm asking for handouts to sustain and expand cumbersome bureaucracies.” He emphasized priorities for the nation's mayors that signal a decisive shift toward an "empowerment" strategy for cities - smart growth, public safety, promoting their competitive assets and investing in working families.
Participating in a breakout session on “Turning the Corner on Criminal Violence,” Veiga talked about her success in passing legislation requiring violent felons to provide DNA samples as a way to establish links between crime scenes and more quickly identify offenders. Grossman - a member of the national DLC State Legislative Advisory Board - gave a presentation on the successes of the New Democrat Caucus in the Colorado state legislature.
Once again, the National Conversation was a huge success. DLC President Al From summarized the event as "showing that the best days, and the most exciting challenges, are still ahead for the nation's most successful political movement."
COLORADO'S NEW ECONOMY
The DLC’s think tank - the Progressive Policy Institute - released a new report last week that assesses the degree to which each of the 50 states is making the transition to compete in the Information Age. After ranking the states, the authors outline a progressive, innovation-oriented public policy framework designed to promote growth, raise incomes and, in general, foster success in the New Economy.
Colorado ranks a close third, only behind Massachusetts and California. Our state's strong showing is fueled by having the most educated workforce in the nation, dynamic entrepreneurial companies, a strong orientation to using the Internet and other new technologies, and a significant emphasis on innovation in the economy.
To build on its strengths, Colorado needs to integrate more into the global economy, boost industry investment in research and development and modernize its state government. Fortunately, Rep. Bob Hagedorn’s (D-Aurora) successfully-passed initiative last session may help on the state government front. HB 1337 promotes on-line business-to-government and citizen-to-government interactions, providing taxpayers higher quality services, 24 hour/7 day accessibility and lower costs.
The first principle of the New Democrat movement is that economic growth generated in the private sector is the prerequisite for widespread opportunity in the 21st century. We must embrace the New Economy and advocate an agenda that will achieve rapid productivity gains, enabling wages to grow. With the unemployment rate so low, job creation is at least for the moment no longer job one.
The best way to help Americans earn more is to give them access to the education, skills and the technological tools they need. Policies should accelerate the advance of electronic commerce, increase innovation and new technological advances, and reinvent all public institutions to take advantage of new technologies. This means expanding government investment in research, supporting new ways for workers to increase their skills, fundamentally reforming our public K-12 education system, and a regulatory and investment climate conducive to promoting the digital economy and quality government.