New Democrat Update - November 2005
COLORADO’S GETTING BACK ON TRACK
Coloradans made history on November 1. By approving Referendum C, voters have shown they are willing to try democracy again and invest in the future. That is especially important in these rapidly changing times.
As history demonstrated, “C” could not have happened without true bipartisanship. Success took a Democratic legislature focused on solving problems and willing to work across the aisle, along with a Republican governor brave enough to buck the extreme right wing of his party. The leadership of C’s main designer - House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Governor Bill Owens, and the business community proved to be a winning formula. The campaign team for the measure must also be congratulated.
Of course, the real winners are Coloradans. Today, they live in a state where smart, fiscally responsible, governance can happen. The state can now do its part to boost the private economy's capacity to create wealth, make Coloradans more productive and, ultimately, help restore mass upward mobility.
The other good news for Coloradans is that the brain-dead politics of the extreme right wing may be on the verge of complete political marginalization. Its losing streak - on Referendum C; a new, innovative Denver teacher pay plan also on the ballot this time; and an expanded metro area mass transit system last year - may be signaling the start of a more positive, hopeful and productive progressive era.
State Democratic legislators have a huge opportunity to accelerate this trend by being very fiscally responsible - in effect, treating new state revenues as if they were their own money. Therein lies our party’s next challenge.
BALANCING THE BUDGET RESPONSIBLY
Even with the approval of Referendum C, the state’s budget will be far from flush with funds. Indeed, the close defeat of Referendum D makes it very tough to invest adequately in the state’s transportation network.
State Representative and Joint Budget Committee Member Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction) has it right. “We still have a very, very tight budget. Our emphasis must be on restoring cuts to initiatives that we know will save money down the road, rather than coming up with significant new programs. We must be creative and aggressively find cost-saving opportunities that allow us to create a quality transportation infrastructure. Only then will Colorado realize its true economic potential.”
To get there, Democrats should not repeat the serious mistakes of past Republican legislatures. This is no time to superficially look at the new revenue and add money to this or that program. That kind of tunnel-vision budgeting fails to consider the real priorities of services, misses cost-saving opportunities, and neglects eliminating overlap and waste across state government.
Rather than just trying to match current spending with the forecasted revenue, the legislature should take a comprehensive look at the big picture. Over the next few years, it should conduct a top-to-bottom evaluation of how state government should be spending all of the taxpayers’ money in the first place.
More specifically, the legislature should estimate how much revenue is expected, involve Coloradans in the priority-setting process, determine what results people most want and need, examine the tasks government performs and then “purchase” those services and programs that contribute most to the desired results. That way, the more important services will go into the shopping cart first and those with lower priorities will be left on the shelf - keeping the cost of government within its means.
This process has worked very effectively around the country, especially in the State of Washington. There, the leadership, with public input, set 10 broad goals - ranging from boosting student achievement to improving the business climate to strengthening homeland security - against which all spending recommendations are measured. “Purchasing plans” were then developed to produce results that contributed to the 10 broad goals.
An evaluation of every state service was conducted, ranking each government function and suggesting which should be kept and which should be cut. The services and programs were prioritized by function, not by agency, empowering the teams to focus on state government as a single enterprise, achieve results, at less costs through creative solutions, reprioritize spending, eliminate programs and consolidate similar activities in different agencies.
Once those recommendations to improve service and save money are identified, state agencies should be held accountable for implementing them. In New Mexico, such projects are tracked and flagged as green, blue or red, indicating whether they are on target, completed, or deficient. The effort is expected to produce savings and efficiency gains of around seven percent of the state budget.
Procurement reform is another strategy that can get a “bigger bang out of every taxpayer buck.” Online “reverse auctions” (buyers offer competing quotes) have proven to lower prices for goods and services through real-time bidding. Consolidating purchases across agencies has also proven to be highly successful.
In Pennsylvania, reverse auctioning saved $19.1 million on personal computers and $9.65 million on office supplies. The savings from consolidated purchasing were even more dramatic, with computer costs reduced more than 40 percent, computer maintenance costs pared by 59 percent, and office supply costs dropping more than 80 percent.
Implementing such fiscally-smart, results-oriented strategies will ensure that Coloradans get the maximum value of every taxpayer dollar spent. It will also demonstrate that the legislature is committed to what voters clearly want - a smart, lean state government that spends the public’s money as wisely as possible.
TWO WHO WILL BE VERY MISSED
Last month, Colorado lost a very dear friend. Walter Rosenberry III, a former school teacher and socially-conscious philanthropist, left us much too soon at the age of 74.
A highly respected historian, Walter throughly understood the power of ideas and the critical nature of progressive politics. Just as important, he was extremely generous, giving much of his time and money to many worthwhile causes, always asking for nothing in return. His interest was truly in the well-being of his fellow man. He, his altruism, and unique insights will be impossible to replace.
Rosa Parks, an American icon, also recently died. Her monumental decision to not give up her bus seat to a white man in 1955 sparked the nation’s civil rights movement.
The subsequent African-American boycott of the city bus system proved very effective, helping to rally national public opinion and a favorable U.S. Supreme Court decision to outlaw segregation on city buses across the country. It also brought another historic American icon into national prominence - the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
We must never forget Rosa Parks’ legacy. Her historic act of civil disobedience started a movement that narrowed the gap between the stark reality of American life and an important ideal of the nation - equal opportunity for all.
America is now a much better place. Her very important work must continue.