| EDCC Fall Conference |
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The EDCC Fall Conference was held on October 29-31, 2008 at the Doubletree Hotel in Colorado Springs.
Highlights of the conference included Governor Ritter as the opening day luncheon speaker, a review of the 3rd Annual Citizens' Survey on Economic Development, a Legislative Leadership Panel and several very interesting speakers and breakout sessions.
By an overwhelming majority (29%) the citizens of Colorado want and expect the Governor and General Assembly to focus on the economy in the 2009 legislative session. | |
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Greetings!
You are receiving this newsletter from the EDCC because of your interest in and commitment to a strong and healthy Colorado economy. The Board of EDCC hopes that you find this information to be helpful, informative and of value to you and your colleagues. Please feel free to pass along this newsletter as appropriate. |
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Election Results |
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The traditionally "red" state of Colorado has gradually turned more and more "blue" over the course of the past few election cycles and this year we saw a further shift to Democratic power in the state.
Colorado voters turned out in record numbers to support Senator Obama for President, Democrat 2nd CD Congressman Mark Udall for U.S. Senate (replacing retiring Republican Wayne Allard) and Democrat Betsy Markey in her win over 4th CD Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave. In other Congressional races, incumbent Democrats Diana DeGette (1st CD), John Salazar (3rd CD) and Ed Perlmutter (7th CD) all kept their seats. Republican incumbent Doug Lamborn (5th CD) kept his seat and Republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman picked up the 6th CD seat being vacated by retiring Republican Tom Tancredo. Democrat Governor Bill Ritter will appoint Coffman's successor to the Secretary of State's job.
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Colorado Senate |
 In the Colorado State Senate, it appears that the Democrats have picked up an additional seat, with Democrat Linda Newell beating Republican and former House member Lauri Clapp in the seat previously held by retiring Republican Steve Ward. Newell's lead appears to be only 81 votes, which will prompt a recount and final results won't be available for several days. This will give the Democrats a 21-14 majority in the State Senate.
Republican Representative Al White will replace term-limited Republican Jack Taylor, and Democrat Representative Mary Hodge will replace term-limited Stephanie Takis. Current Democrat State Board of Education member Evie Hudak will replace term-limited Democrat Sue Windels, who unsuccessfully ran for a Jefferson County Commission seat. As well, Democrat Representative Morgan Carroll will replace term-limited Democrat Bob Hagedorn.
Republicans successfully kept the rest of the seats they had to defend this year: Mark Scheffel will replace Tom Wiens, Keith King will replace Andy McElhany, and Shawn Mitchell, Bill Cadman and Nancy Spence kept their seats.
On the Democrat side in the Senate, President Peter Groff and Senators Jennifer Veiga, Suzanne Williams, Betty Boyd, Dan Gibbs, Bob Bacon and Brandon Shaffer all successfully defended their seats. |
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Senate Leadership |
Senate President - Sen. Peter Groff
President Pro-tem - Sen. Betty Boyd
Senate Democratic Leadership
· Majority Leader - Sen. Brandon Shaffer
· Assist. Majority Leader - Sen. Lois Tochtrop
· Majority Caucus Chair - Sen. Suzanne Williams
· Joint Budget Committee - Sen. Abel Tapia & Sen. Moe Keller
Senate Republican Leadership
· Minority Leader - Sen. Josh Penry
· Assist. Minority Leader - Sen. Greg Brophy
· Minority Caucus Chair - Sen. Mike Kopp
· Minority Whip (*new position) - Sen. Nancy Spence
· Joint Budget Committee - Sen. Al White |
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Colorado House of Representatives |
| In the House, Republicans appear to have picked up three seats, making the balance of power 38-27. In the seats that the R's picked up, Republicans Kevin Priola won in Adams County (term-limited Democrat Mary Hodge's seat) and Cindy Acree won in Arapahoe County (term-limited Democrat Debbie Stafford's seat). Additionally, in one of the biggest surprises of this election, Republican businesswoman Laura Bradford knocked off Democrat and presumed Speaker of the House Bernie Buescher by less than 600 votes.
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House of Representatives Leadership |
With the defeat of Rep. Buescher, Representative Terrance Carroll has been elected by his Democratic colleagues to serve as the Speaker of the House for the next two years. This will mark the first time in the history of Colorado that an African-American will serve as Speaker. As well, Senate President Peter Groff, also an African-American will continue to serve in his role as Senate President. Speaker of the House - Rep. Terrance Carroll
Speaker Pro-tem - not elected - appointed by the Speaker
House Democrat Leadership
· Majority Leader - Paul Weissmann
· Assist. Majority Leader - Rep. Andy Kerr
· Majority Caucus Chair - Rep. Karen Middleton
· Majority Assist. Caucus Chair - Rep. Elect Sal Pace
· Majority Whip - Rep. Claire Levy
· Deputy Whip - Rep. Randy Fischer
House Republican Leadership
· Minority leader - Rep. Mike May
· Assist. Minority Leader - Rep. David Balmer
· Minority Caucus Chair - Rep. Cory Gardner |
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Ballot Initiatives |
| This year Colorado had more ballot issues than any other state in the country. We voted on 10 citizen initiatives and 4 measures that were referred by the General Assembly. California and Oregon each only had 12 ballot measures.
The issues we voted on included the following:
- Amendment 46 - A constitutional amendment to prevent Colorado government from using affirmative action programs. Proponents include some out of state interests that would like to eliminate all affirmative action programs. FAILED
- Amendment 47 - A constitutional amendment. This is the "Right to Work" amendment that triggered the labor initiatives that were ultimately pulled from the ballot last week. It would prevent unions from collecting dues from non-union workers in a union shop. Proponents include a small number of businesses and opponents are organized labor unions. FAILED
- Amendment 48 - A constitutional amendment that states that an egg fertilized by a sperm is defined as a "person". Proponents are "right to life" advocates. FAILED
- Amendment 49 - A constitutional amendment that would prevent payroll deduction of union dues from government employees. Proponents include the Independence Institute and opponents include several unions. FAILED
- Amendment 50 - A constitutional amendment that would allow gaming communities (Cripple Creek, Central City and Blackhawk) to extend their hours of gaming and to raise allowable stakes by a vote of citizens within those communities. Additional revenue to the state would go primarily to the community college system. The casinos and community colleges support this measure. PASSED
- Amendment 51 - A statutory sales tax increase from 2.9% to 3.0% and then to 3.1% over the next two years, with the additional revenue being directed to services for persons with developmental disabilities. This is being supported by the persons and organizations that work with the DD community. FAILED
- Amendment 52 - A constitutional amendment to reallocate severance tax revenues to highway construction, with priority given to the I-70 corridor. Proponents include Senator Josh Penry and Representatives Cory Gardner and Frank McNulty. FAILED
- Amendment 53 - withdrawn. It will appear on the ballot, but votes will not be counted.
- Amendment 54 - A Constitutional amendment prohibiting government contractors and others, including unions from contributing to a political party or campaign. Proponents include the Independence Institute and opponents include several unions. PASSED
- Amendments 55, 56 and 57 - withdrawn.
- Amendment 58 - A statutory amendment to eliminate the current tax credit allowed to oil and gas producers against their severance tax for property taxes paid to local governments. Additional state revenue would go to higher education financial aid, wildlife habitat, renewable energy projects, water treatment and transportation projects. Governor Ritter is the primary proponent of the measure. FAILED
- Amendment 59 - A constitutional amendment to eliminate TABOR refunds and direct that those funds be spent on P-12 education, to eliminate the required inflationary increase for P-12 spending and to set aside money in a savings account for P-12 education. Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff is the primary proponent of this measure. FAILED
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Referenda |
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We were faced with four referred measures this year. These include:
- Referendum L - A constitutional change, lowering the age requirement to serve in the state legislature from 25 to 21 years of age. FAILED
- Referendum M - A constitutional change that removes obsolete provisions of the state constitution relating to land value increases. PASSED
- Referendum N - A constitutional change that removes obsolete language in the state constitution relating to alcohol beverages. PASSED
- Referendum O - A constitutional change that: makes it easier to amend state statutes but more difficult to amend the constitution through initiatives; requires that initiative signatures be collected from throughout the state - 8% of the total in each of the state's seven congressional districts; requires that drafts of constitutional amendments be submitted earlier in the year for review; allows the public and legislators to comment on proposed initiatives at a public meeting; and increases the number of votes required for the legislature to amend an initiated statutory change. FAILED
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The 2009 session of the Colorado General Assembly will convene on January 7, 2009. We will continue to provide legislative updates during the session and will do a pre-session preview in late December. Enjoy Thanksgiving and the coming holidays!
Sincerely,
Danny Tomlinson
Tomlinson & Associates on behalf of the EDCC |
| EDCC |
The Economic Development Council of Colorado (EDCC) is a state-wide, non-profit organization dedicated to successful, responsible economic development. EDCC professionally represents the collective economic development interests of both the private and public sectors. Our mission is to strategically retain, expand and attract primary employers. EDCC is committe to an equitable and balanced public/private partnership and to growing the economic climate of Colorado to the mutual benefit of employees, employers, governments and citizens. |
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Colorado Economic Leadership Coalition
The CELC will next meet in on Friday, November 14, 2008. CELC meetings are open and we encourage all with an interest in good public policy on economic development to attend. The meetings are held on the second Friday of each month, from noon until 1:30. We hold the meetings near the Capitol in order to make attendance by legislators more convenient. Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to attend - either Danny at dtomlinson@msn.com or Michelle at malcott21@comcast.net | |
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