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January 08, 2009

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter's 2009 State of the State Address

By Bill Ritter

Good morning. Two years ago, I stood outside this Capitol and delivered my inaugural address,
sharing my belief in the sacred trust we hold with the people of Colorado.

"It is a solemn duty to serve as an elected official," I said then. "We hold a sacred trust with the
people who elect us. We must honor that trust through our hard work, and through our
commitment to an open and honest relationship with the people of this state. Every day we must
work to maintain the trust conferred upon us by the oaths we swear this morning."

Serving as governor has only reinforced my belief that holding public office is indeed a sacred
trust; a trust relationship not only with those who voted for us, but for all of the people of our
house districts, our senate districts, and yes, of the entire state. Elections determine who has the
privilege to serve, and with this privilege comes the responsibility to honor this trust relationship,
which dictates that we serve for all.

Today, as we, and the rest of the country, navigate this global economic downturn, honoring that
trust relationship is more important than ever before. It's important to families who need health
care, to small businesses struggling to meet payroll, and to students juggling multiple jobs to pay
for college. It's important to all those who live at the margins, who are unemployed, or underemployed,
and who need a safety net until the turnaround comes, and it will come.

In this legislative session, in this tough economy, we'll need to make tough choices, we'll need
to collaborate and listen to one another as we chart a Colorado way forward. Our challenges need
more than just Democratic ideas or Republican ideas. We need uniquely Colorado ideas.

Adversity is nothing new to Colorado, and neither is resilience. After last May's tornado, the
people of Windsor pulled together and found a way to rebuild. Just like the people of Windsor,
the people of Colorado will come together and overcome this economic crisis. And like the
Windsor High School Marching Band, which will represent Colorado at President-elect Obama's
inaugural parade, our state will march ahead.

Yes, we face many obstacles. But a new president and a new year bring the promise of change
and opportunity. Together with the new administration, together with our new Senators and our
entire Congressional delegation, we will create a stronger partnership with the federal
government and work side-by-side on the challenges we face.

President Groff, Speaker Carroll, honorable members of the House and the Senate, thank you for
allowing me to deliver my third State of the State Address here in this chamber.

I look forward to working with all of you and your new leadership team. With Terrance Carroll
as your Speaker, you have made history two years in a row. With Representative Curry and
Senator Penry in leadership, you will have strong voices not just for the Western Slope, but for
all of rural Colorado.

To our many distinguished guests: Lt. Gov. O'Brien, Treasurer Kennedy, Attorney General
Suthers and Secretary of State-designee Buescher ...

Mayor Hickenlooper, newly-elected county commissioners, tribal chairs, members of the
Supreme Court and Board of Education ...

To members of my Cabinet, members of the public and all those outside this chamber, thank you
for this privilege.

And especially to my wife and Colorado's first lady, Jeannie ... thank you for everything you do
for the people of Colorado, and for our own family. Two of our four kids, Tally and Sam; my
mother, Ethel; and many of my siblings are here this morning, too.

Achievements
The path forward will require tough choices and great cooperation. We are feeling pain. But
Colorado is still better off than many other states because we've made smart investments and
steady progress the past two years, progress that will help us weather the immediate storm and
create sustainable economic growth for the future.

In my first State of the State, I said the New Energy Economy must be our calling card to the
future. In two short years, we've created thousands of jobs, quadrupled our wind power and
made Colorado a global research leader. We introduced the New Energy Economy to our
president-elect and the rest of the country, and now we're introducing it to the entire world.

We've launched the boldest education reforms in decades, because we should give every child
the chance to walk through the same doors of opportunity that you and I walked through.

We've crafted an economic-development strategy geared toward knowledge-based industries of
the future. And through our Jobs Cabinet and community colleges, we are aligning the needs of
businesses with workforce development and training programs.

We're providing greater protections for Colorado's air, land, water, wildlife and communities.
We're reforming Colorado's health care system, enrolling 30,000 more uninsured kids and
10,000 working parents in Child Health Plan-Plus and Medicaid.

We're greening government, and saving on energy costs.

We're making state government work better for taxpayers, taking a more common-sense
approach and saving hundreds of millions of dollars, including $600,000 simply by renegotiating
cell phone contracts. $600,000 may not sound like a lot, but every dollar counts.

We're making Colorado safer through our crime-prevention and anti-recidivism initiatives,
which will save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

And we're making government more modern and transparent by putting more services online -
and soon, working with Treasurer Kennedy's Office and Representative Marostica, we'll have
the state's checkbook online.

We have, together, Democrats and Republicans, made our state stronger.

Economic Challenges and Opportunities
Over the past two years, I've seen the promise of Colorado in every corner of our great state, in
classrooms, in research labs, in rural and urban Colorado alike. I've been all across this vast
state, because every place and every person in Colorado matters.

I also know that every place and every person in Colorado is, one way or another, affected by the
downturn. Mothers and fathers are losing their jobs. Members of my own extended family have
been laid off or otherwise seriously affected.

We can't underestimate the pain a family feels when there's a job loss. It affects everything,
every decision ... from being able to pay for groceries or new clothes to being able to afford
health care or college.

I know what it's like to grow up in a family affected by layoffs. My dad was a dry-land wheat
farmer, and he also was a construction worker and heavy equipment operator. There were
winters when there wasn't work to be found. There were times when my mother put dinner on
the table using food stamps for me and my 11 brothers and sisters.

This session, we must do everything we can to help those who are struggling, to keep Coloradans
in their jobs, and to keep families in their homes.

The federal government recently approved our $34 million Neighborhood Stabilization proposal
to help communities and families recover from foreclosure. I look forward to working with
Senator Carroll and Representative Ferrandino on our plan to help struggling homeowners get
their finances in order and avoid foreclosure.

Families and businesses throughout Colorado are facing challenges they haven't seen in
generations. Families are making different decisions, setting different priorities, and sacrificing.
Just like every family in Colorado, we'll need to make tough choices here in the Capitol as well.

Over the next 120 days, our collective focus must be on protecting businesses, creating jobs, and
managing the budget. I will look at everything we work on this session through the lens of the
economy - of what's responsible now and what's best for the long run.

Fiscal Responsibility
Our first order of business will be to prudently manage the budget.

We made steady progress in 2007 and 2008 in education, health care and human services. As we
now undertake the hard work of budget-cutting, we must try to protect those gains and position
ourselves for a quick recovery.

Since early fall, we've taken a number of steps to shore up our fiscal house: imposing a hiring
freeze, stopping several new construction projects and halting non-essential spending requests.

Since then, I've directed my department heads to find even deeper cuts, and next week, my
budget office will begin presenting the JBC with the first round of recommended reductions.
Senator Keller, I look forward to working with you, the JBC and the legislature on what will be a
collaborative and bipartisan effort. We'll work to protect life, safety and public health, and we
won't abandon our obligation to provide safety-net services.

However, we will touch many other important public services. This will be hard on the public
and hard on public servants like those of you here today: lawmakers, judges, mayors, county
commissioners and school board members.

Unlike the previous recession, our options are more limited this time. Therefore, everything will
be on the table. We'll look at base budget cuts, cash-fund transfers, program changes and the
state's reserve. We've asked state employees for their ideas, and we will ask them to sacrifice,
too. As I announced before, employee compensation will be part of the solution.

As I've said before, a budget is a moral document that should reflect our values. We've used the
budget the past two years to set Colorado on a forward path. Now, in these tough times, we must
focus on the bare fundamentals and delay some investments we know will make Colorado
stronger.

Delay does not mean forever, and we can't stop thinking about long-term investments in human
and physical capital - in education and research and innovation - because those are the things
that will help us rise up quicker than ever, and stronger than ever.

There is also an opportunity here - a chance to address TABOR and the constitutional and
statutory straightjacket that makes modern, sensible and value-based budgeting an impossibility.

Last year, former House Speaker Romanoff started the conversation, and we need to keep it
alive. We need to talk about life after Ref C - whether and when to extend it. We have a chance
to find a better way forward, a Colorado way forward.

Economic Development
Despite our challenges, Colorado's economy is still in better shape than many other states. We're
fourth in the U.S. for venture capital funding, fifth for creating new companies and first for
women-owned businesses. We have one of the best-educated workforces in the country, and
among the highest concentrations of scientists, engineers and high-tech workers.

We've crafted a focused economic-development strategy that will help us protect what we've got
and pave the way for future growth. We're holding small-business finance forums around the
state. We're partnering with Mayor Hickenlooper and other local officials to jump-start the metro
area's economy.

When I and the nation's governors met with President-elect Obama in November, he said it
would take courage and a strong federal-state partnership to get America back on the path to
long-term prosperity: "Any true solution will not come from Washington alone; it will come
from the White House and the State House working together every step of the way."

My administration is helping to design the president-elect's economic recovery package from the
bottom up.

We're also working closely with your Committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth. Thank
you Senators Schwartz, Heath and Vigil and Representatives Rice and Marostica for sponsoring
our job-creation and economic-growth bills.

By reviving the Colorado Credit Reserve Program, we can give thousands of small businesses
vital access to credit and capital. Here's an example: Sid Huddleston runs a sporting good shop
in Pueblo. He sells soccer uniforms, and every winter he gets a short-term loan to get through the
slow part of the year.

Sid is a Vietnam War veteran. He's never been denied a loan before, until now. He's depleted his
retirement savings, and if he doesn't get help soon, he'll have to close his doors for good. The
Credit Program could be the answer for businesses like his.

By enacting House Bill 1001, the job-creation tax credit I announced last month, we can level the
playing field with other states when it comes to attracting new companies and new jobs.

Colorado has never been able to compete against other states in terms of incentives. This jobcreation
tax credit won't just be a new tool in the toolbox - it will be a whole new toolbox. Just
the fact that we're considering this incentive has put us back in contention for yet another New
Energy Economy wind manufacturing plant.

New Energy Economy
Two years ago, I talked about the New Energy Economy as a way to build wind farms in wheat
fields and make our universities research leaders in renewable energy. Today, our New Energy
Economy is not just creating a culture of sustainability, it's fulfilling the promise of a new
energy future and a new economic future for all of America.

I'm working with our congressional delegation and the incoming Obama administration to
ensure the federal recovery package includes funds for transmission lines and other clean-energy
projects.

The New Energy Economy is a place where we must keep creating new jobs, new innovations
and new opportunities. This session, we also must continue bringing the New Energy Economy
home for ordinary Coloradans.

We'll be introducing legislation with Representative Merrifield and Senator Carroll requiring
that all new single-family homes come with a "solar-ready" option. Today, homebuyers already
have choices when it comes to countertops, paint colors and flooring. People should have similar
options when it comes to sustainability.

I'm equally excited about another of Senator Carroll's proposals, the Renewable Energy
Financing Act, which will facilitate financing for residential and business clean-energy projects.

My office also is working with Treasurer Kennedy, Representative Andy Kerr and Senator
Schwartz on a plan for wind and solar projects on schools in rural Colorado. This will help
reduce schools' energy costs so they can focus their dollars where they belong - in the
classroom.

And we are moving forward with Representative Apuan on proposal that would require homesellers
to disclose their energy bills for the past 12 months, to help prospective buyers anticipate
their monthly expenses.

My thanks to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for sponsoring and supporting these bills.
My thanks also to Colorado's traditional energy sector, which is a key part of our New Energy
Economy.

We have some of the richest natural gas reserves in the nation. We must ensure Colorado's
natural gas continues to meet America's energy needs today and serves as a clean-burning bridge
fuel for tomorrow. That's why I'm working with industry and others to include funds for gas
pipelines in the federal recovery package.

This session, I'm asking you to finalize rules, passed unanimously by the oil and gas
commission, to improve the quality of energy development in Colorado. I'm proud of the
commission's work. They listened to every interested party and found the right balance. With
these rules, Colorado companies and Colorado workers can successfully drill for natural gas,
while our air, land, water, wildlife and communities are protected.

Transportation
Transportation funding also will be a big part of the federal economic recovery package.
For every billion dollars of transportation construction, we protect or create at least 35,000 jobs.
We've put together a list of 160 shovel-ready highway, transit and aviation projects, worth about
$1.4 billion. The federal piece of this is vital. It will create immediate jobs and help us build a
modern transportation system for the future. But it's just a first step. Those are just one-time
dollars.

We have a much bigger problem. We're trying to run a 21st-century transportation system on a
20th-century funding model that's no longer sustainable.

Even with federal recovery dollars, we don't have the resources to repair the 126 structurally
deficient bridges in Colorado. We don't have the resources to maintain aging and congested
highways. And we don't have the resources to give commuters the transit choices they demand
and deserve.

This session, even in this tough economy, we need to find a new way forward. Eighteen months
ago, I convened a bipartisan transportation panel to examine the problem and offer solutions. The
panel has done its job; now it's time for us to do ours.

Over the past few months, my administration has been building a bipartisan coalition of business,
civic and government leaders to support an omnibus transportation bill called FASTER -
Funding Advancements for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery.

This bill will establish a new transportation vision for the future - a vision that creates jobs, a
vision we can implement in stages, and a vision that's both bold and realistic about what we can
afford. This will take political courage and strong leadership, because this will not be free. It will
require asking people to invest more in a down economy.

For the short-term, we'll need to put safety and maintenance first, by looking at fees and bonding
to fix old bridges and old roadways. For the mid-term, we'll need to be even more creative,
looking at public-private partnerships and other financing options. And for the long-term, we'll
need to craft a sustainable funding formula that's responsible, fair and affordable.

I look forward to continuing the dialogue this session, and I offer my thanks to Representatives
McFadyen and Rice and Senators Shaffer, Gibbs and Penry for their leadership on this pressing
issue.

Education
While investments in the New Energy Economy and transportation are essential, the best
economic strategy is an education strategy.

Colorado already has a lot to brag about, including one of the best-educated workforces in the
country. But we can - we must - do better. Our achievement gaps are still too wide. Too few
Colorado kids are graduating from college, and for the past 10 years, we've made virtually no
measurable improvements in student learning.

The P-20 Council, under the wise leadership of Barbara O'Brien, continues to offer thoughtful
reform proposals, and you will see several of those ideas this session. We also will continue to
implement Senate Bill 212, the bipartisan Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids, among the most
progressive reforms in the nation.

Certainly, it's hard to talk about funding new reforms in a bad economy. But we can't
shortchange hope. So this session we will bring you a statewide concurrent-enrollment plan that
will give high school students an opportunity to earn college credits while finishing high school.
Colorado currently has a handful of different laws governing concurrent enrollment. In fact,
many of you voted in favor of Senate Bill 148 in 2007. Now it's time to take this effort to the
next level.

We are proposing a comprehensive, statewide approach that will guide high school students who
are taking college courses. This is an efficient student-centered concept that will give kids a
reason to stay in school and accelerate their progress toward degrees and workforce-readiness.

It sets high, rigorous standards while keeping college affordable and accessible. It addresses two
of my major education goals: cutting the dropout rate in half and doubling the number of college
degrees earned by Colorado students.

Now, more than ever, we must focus on policies like this, which will help us rebound from the
downturn and put us back on the path to prosperity. Thank you, Representative Merrifield and
Senator Williams, for carrying this bill.

Health Care
Health care is also an area where we must stay focused. Fortunately, President-elect Obama has
made health-care reform a priority. He knows state health-care plans and safety-net providers
must be part of the recovery package, because, as more people lose their jobs and health
insurance, that's a cost burden all of us must shoulder.

Over the past two years, we've made steady progress in Colorado with our Building Blocks to
Health Care Reform initiative. This year, my health agenda will focus on a new strategy to move
more than 100,000 Coloradans off the rolls of the uninsured.

For the past eight months, my office has worked closely with hospitals across the state on a
strategy to bring in more federal Medicaid funding - significantly more - without requiring
additional general fund appropriations. The process is simple and already in use in several states.

Hospitals would pay a fee based on their patient revenue. This revenue would then be used to
leverage matching federal dollars. Finally, the new resources would be used to reduce
underpayments to hospitals - stabilizing their rates - and to provide coverage to our most
vulnerable populations.

My thanks to the Colorado Hospital Association, Bill Lindsay, Don Kortz, Senator Keller and
Representative Riesberg, for their leadership on this plan.

During these difficult economic times, when more and more families are struggling to access
health care, our provider fee partnership with the hospitals is a bright light that will not only help
the uninsured, but slow the escalating cost of health care for struggling businesses as well.

Conclusion
As I said at the start, we must honor our sacred trust with voters by working together to make the
tough choices that lie ahead. We must overcome these challenges for the short-term and
aggressively pursue new opportunities for the long-term, opportunities that can have national and
international impact.

In addition to my travels throughout Colorado, I've visited solar plants in Spain, seen shrinking
polar ice sheets in the Arctic, and breathed the polluted air in China. These experiences are sharp
reminders that Colorado companies can, and already are, addressing issues like climate change
and clean energy. Investing in Colorado technologies and innovations will create a better future
here at home, and also around the globe.

And this isn't just about investing in the future. This is about inventing the future - and not just a
new energy future, but a new medical future, a new aerospace future, a new technology future.

This is not about yesterday. This is about seizing the opportunities of today to realize the
possibilities of tomorrow. When I was in Japan a couple months ago, I was reminded of
something the politician Youzan Uesugi said 200 years ago, "The government of now exists to
prosperously link the nation of our ancestors to that of our children."

Those who came before us here in Colorado were wise enough to plant wheat fields, stake their
mining claims, carve railroads and highways through the mountains, and build Denver
International Airport. Even in a global economic crisis, you and I - the government of now -
must realize the next great opportunity that will link us to our children and our grandchildren.

One hundred years from now, I want Coloradans to look back and see this as the turning point -
the point when we set aside partisan politics and worked together as Coloradans and built a New
Energy Economy, a modern transportation system, and the country's best education system.

In his election night remarks, President-elect Obama reminded us of the words of Lincoln: "We
are not enemies, but friends ... Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds
of affection."

We will need to work together as responsible leaders to make the difficult choices necessary to
weather this storm. We must not give in to partisan politics. We must not let cynicism win out
over hope. We must not let fear win out over faith.

Future generations will look back to see if we let petty differences stand in the way of steady
progress, if we looked past our own differences to rebuild the economy, to put people back to
work and to get this state and this country moving again.

The people of Colorado are counting on us to govern well. We have been given the privilege of
serving, the responsibility of charting a clear path forward. Let's make good on the Colorado
Promise, together.

Thank you, and may God bless Colorado.

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