2005-
Colorado is in its worst fiscal crisis since the Depression (2003 legislative report), whose annual unemployment rate (5.9%) more than doubled during the past two years.
The budget office for the governor himself reported that “the Colorado economy idles in neutral even as the national economy surges forward.”
Colorado was last nationally in income growth from 2001 to 2002. We lost an estimated 82,000 jobs over the last 2 years, which is an historic first (University of Colorado Economic Report.)
We have the 3rd worst budget crisis in the nation, behind California and New York.
Republicans in the State House were given the 5th best economy in the country and turned it into 46th in job growth, through permanent tax cuts, little or no economic stimulus, and a lack of attention to cost-saving measures. These tax cuts average $330 per household, hardly enough to compensate for the higher state fees Coloradoans now pay for motor vehicle fees, water fees, higher education fees, and reduced or eliminated help for job training.
Over 19,500 Coloradoans have foreclosed on their home or business during the past two years. There’s been a 21% increase just in 2003.
We had 55,000 bankruptcies declared during the last 3 years. There were 19,000 bankruptcies in 2002, which is a 17% increase from 2002.
We have had 26 motor vehicle office closures, resulting in lines which can last for hours.
Colorado has laid off so many court workers that judges are doing their own typing and filing. Court delays from staff reductions and closed courts are threatening to close down our judicial system.
Felonies are not being prosecuted. The security of our citizens is being threatened.
Its time to turn the direction of our state around. Its time to move Colorado forward out of this economic morass.
The return to tort-based auto insurance has questionable, if any, auto insurance savings while patients are being dunned for ER visits due to motor vehicle accidents. ER doctors are forecasting they could be forced to shut down their emergency rooms as payment for auto accidents is questionable under the tort-based system. Lawsuits are expected to increase, so victims can recover their health care costs – this, in a court system where courts are being closed or their hours of operation drastically reduced!
There are ways to address this economic crisis. First and foremost is providing the economic stimulus needed to PROVIDE JOBS to our people!
As your legislator, I will work:
1. To stop the outsourcing of our jobs to other countries. We provide the conditions for corporations to grow here in the United States by our transportation system, our education system which develops a highly intelligent and trained workforce, and often generous tax breaks granted locally. In return, we expect Colorado JOBS TO STAY HERE!!!!! I will work for legislation to reward companies which keep their jobs here, and level the playing field for those companies which outsource their jobs to other countries.
2. Small businesses are the engine of our economy, providing our state with the most jobs. My program for assisting small businesses to grow is by:
- reducing red tape;
- requiring state-mandated inventory less often;
- creating a health insurance entity for small businesses, in which they would join together to negotiate with health insurance companies, to offer affordable employee health insurance to their employees. Companies that bid for such insurance would be given favored status with state-awarded health insurance plans. This would reduce the large number of uninsured in our state and subsequently, drive down the cost of providing health care. Right now, the cost of providing health care to the uninsured is passed along to the rest of us in the form of higher fees.
- creating a pharmaceutical pool in which all Coloradoans could join, as well as small business owners, to increase our purchasing power with pharmaceutical companies and drive down the cost of medications.
- encouraging the development of micro-economic clusters.
3. Encouraging the growth of nanotechnology in Colorado, which is forecast to be the largest growing area of the national economy.
4. Enhancing the presence of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, so that Colorado can become the alternative energy capital of the country. Right now, alternative energy sources which have been developed in Colorado are being manufactured in foreign countries. Why don’t we reap the benefits of these energy breakthroughs by NREL?
5. We cannot grow jobs without a trained workforce. We need more, not less, money put into job training for those who have lost their jobs.
6. We need to ensure that higher education will remain available to all, both at the community college level and the state level. We need to adequately fund all levels of education, from K-12 to PhD.
Jobs are essential is we are to have a healthy economy. Colorado has not yet gained jobs since the recession formally ended two years ago.
Don’t you think its about time Colorado tried to foster high paying jobs and not just service jobs?
Don’t you think its about time the legislature return Colorado to the prosperity it once enjoyed?