Are Colorado Democrats overreaching this legislative session?
And the hits just keep on coming from our Democratic masters!
Not content with the wreckage of the 2019 legislative session after Democrats won every statewide office along with big legislative majorities in 2018 for the first time since 1936, Gov. Jared Polis and the Democratic leadership are again on the march.
Remember a few of these greatest hits from a year ago:
They thumbed their nose (or more accurately gave the middle finger) to Colorado voters when they imposed draconian regulatory actions to cripple the oil and gas industry and destroy thousands of jobs despite the fact voters overwhelmingly rejected a similar 2018 ballot proposal by a 55 to 45 margin.
They gave away Colorados presidential elector votes to California and New York under the deceptively named national popular vote and denied Coloradans the right to vote on this diminishment of our role in electing a president. But despite this, voters will get their say after all after a successful petition campaign to put this issue on the 2020 ballot.
They imposed a red flag gun confiscation law that stomps on due process and penalizes law-abiding gun owners who are presumed guilty until proven innocent.
And now theyre back!
Despite the drubbing Colorado voters gave Democrats in November when their Proposition CC to destroy our taxpayer bill of rights, TABOR, and increase taxes was overwhelmingly defeated, the governor and his legislative majorities are trying to surpass their 2019 performance.
While there should be a legitimate debate about the future of the death penalty that would include a statewide vote by all Coloradans, Democrats rammed a death penalty repeal bill through the Legislature, and it will certainly be signed by Gov. Polis. Why are Colorado Democrats so repulsed by the notion of directly listening to the voters through a statewide vote on such a fundamentally profound issue affecting our society and state?
Gov. Polis and majority Democrats have introduced a bill to create a public option health care program that will undermine private health insurance and drive up the costs of health care. This is nothing more than a back-door way to achieve the long-held goal of many Colorado Democrats to create a Bernie Sanders-style single-payer health care system even though Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected such a proposal just a few years ago.
In yet another blow to rural Colorado, ruling Democrats are hellbent to eliminate private prisons in Bent and Crowley Counties that would kill precious jobs, drastically undercut the counties tax base and undermine funding for local schools.
Although there is a split among majority Democrats that has at least temporarily halted the passage of a family leave proposal, make no mistake that there is substantial sentiment within the caucus to impose expensive bureaucratic requirements on small businesses.
Consistent with their legislation to give away Colorados presidential elector votes without a statewide vote, Democrats now want to take away the direct election of the nine members of the University of Colorado Board of Regents.
Two members of the board are elected statewide and the other seven are elected one each from Colorados seven congressional districts. Colorado is one of just four states nationwide that elects the governing board of its flagship university.
Rather than continuing to entrust nearly 3.5 million voters to elect CU regents as our state has done since gaining statehood in 1976, Democratic House Speaker KC Becker of Boulder doesnt trust the voters with this responsibility. Speaker Becker would replace Colorado voters with an all-knowing and obviously much smarter group of 13 people to determine who is qualified and then submit a list of candidates to the state Legislature to make the appointments to the board.
The common thread that runs through so many of these overreaching actions by Colorado Democrats over the past two years is an arrogance that runs roughshod over the ability of Colorado voters to make decisions for themselves.
And the 2020 legislative session still has two more months to continue its destruction under Democratic control.
Some people in our state are claiming Democratic overreach aka, too many changes, too much, too fast. I have heard these claims before, and my response is only to ask, Too much for whom? Too fast on which pressing issue facing Coloradans?
In 2018, we heard the pain, frustration, and impatience of our constituents and put forth a clear, bold vision for Colorado a vision that decreases the cost of health care, uplifts working people, addresses climate change, and insists upon accountability throughout industry and government.
Voters made it clear that the status quo was no longer tolerable and that they desired to see our platform realized. Business-as-usual was decidedly rejected, and the Democrats were given responsibility to govern with majorities in the House, Senate and governors office.
With the people of Colorados endorsement, we hit the ground running.
Last session we enhanced air quality regulations, set goals for renewable energy, addressed student debt, expanded full-day kindergarten, and made health care more affordable. We enacted community protections by passing reasonable gun safety measures that provide avenues for law enforcement to temporarily remove firearms from people who pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. We also passed equal pay for equal work and continued to implement common-sense justice reforms almost all with bipartisan support.
I successfully sponsored 36 bills in 2019 the vast majority of which had support from both sides of the aisle. Among them were bills to reduce the trend of mass incarceration, which disproportionately impacts communities of color and people suffering from behavioral health and drug addiction issues.
This is not overreach. This is sensible public policy, responsive to community needs.
Then, after a blockbuster year of meaningful change, a small but vocal fringe minority sought to undermine our progress by seeking to recall four legislators, including myself and Gov. Polis.
They made spurious claims, unsupported, inaccurate allegations, and professed that we no longer had the support of Coloradans. But after months of costly petition signature gathering accompanied by name-calling, fear-mongering, and sensationalism, not one recall succeeded. In fact, there was so little support, that none of the petitions could even get enough signatures to get on the ballot.
While our opponents were talking, we were listening. At doors, around kitchen tables, and in communities, we heard peoples concerns. The issues that kept coming up were reducing the costs of health care and housing, guaranteeing a quality education for every student, combating climate change, and ensuring economic justice and security for all hardworking Coloradans.
The reality is its still difficult for people to make ends meet and ensure the health of their families. Housing prices are still skyrocketing, health care is still simply unaffordable, and polluters are continuously poisoning our communities. Our schools and roads are still underfunded, and our residents still need clean air to breathe and water to drink. We still incarcerate and punish people rather than seek accountability of offenders and restoration for victims. And climate change is still an ever-present threat to our future.
At a time when federal policies, failures, and inaction threaten our livelihoods, institutions, and public health, Coloradans need more from their state elected officials, not less, and deserve decisive and collaborative action.
So, when I hear the question: Are Democrats overreaching?, my response is:
Where, how, and to whose disadvantage?
Because it is not the single mom who has to work two jobs to make ends meet. Its not the teacher who has to buy their own school supplies. Its not the student who quits college to help pay for family medical bills. It is not the hiker, biker, skier or river runner who watches the wild spaces they love deteriorate from abuse.
These Coloradans, and thousands like them, are tired of waiting. They are tired of gridlock. They are tired of excuses.
They need their leaders to come to the table to find bipartisan solutions to address the challenging issues and struggles they face every day. They need action and they need it urgently.
As Democrats, thats what weve done, and what well continue to do.
Dick Wadhams is a Republican political consultant and former Colorado Republican state chairman. Sen. Pete Lee, a Democrat, represents Senate District 11 in the Colorado General Assembly.
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POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Are Colorado Democrats overreaching this legislative session? - Colorado Springs Gazette