The Budget: Using Creativity to Downsize the State Bureaucracy?
The state budget passed. I voted no as did most of the GOP in the senate. While the house Republicans did yeoman’s work, the tough decisions just didn’t go far enough.
The reasons are simple: the “cuts”, no matter how the other side has tried to characterize them, do not go deep enough. The result is this: we are simply moving the edge of the cliff back a few feet. The smart bet is that state revenues will continue to decline. If this is the case, next spring we will be back, passing bills to cut spending just to get out of the current budget year. We could be wisely preparing for this eventuality, but sadly, we are not.
The thinking among the Democrats is that the government should be spending more on social programs. No one doubts that social programs get hit hardest in times like these.
What many of us do doubt is that the state’s bureaucracy is unable to create 5% or 3% or even 2% worth of efficiencies in their operations. For example, by one estimate, finding across the board efficiencies of just 3% (except to K-12) would have equated to about $200,000,000 dollars.
Necessity ought to be allowed to be the mother of invention. And it is here, but it’s wildly misdirected.
Legislators should have come together to simply force the bureaucratic creativity needed to extend beyond the budget gimmicks in this year’s budget. New thinking ought to be used to create ways to do the same with 95% or 97% or 98% as can be done with 100%. I’m not buying that it can’t be done. I don’t think most people who are finding creative ways to adjust to this economy are buying it either. It can be done. Where there is a will, there is a way. But the short supply of will to even modestly downsize the state bureaucracy is fairly concentrated among the current members of the minority party.
In-State Tuition for Veterans – one step closer
HB 1039 (McNulty/Kopp) directs the colleges and universities in the state of Colorado to allow honorably discharged veterans who live in Colorado for any length of time to receive in-state tuition status. It is headed to Senate Appropriations committee Tuesday.
Incentives for volunteer firefighters bill passed
My SB 21 passed out of the senate this week. The full story is here.
E-Prescription bill advances
My bill taking the state one step closer to realizing one of the key health care transformations promoted by Newt Gingrich advanced out of the senate Health and Human Services committee. It directs the Department of Health Care Policy and Finance to analyze whether and how to implement an e-Rx system for Medicaid users. I am hoping to get an amendment added to the bill (which I am sponsoring along with along with Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood) that directs the Department to move this direction and report results. It is efficient, actually enhances patient safety, saves a lot of money, and secure. For more on the story, click here. For a great white paper click here.
Next week
My bill (Nikkel/Kopp) directing the state to create a budget transparency website will be heard in committee. More on that next week.
Also, I am the sponsor of SJM 8, which asks Congress to not implement a Cap and Trade system nationally as it will cost consumers an unthinkable amount of money. The Heritage Foundation’s analysis, for example, has revealed that a dramatically more modest version of the legislation now being discussed, would have cost 400,000 to 800,000 jobs per year. The EPA estimated that between 1.2 million and 2.3 million jobs will be lost by 2050 as a result. GDP will also take a major hit. It’s little wonder. Electricity prices, for example, would increase from 96% to 133%. Closer to home, the National Association of Manufacturers estimates a loss of between 20,000 and 31,252 jobs will be lost by 2020. And remember, this analysis comes from the Warner-Lieberman bill of 2008. It mandated a carbon reduction of 25% below 1990 levels. The bill now being discussed, Markey-Waxman, mandates an 80% reduction of 1990 levels.
SJM 8 was sent to the senate’s kill committee, so it will debated there, and not the floor of the whole senate, where everyone would have a chance to weigh in and vote.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
My Remarks to the Denver Tea Party
I am here because I still believe in America.
No matter what some have begun to think, America is not a government with a people who support it.
America is a free people with a government of, for and by its people.
So let me say a few words about the people, that will help explain my optimistic outlook.
Every American I know prefers to work hard and enjoy the fruits of their labor. They know that the government cannot give something to someone without first taking it away from someone else.
And just about every American I know has a greater belief that all great change in America starts at the dinner table, and not in the halls of government.
And more and more, people are beginning to remember why Ronald Reagan -- whose high view of freedom, whose right view of America’s goodness, whose devotion to human dignity, whose drive to give away government power to the little man, whose tireless efforts to reduce the size of government, whose love for the United States military and state’s rights and a secure country – PEOPLE ARE BEGINNING TO REMEMBER WHY HE WAS SO RIGHT AND SO GREAT FOR OUR COUNTRY.
They are beginning to remember that he was right when he said that the Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in three short phrases:
If it moves, tax it,
If it keeps moving, regulate it,
And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
And Americans are beginning to remember that he was right when he said that the government is like a baby:
An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.
Friends, we are the Americans I’m speaking about. We are the reason I remain optimistic about the world our children and grandchildren are going to inherit.
But just like the Patriots of old who sparked a freedom movement by dumping that tea into the Boston Harbor, that was just the starting point.
The finish line is this: we don’t rest until we are confident that our freedoms are secure.
That means we need to help the government types that are getting drunk on our children’s money, find new jobs next year. It means we have to apply steady pressure on all of our elected officials, steady pressure by reminding them that they work for us – it’s not the other way around.
If you will take up that charge, say Aye!
I’ll take it up with you. And it’s for the great cause that is America herself that we’ll do it, together.
God bless you, our great state, and the greatest country on earth, the United States of America.
No matter what some have begun to think, America is not a government with a people who support it.
America is a free people with a government of, for and by its people.
So let me say a few words about the people, that will help explain my optimistic outlook.
Every American I know prefers to work hard and enjoy the fruits of their labor. They know that the government cannot give something to someone without first taking it away from someone else.
And just about every American I know has a greater belief that all great change in America starts at the dinner table, and not in the halls of government.
And more and more, people are beginning to remember why Ronald Reagan -- whose high view of freedom, whose right view of America’s goodness, whose devotion to human dignity, whose drive to give away government power to the little man, whose tireless efforts to reduce the size of government, whose love for the United States military and state’s rights and a secure country – PEOPLE ARE BEGINNING TO REMEMBER WHY HE WAS SO RIGHT AND SO GREAT FOR OUR COUNTRY.
They are beginning to remember that he was right when he said that the Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in three short phrases:
If it moves, tax it,
If it keeps moving, regulate it,
And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
And Americans are beginning to remember that he was right when he said that the government is like a baby:
An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.
Friends, we are the Americans I’m speaking about. We are the reason I remain optimistic about the world our children and grandchildren are going to inherit.
But just like the Patriots of old who sparked a freedom movement by dumping that tea into the Boston Harbor, that was just the starting point.
The finish line is this: we don’t rest until we are confident that our freedoms are secure.
That means we need to help the government types that are getting drunk on our children’s money, find new jobs next year. It means we have to apply steady pressure on all of our elected officials, steady pressure by reminding them that they work for us – it’s not the other way around.
If you will take up that charge, say Aye!
I’ll take it up with you. And it’s for the great cause that is America herself that we’ll do it, together.
God bless you, our great state, and the greatest country on earth, the United States of America.
When the Public Speaks Up, Lawmakers Must Listen
This week we killed the Pinnacol heist, I passed a bill providing in-state tuition for veterans who move to Colorado, one to offer a tuition scholarship to volunteer firefighters who agree to fight fires for four years, and, of course, this was the week of the Tea Party. A few words on these items in reverse order:
Denver Tea Party: 5,000 to 7,000 freedom lovers (and, yes, I’m sure a few trouble makers, though I saw none) came to the capitol on tax day to let us and their country know what was on their mind. I was honored to share a few remarks with the good folks which I posted on Facebook here and on my blog here. You can catch a brief snippet of the event on ABC’s website here.
My impressions of what this event was all about: This crowd loves America. They believe in America and they hope for a more prosperous America.
They are profoundly frustrated by politicians who prefer more government to less (on both sides of the aisle). It’s safe to say they’ve had it with this culture out of touch politicians who have made an art form of ignoring them (again, sadly, blame can be placed on both sides of the aisle). And they are fed up by a political class that continues to attempt to create equality through government handouts rather than to simply secure equality of opportunity in a prosperous land.
For the record, I’m with them.
Scholarship for volunteer firefighters
My senate bill 21 directs the Division of Fire Safety to provide a matching scholarship for community colleges (for every 9 credits purchased, 3 are free) to volunteer firefighters who agree to fight fires for four years.
That was the “what”, here’s the why: About 60% of the state’s fire fighters are volunteers. We have about 9,000 volunteers in the state and have seen a 4% decrease over last year. Meanwhile the state population, especially in fire-prone areas, continues to grow. Since wildfire is both a local and statewide interest, it is critical to advance policy at both levels to insure we have the firefighting resources we need to keep citizens and properties in fire-prone areas safe. It passed senate appropriations and initial passage with the whole senate today.
In-state tuition for military veterans
My house bill 1039 provides in-state tuition classification to vets that move to Colorado. It has cleared the house and cleared the first committee in the senate. Interestingly, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education took a position of “support” on the bill providing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, and have remained silent on this bill. Moreover, there is a rumor afoot that Democrats plan to offer an amendment to the bill that will have something to do with the in-state-tuition-for-illegal-immigrants bill. Obviously, a cheap shot like that will spark a huge fight. I encourage you to keep your eyes on that issue.
The great Pinnacol Heist and the state budget
Democrats seem to be coming around to our way of thinking: tough cuts to the whole budget are needed, not just one $300 million cut to higher education. This cut was put forward by the budget committee when they thought they could force a false choice between cutting higher education and stealing Pinnacol’s policy-holders money.
I fought vigorously against the raid of Pinnacol. This is a good, though obviously, imperfect company that was created by statute. (It’s worth noting that every business entity in the state are products of statute.) The reserve fund Pinnacol has was created by insurance premiums, not taxes or fees. Pinnacol sends dividend checks back to many policy holders each year. The state was literally going to go steal this money.
This just demonstrates how far politicians will go sometimes to avoid making tough cuts in government spending. But like everyone else that lives in the real world, cuts must be made. It looks like we are now headed in that direction with budget talks. I addressed this issue in the senate Republicans weekly Youtube release which can be viewed here.
You made a fuss
I’ll close with this. The illegal tuition bill and the Pinnacol bill fell apart because the public got involved in a big, loud way. The Tea Party, if carried forward in a way of constant public involvement will bear fruit and make changes in how we are governed. So I urge you to stay involved. Your voice is literally joining with tens of thousands of others who are ready to get back to a common sense approach to smaller, more competent government at every level. So keep making a fuss.
P.S. Rep. B.J. Nikkel and I are sponsoring a bill to put the state’s check register on line in a separate website that is easily searchable. It passed the house yesterday, so I’ll be taking over next week. It’s viewable here.
Denver Tea Party: 5,000 to 7,000 freedom lovers (and, yes, I’m sure a few trouble makers, though I saw none) came to the capitol on tax day to let us and their country know what was on their mind. I was honored to share a few remarks with the good folks which I posted on Facebook here and on my blog here. You can catch a brief snippet of the event on ABC’s website here.
My impressions of what this event was all about: This crowd loves America. They believe in America and they hope for a more prosperous America.
They are profoundly frustrated by politicians who prefer more government to less (on both sides of the aisle). It’s safe to say they’ve had it with this culture out of touch politicians who have made an art form of ignoring them (again, sadly, blame can be placed on both sides of the aisle). And they are fed up by a political class that continues to attempt to create equality through government handouts rather than to simply secure equality of opportunity in a prosperous land.
For the record, I’m with them.
Scholarship for volunteer firefighters
My senate bill 21 directs the Division of Fire Safety to provide a matching scholarship for community colleges (for every 9 credits purchased, 3 are free) to volunteer firefighters who agree to fight fires for four years.
That was the “what”, here’s the why: About 60% of the state’s fire fighters are volunteers. We have about 9,000 volunteers in the state and have seen a 4% decrease over last year. Meanwhile the state population, especially in fire-prone areas, continues to grow. Since wildfire is both a local and statewide interest, it is critical to advance policy at both levels to insure we have the firefighting resources we need to keep citizens and properties in fire-prone areas safe. It passed senate appropriations and initial passage with the whole senate today.
In-state tuition for military veterans
My house bill 1039 provides in-state tuition classification to vets that move to Colorado. It has cleared the house and cleared the first committee in the senate. Interestingly, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education took a position of “support” on the bill providing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, and have remained silent on this bill. Moreover, there is a rumor afoot that Democrats plan to offer an amendment to the bill that will have something to do with the in-state-tuition-for-illegal-immigrants bill. Obviously, a cheap shot like that will spark a huge fight. I encourage you to keep your eyes on that issue.
The great Pinnacol Heist and the state budget
Democrats seem to be coming around to our way of thinking: tough cuts to the whole budget are needed, not just one $300 million cut to higher education. This cut was put forward by the budget committee when they thought they could force a false choice between cutting higher education and stealing Pinnacol’s policy-holders money.
I fought vigorously against the raid of Pinnacol. This is a good, though obviously, imperfect company that was created by statute. (It’s worth noting that every business entity in the state are products of statute.) The reserve fund Pinnacol has was created by insurance premiums, not taxes or fees. Pinnacol sends dividend checks back to many policy holders each year. The state was literally going to go steal this money.
This just demonstrates how far politicians will go sometimes to avoid making tough cuts in government spending. But like everyone else that lives in the real world, cuts must be made. It looks like we are now headed in that direction with budget talks. I addressed this issue in the senate Republicans weekly Youtube release which can be viewed here.
You made a fuss
I’ll close with this. The illegal tuition bill and the Pinnacol bill fell apart because the public got involved in a big, loud way. The Tea Party, if carried forward in a way of constant public involvement will bear fruit and make changes in how we are governed. So I urge you to stay involved. Your voice is literally joining with tens of thousands of others who are ready to get back to a common sense approach to smaller, more competent government at every level. So keep making a fuss.
P.S. Rep. B.J. Nikkel and I are sponsoring a bill to put the state’s check register on line in a separate website that is easily searchable. It passed the house yesterday, so I’ll be taking over next week. It’s viewable here.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Guardians of the Status Quo
At the start of the week the joint budget committee (JBC) demonstrated in a profound way that they truly are the guardians of the status quo. Good, intelligent people all, they have miserably failed this legislature and the people of Colorado.
They delivered a budget to the legislature that was devoid of the tough cuts that have to be made in a recession. Instead, they gave us a budget that shorted higher education by $300 million dollars and told us their way to fix this wasn’t to make across the board spending cuts, but rather to seize the private assets of Pinnacol Assurance (the state’s only workers compensation provider of last resort). Pinnacol’s reserves, by law, are owned by Pinnacol clients, not the state.
But this legislature has truly lost its ability to blush. Read more about how bad this really is in today’s Denver Post here.
To try and arrest this illegal maneuver, Sens Brophy and Penry and I worked with the senate president before the budget bill came up for debate Thursday. Jointly, we told the JBC to go back to the drawing board. We told them not to give us the false choice between stealing Pinnacol’s money and cutting higher education to the point that colleges will actually be forced to close.
They refused to entertain even a single cut.
So the budget bill came up for debate, Republicans offered a package of some $250 million in cuts, some tough ones to be sure. For starters, I offered an amendment to cut the pay of legislators and staff. The Denver Post reported on the idea here. Everyone in the real world has to make cuts, why shouldn’t we? Democrats killed the amendment.
I offered an amendment to cut the state’s higher education bureaucracy by some $700,000. Incredibly, they are set to hire seven new people this year while some of the colleges they serve are literally contemplating closing. Again, the majority party killed the measure.
In the end, Republicans and few a Democrats banded together to pass a modest amendment that moved a bit over $800,000 to higher education.
Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail and our colleagues in the house will be able to make the hard choices that have to be made on the budget once it goes to their side. And hopefully our guys over there will be able to save higher education and be able to stop the seizure of Pinnacol’s client’s money.
They delivered a budget to the legislature that was devoid of the tough cuts that have to be made in a recession. Instead, they gave us a budget that shorted higher education by $300 million dollars and told us their way to fix this wasn’t to make across the board spending cuts, but rather to seize the private assets of Pinnacol Assurance (the state’s only workers compensation provider of last resort). Pinnacol’s reserves, by law, are owned by Pinnacol clients, not the state.
But this legislature has truly lost its ability to blush. Read more about how bad this really is in today’s Denver Post here.
To try and arrest this illegal maneuver, Sens Brophy and Penry and I worked with the senate president before the budget bill came up for debate Thursday. Jointly, we told the JBC to go back to the drawing board. We told them not to give us the false choice between stealing Pinnacol’s money and cutting higher education to the point that colleges will actually be forced to close.
They refused to entertain even a single cut.
So the budget bill came up for debate, Republicans offered a package of some $250 million in cuts, some tough ones to be sure. For starters, I offered an amendment to cut the pay of legislators and staff. The Denver Post reported on the idea here. Everyone in the real world has to make cuts, why shouldn’t we? Democrats killed the amendment.
I offered an amendment to cut the state’s higher education bureaucracy by some $700,000. Incredibly, they are set to hire seven new people this year while some of the colleges they serve are literally contemplating closing. Again, the majority party killed the measure.
In the end, Republicans and few a Democrats banded together to pass a modest amendment that moved a bit over $800,000 to higher education.
Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail and our colleagues in the house will be able to make the hard choices that have to be made on the budget once it goes to their side. And hopefully our guys over there will be able to save higher education and be able to stop the seizure of Pinnacol’s client’s money.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
In-State Tuition, Honoring Veterans, Cutting Taxes
In the interest of keeping this update as brief as possible, I’ll dive right in:
In-state tuition for illegal immigrants (SB 170)
In a surprise move, Dems pushed up the date of the committee hearing on this bill because Sen. Ted Harvey, a critical Republican vote, had to leave town to attend to his father-in-law who has Alzheimer’s. Read about the sneak attack in the Denver Post here. As expected, the chairman did not support my motion to delay the vote so our member could return, so we were down a vote, which meant the bill will come to the full senate. I laid out key parts of the case against it during committee debate here, and for part two, here.
Also, it was revealed in committee that the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) is in full support of the bill. The problem with this is that when the senate education committee confirmed the Executive Director two years ago, I asked the appointee, David Skaggs, to tell the committee his position on providing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. He said that, “only legal residents or [U.S.] citizens are entitled to in-state treatment in the state system, so I think we’re going to follow the law.”
I sent the Director a letter asking him to clarify his position. I’d be interested to know why a gubernatorial appointee, who essentially said under his watch that CCHE would not advocate for a change in law -- but just follow the law of the state -- has now allowed the Commission to do just the opposite under his watch.
Honoring Danny Dietz
Remember Navy SEAL Danny Dietz, the Littleton hero who gave his life in service to his country on a remote Afghani mountainside in 2005? It was an honor to designate a portion of the state highway that runs through his old neighborhood (State Highway 85, Santa Fe) as the Navy SEAL Danny Dietz memorial highway. A copy of the resolution which describes his amazing story can be viewed here.
Honoring War on Terror Fallen Heroes
After two years of complete inactivity on the part of the chairman of the government board appointed to honor our state’s fallen sons, I called for the ouster of the chairman. The story is here. I hope we can get it back on track.
Business Tax Cut (SB 37)
The bill cleared the final hurdle in the senate this week with a unanimous vote and is now headed to the house. It will save CO businesses at least $10M this next year. The Denver Post wrote about it here.
By the way, if you would like to listen to the debate between Senator Romer and myself, you can find that on my Facebook page here.
In-state tuition for illegal immigrants (SB 170)
In a surprise move, Dems pushed up the date of the committee hearing on this bill because Sen. Ted Harvey, a critical Republican vote, had to leave town to attend to his father-in-law who has Alzheimer’s. Read about the sneak attack in the Denver Post here. As expected, the chairman did not support my motion to delay the vote so our member could return, so we were down a vote, which meant the bill will come to the full senate. I laid out key parts of the case against it during committee debate here, and for part two, here.
Also, it was revealed in committee that the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) is in full support of the bill. The problem with this is that when the senate education committee confirmed the Executive Director two years ago, I asked the appointee, David Skaggs, to tell the committee his position on providing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. He said that, “only legal residents or [U.S.] citizens are entitled to in-state treatment in the state system, so I think we’re going to follow the law.”
I sent the Director a letter asking him to clarify his position. I’d be interested to know why a gubernatorial appointee, who essentially said under his watch that CCHE would not advocate for a change in law -- but just follow the law of the state -- has now allowed the Commission to do just the opposite under his watch.
Honoring Danny Dietz
Remember Navy SEAL Danny Dietz, the Littleton hero who gave his life in service to his country on a remote Afghani mountainside in 2005? It was an honor to designate a portion of the state highway that runs through his old neighborhood (State Highway 85, Santa Fe) as the Navy SEAL Danny Dietz memorial highway. A copy of the resolution which describes his amazing story can be viewed here.
Honoring War on Terror Fallen Heroes
After two years of complete inactivity on the part of the chairman of the government board appointed to honor our state’s fallen sons, I called for the ouster of the chairman. The story is here. I hope we can get it back on track.
Business Tax Cut (SB 37)
The bill cleared the final hurdle in the senate this week with a unanimous vote and is now headed to the house. It will save CO businesses at least $10M this next year. The Denver Post wrote about it here.
By the way, if you would like to listen to the debate between Senator Romer and myself, you can find that on my Facebook page here.
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