Key Issues

The following paragraphs highlight some of the state's most pressing general issues. Also, to see what the state and the General Assembly accomplished regarding these key issues last year, just click the "2009 Key Issues Results" link to the left. Those who read the page will notice that we got a lot done!

ECONOMY

This was a significant area of concern even before the nationwide financial crisis became apparent in the fall of 2008, and it's even more important now. On a fundamental level, we can't adequately address key areas such as education, transportation, the environment, health care and human services without sufficient revenues. Also, many Coloradans now face dire consequences as a result of today's severe recession, including the possible loss of employment and difficulties paying mortgages or other bills. We need wise action on the economy in 2010 and beyond. 

JOBS

Job creation and/or retention - a vital component of our economic health - will be one of our most important endeavors in the years to come. Unemployment hurts not only the unemployed individual and his or her family - it can also cause problems in neighborhood, city or county economies, because people without jobs need to cut back on spending. The General Assembly formed an interim Select Committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth in late 2008, and I was honored to be invited to serve as a committee member. The committee set an early goal of fostering the creation of "Jobs by June," and Gov. Ritter signed 18 bills introduced by committee members into law in 2009. 

P-12 EDUCATION

I've said many times that public education is the key to our democracy, since without an educated populace, it simply can't work. It's vitally important to provide quality education for all of Colorado's children, starting as early as preschool. Eliminating the current achievement gap is also essential. Top-notch education can lead to excellent future employment opportunities for the students, and it can also help young Coloradans learn the civic and social values necessary to build the engaged citizenry of tomorrow. In addition, we must train the most important part of our education equation - our teachers - to do the best job possible.  

HIGHER EDUCATION

While only about 25 percent of Colorado high school graduates will attend a four-year college, we must make sure that public higher education is not priced out of the reach of our lower and middle class students. Also, it would be quite shortsighted to let our institutions of higher education slip even deeper into financial difficulty. Our universities build the skilled work force and educators of the future, and our research institutions develop the cutting-edge products that our economy will need to compete in the national and global marketplace. Our community colleges and vocational schools train other types of professionals, including those who will be holding the "green collar" jobs that we will produce in our New Energy Economy effort.  

ENVIRONMENT

Colorado's natural beauty is one of its strongest calling cards, and we must protect our environment to keep it that way. Our open lands and wilderness areas provide habitat for a tremendous diversity of plant and animal species, and they draw out-of-state visitors who hike, bike, camp, fish, hunt, ski and/or raft in Colorado. We might not have all the answers yet on how climate change could damage Colorado's environment, but we've seen studies suggesting that it could impact our already limited supply of water. Many Coloradans profess a strong commitment to environmentalism, but work remains to be done when it comes to protecting air and water quality in certain areas of our state. Last but not least, our outdoor environment is an economic issue, since many Coloradans work in our numerous parks and resorts, or in industries such as tourism and outdoor gear retail or manufacturing. 
 

TRANSPORTATION

We simply can't afford to underfund transportation infrastructure in Colorado any longer. We have too many bridges that are rated structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, too many miles of highway lanes in severe states of disrepair, a backlog of roadway projects that could help relieve congestion, and a need for increased mass transit and bike/pedestrian capacity. Our FASTER transportation bill and federal stimulus money for infrastructure will help get key projects started, and help provide or protect jobs, but we need to craft longer-term solutions to our transportation challenges in the very near future.  

HEALTH CARE

My most immediate goal is to make sure that all Coloradans under 18 years of age have access to quality, affordable health care. Such a goal might be difficult to accomplish in the near-term, largely due to the state of the economy. Still, proper health care for the young can prevent or minimize future health problems, which can be many times more expensive to solve at a later date that they would have been to prevent. Also, I believe that taking care of our children is morally the right thing to do. 

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Colorado is becoming a national leader in renewable energy production, thanks in part to Governor Ritter's leadership through his New Energy Economy effort, but we can do better. We have tremendous solar, wind, geothermal and agricultural (for biofuels) resources in Colorado, and we can harness a significant amount of clean energy if we can make the proper investments in infrastructure. We also have institutions such as the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory team of CU-Boulder, CSU, Colorado School of Mines and NREL that are conducting cutting-edge renewable energy research. Clean energy is certainly an environmental issue, but it's also an economic issue, since new energy plants generate jobs and revenue from selling the fuel or electricity.