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March 03, 2011 12:32 AM UTC

Hickenlooper Tamping Down 2011 Expectations

  • 11 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

As the Colorado Independent’s Joseph Boven reports:

Gov. John Hickenlooper signed his first seven bills into law today and said he was not yet on board with Sen. Rollie Heath’s tax increase ballot initiative.

Hickenlooper said that while he had not made any promises on the campaign trail, he said he had been pretty clear that he had no plans to support a tax increase.

“…it’s hard for me to imagine supporting a tax increase until we’ve gotten our arms around the complexity of the budget,” Hickenlooper told reporters after he signed his first piece of legislation.

As the call for a ballot initiative to alleviate painful ongoing cuts to education and raise revenue has grown since Gov. John Hickenlooper introduced his budget proposals last month, we’ve heard repeatedly from well-placed friends that Hickenlooper does indeed have a long-term plan to begin unwinding the state’s unmanageable fiscal situation, and to find ways to pay for essential state services. We’ve also heard about (though not seen) polls showing that the state’s voters do not yet have either an understanding of the budget crisis, or adequate trust in government to approve a tax increase. In today’s Denver newspaper, you can read about a similar push to talk RTD out of asking voters for a tax hike to complete the FasTracks light-rail system–2011, says virtually everybody’s close-to-vest polling, “just isn’t the time to do it.”

Our view: if Hickenlooper truly does have a “long game” strategy to solve Colorado’s decades-old fiscal dysfunction, it’s time to start talking about it–at least in general terms. If 2011 won’t work, the people bravely going out on a limb for an initiative this year deserve to know why. Without that communication, Hickenlooper risks his ability to provide leadership, and risks the demoralization of allies he’ll need when the time is “right.” As we’ve said, the pain evident in Hickenlooper’s proposed budget could be a powerful tool for educating voters about the extent of the problem.

But there has to be a solution, or it’s just another sad song. Voters hear lots of those.

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11 thoughts on “Hickenlooper Tamping Down 2011 Expectations”

  1. So that he had a mandate to do something. Now, at best, if he ever does support a tax increase, the opposition will have plenty of ad footage of Hickenlooper opposing a tax increase before he supported one.

    I didn’t believe the 11-dimensional chess arguments coming from Obama koolaid drinkers, and I don’t believe Hickenlooper is an 11-dimensional chess player either.

    I don’t think there’s a plan other than  to cause real and visible pain through cuts in hopes that the backlash will create momentum for constitutional reform.

  2. Hick didn’t aim to ameliorate the cuts, used the legislative branch estimate and cut where it would hurt. He didn’t do it Ritter style, with a large amount of cash transfers and accounting tricks to soften the blow. By doing this, he has created the most favorable atmosphere for reform that could have come from this year’s budget.

    But if there IS a long term plan, I’m dying to hear it. This “there isn’t an appetite” talking point isn’t going to cut it.

      1. A politician always has to weight the odds of getting something passed, how important it is, and will it leave them able to continue in their job. That’s life in a Democracy.

        But what does happen a lot is that the easy path is the one that is politically safe. And the cause can be placed on the odds of success being too low to be worth the cost. So you wait till a better time.

        Selling a tax increase is always an uphill battle. If Hick’s going to wait until there’s a majority in favor before any effort is made to sell it, he’s going to be waiting a long time.

  6. Is wiser than the lefties tugging at his pant legs. He’s going to get a lot more done working with the House majority and Sister Soujahing the left all the way to glory, and he knows it.

    I’m loving it.

    1. This doesn’t really fit.

      Although, I think it’s nice that you’re a Hick fan. I look forward to your support on things like civil unions. And, of course, the more traditional unions.

      Brave stance for you to have.

    1. I haven’t seen any scientific polls on the subject but if you can cite any, I’d be interested.  What I have heard is mostly focus group stuff and these tend to be self-selected from the transit uber alles crowd. A tax increase campaign on the theme “This is the last time we’ll lie to you” this year would rival the charge of the Light Brigade in its tactical wisdom.  

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