Gov. John Hickenlooper announced plans Tuesday to improve the state’s psychiatric-crisis care and keep mentally unstable people from buying guns.
Hickenlooper and his Cabinet began working on the plan just days after the Aurora movie theater massacre in July, and they scheduled Tuesday’s announcement well before a gunman killed 20 children and seven adults and himself last Friday in Connecticut.
“We have a duty after tragedy to look at what we do, how we act and how we help others,” Hickenlooper said.
Hickenlooper wants Colorado courts to send mental-health commitment records to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation in real time so they can be used for background checks of people who want to buy guns. Currently, the CBI gets the information twice a year on a CD-ROM.
Hickenlooper could not explain why it has taken so long to send the information to the CBI.
“There are too many things like that in government,” he said.
As upset as Republicans are about Gov. John Hickenlooper’s recent embrace of modest gun law reforms in Colorado, it’s going to be very hard on a practical level to find opposition to closing the “loophole” noted above. The idea that in the modern connected world, the Colorado Bureau of Investigations only receives notifications about mental health commitments twice a year will be rightly considered absurd by most citizens, even as the gun lobby indiscriminately, if toothlessly, declares any such attempt to improve existing law a threat.
The second proposal Hanel reports on from Gov. Hickenlooper, to create a new mental health hotline and walk-in crisis centers, refutes criticism from some Republicans that mental health access should be the focus, not restricting access to guns. Presumably this means the $18 million Hickenlooper is seeking to pay for that will not be a problem.
These proposals from Hickenlooper are unlikely to represent everything we’ll see on the issue in the upcoming Colorado legislative session; look for legislation on universal background checks on gun sales, as well as a possible ban on certain high-capacity ammunition magazines. We don’t how how much more will be possible at the state level, but these are significant measures–a major reversal of momentum on the issue from before last summer. And they’re the kinds of common-sense measures that even a majority of gun owners say they support.
In fact, we really can’t see how anyone can rationally oppose any of these now.
UPDATE #4: From President Barack Obama’s emotional statement today:
The majority of those who died today were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers — men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.
So our hearts are broken today — for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost. Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.
As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago — these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.
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UPDATE #3: The first Colorado Republican to opine on the “is it too soon to talk about gun control?” question, quite predictably, is Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman.
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UPDATE #2: A statement now available on the Connecticut shootings from Gov. Hickenlooper:
“The shooting in Connecticut is absolutely horrific and heartbreaking. We know too well what impact this kind of violence has on a community and our nation. Our thoughts and prayers are immediately with the families of those killed. We can offer comfort, but we all know the pain will stay forever.”
And from Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado:
“This tragic and senseless shooting is deeply troubling and saddening. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims and their families affected by this terrible tragedy. We in Colorado experienced a similar tragedy earlier this year. Just as we came together then to grieve and support one another, Colorado and our nation will again pull together to support our friends in Connecticut.”
Also Sen. Michael Bennet, a Wesleyan graduate:
“The terrible news out of Connecticut is staggering. Like all Colorado families, my family is grieving and our hearts are with the victims, their families, and all of the students and employees at the school. This is a parent’s worst nightmare. As Coloradans, we know how this type of tragedy can shake a community to its core. We are here for Connecticut as they work together to heal in the days ahead.”
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UPDATE: Tragically apropos, CNN is reporting on yet another horrific mass shooting today, this time at a Connecticut elementary school.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Hickenlooper said that the legislative session in January would be an appropriate time to take up a debate on gun control in his state.
“I wanted to have at least a couple of months off after the shooting in Aurora to let people process and grieve and get a little space, but it is, I think, now is the time is right,” Hickenlooper said.
The comments also come after a mass shooting at an Oregon mall and a murder-suicide involving a professional football player this month touched off a national debate over gun laws…
“When you look at what happened in Aurora, a great deal of that damage was from the large magazine on the AR-15 (rifle). I think we need to have that discussion and say, ‘Where is this appropriate?'”
In the immediate aftermath of the shootings at an Aurora movie theater last summer, Gov. John Hickenlooper expressed skepticism about whether regulations on firearms might have stopped the killer from obtaining his arsenal of weapons, saying on CNN just as one example:
“This person, if there were no assault weapons available, if there were no this or no that, this guy’s going to find something. Right? He’s going to know how to create a bomb,” [Hickenlooper] said.
In Colorado, the slightest move to regulate guns is sure to be met with a furious reaction from our local and very vocal pro-gun lobby. Hickenlooper’s comments last summer were seized upon by pro-gun conservatives as evidence that not even an horrific act of violence could shake the public’s support for easy access to guns, and helped feed a narrative in the press that nothing was going to change after Aurora. Polling on the issue tends to rely on how the question is phrased, with some polls showing persistent support (for years now) for reforms such as universal background checks, but conservative pollsters like Rasmussen showing the opposite.
It’s into this delicate environment that Gov. Hickenlooper has just bravely stepped, and Democrats should give him some credit for doing so. Hickenlooper’s moderate image, often upsetting to the liberal Democratic base, could lend key legitimacy to a push for modest reforms like universal background checks for firearm sales, or limits on outsize ammunition magazines as he mentioned above. Hickenlooper’s apparent willingness to invest his hoarded political capital on this issue could honestly do a lot to relegate the “U.N. gun grab” and other unserious opposition from the gun lobby–and Republican legislators who regurgitate them–to the fringe.
Colorado’s Democratic governor throws the conservation community a curveball on the issue of human-caused climate change, versus the controversial practice of hydraulic fracture drilling for natural gas–as the Durango Heraldreports:
Hickenlooper often talked about climate issues when he was mayor of Denver, but he has been quieter on the topic since he became governor. He spent 30 minutes Tuesday morning at a conference of the Colorado Climate Network, a group of local governments that studies ways to adjust to climate change.
Acknowledging that “it drives some of my friends crazy,” the Democratic governor said embracing natural gas is the only realistic way to cut American emissions of greenhouse gases.
Hickenlooper also urged people to ramp up pressure on Congress to extend the wind-production tax credit. But he saved his strongest endorsement for a fuel that has stirred controversy in recent years.
The United States never signed the Kyoto treaty to cut greenhouse emissions, but the country is on its way to meeting the target anyway thanks to natural gas, Hickenlooper said.
“We are more than halfway toward compliance because we have these innovations in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing,” he said.
Without wading too far into the contentious underlying issue, we will say that this represents a more intelligent argument from Gov. John Hickenlooper than he’s made in the past. Last year, Hickenlooper enraged environmentalists when he claimed in an energy industry-funded ad that fracking has never resulted in groundwater contamination–a claim that has been repeatedly disproven. Later, Hickenlooper claimed that “you can drink” fracking fluid, an extremely dubious claim based on one experimental “fracking” product that is not even required to be used. In yet another gaffe, Hickenlooper absurdly claimed that fracking has “literally no risk.”
These incidents cannot help but impact Hickenlooper’s credibility on the issue.
It’s clear that the public health issues presented by “fracking” in and around Colorado communities involve more immediate challenges than those presented by global climate change, though it’s true in the abstract that natural gas contributes less to that particular problem. In this latest offering, Hickenlooper presents natural gas as a “bridge” to future energy technology, and challenges opponents to find a workable alternative.
Bottom line: we’ll give Hickenlooper credit for a more intelligent case than he has made in the past, but it’s an equivocal case at best. And the question of whether “fracking’s” incremental climate change advantage offsets public health concerns? He definitely did not settle it.
Sources are discussing today the possibility, as of now very much unconfirmed, that Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper may be offered the job of Secretary of Commerce, replacing former Secretary John Bryson who resigned over the summer due to medical reasons.
This comes to us from a credible source. That said, we’re not at all sure this would be the best move for Hickenlooper career-wise, especially given his rumored higher aspirations. On the other hand, the degree to which Hickenlooper considers an offer would say plenty about how realistic he considered those aspirations.
In any event, it would be quite the Gold Dome shake-up, wouldn’t it?
Leaders of TBD Colorado say the key finding of the initiative is that Colorado’s economy is “unsustainable without major fiscal and constitutional reforms.”
The eight-member board of directors of To Be Determined Colorado released its recommendations Wednesday to Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who established the initiative to determine a grand plan for the state.
The board based its recommendations on 70 public meetings with 1,200 Coloradans across the state during the last year. The initiative, which had a budget of $1.2 million and was funded by donations, focused on five issues: education, health, transportation, state budget and state workforce.
Opponents of TBD Colorado said the initiative was a way for Hickenlooper to lay the groundwork for a tax increase. While the recommendations do not directly call for tax increases, it does say revenue options have to be weighed against public services Coloradans want. [Pols emphasis]
Here’s what the summary report from TBD Coloradoitself says:
In recent years, the state’s revenues have not kept pace with the underlying growth in the Colorado economy because many of the fastest-growing sectors are either exempt from tax or are taxed at a lower rate than other sectors. Even though Colorado’s revenues are now increasing as the economy begins to recover, the state will be unable to grow its way out of the coming fiscal gridlock unless structural changes are made. Projected demographic shifts, such as an aging population and the increased medical costs that flow from that, will only accelerate the stresses on the state’s budget.
Respecting the role of Colorado voters, who have ultimate authority on increasing taxes, revenue options must be weighed against public services Coloradans wish to receive.
We haven’t had much to say about Gov. John Hickenlooper’s TBD Colorado initiative, because there hasn’t been much to say. Hickenlooper’s administration convened these facilitated meetings all over the state as their way of taking the citizenry’s pulse on a wide variety of fiscal issues, as well as asking what essential services citizens expect the government to provide.
The TBD Colorado initiative takes place against a backdrop of a known and very bleak fiscal reality for the state of Colorado. As a recent study by the University of Denverdetermined, revenues in Colorado are structurally insufficient to provide even the present level of services to the state’s growing population. By 2025, that study indicated the state will be billions short of basic needs. In addition, the Lobato education funding lawsuit has exposed a lack of “rational relationship” between the state’s funding mechanism for public education and the constitutional requirement to provide a “thorough and uniform” education to all students.
Bottom line: Republicans are increasingly wary of the TBD Colorado initiative, because it is just the latest in a series of findings that the state’s fiscal situation is not sustainable–and the only solution, once all efficiencies and waste have been squeezed out of the system, is to increase revenue. We’ve said it a hundred times, and we’ll say it again: Colorado’s tax burden is significantly below the national average, and that low tax burden has a direct relationship to the state’s chronic inability to fund essential services. Something has to give.
It will be up to Hickenlooper turn his focus groups into a tangible plan of action. After the humiliating defeat of Proposition 103 in 2011, a defeat largely attributed to the failure of Democrats like Hickenlooper to invest their political capital in investing in education, it’s clearer than ever what the key ingredient in any real solution is going to be.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, ranks as one of the safest governors facing reelection in 2014, according to an early survey by Public Policy Polling released Monday.
Hickenlooper, whose political skills may be tested over the next two years now that Democrats control both the state House and Senate and will be free to send more partisan legislation to his desk, leads a generic Republican by a 54-33 margin…
Two Colorado Republicans whose names are being tossed around as potential 2014 gubernatorial candidates are state Sen. Greg Brophy of Wray and Bob Schaffer, who lost four years ago to Sen. Mark Udall in a fight for a vacant U.S. Senate seat.
To be honest, given Gov. John Hickenlooper’s famously stellar approval ratings, we would expect his re-elect number to be higher than 54%. That said, 54% isn’t a horrible place to start from, and candidates like shellacked 2008 Senate candidate Bob Schaffer don’t exactly inspire confidence that the GOP can make a fight of it. And seriously, Greg Brophy? If he gets the nod, you can be sure the GOP has written the race off Rollie Heath style.
One top Colorado Republican admitted to FOX31 Denver last week that the GOP’s best, and perhaps only, shot of winning the governor’s race would be if Hickenlooper set his sights higher and opted against a run at reelection.
“If Hickenlooper runs again, we’ll end up with a gadfly candidate, someone who might be smart enough to know they’re going to get trounced, but willing to do it for the experience and the fun of it,” said that Republican, who asked not to be identified.
A “gadfly” candidate? If not Schaffer, or Brophy, then who might that be? And in the event Gov. Hickenlooper pulls a Bill Ritter and opts not to run again, or for whatever reason were to become politically vulnerable by 2014…who might a serious candidate be?
ABC News follows up on the passage of Amendment 64, legalizing marijuana in Colorado:
Voters in Colorado and Washington pushed the limits even further when they approved ballot measures Tuesday allowing adults over 21 to possess small amounts of marijuana under state regulation and taxation.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has said Colorado will respect the will of voters but added that he was awaiting word from the U.S. Department of Justice on how to proceed.
“In a situation like this, where our law is at loggerheads with federal law, my primary job is to listen first,” the governor said.
Hickenlooper opposed the ballot measure and has downplayed the likelihood of a commercial marijuana market materializing in Colorado.
“Based on federal law, if it’s still illegal under federal law, I can’t imagine that 7-Eleven is ever going to sell it,” he said.
In a Denver paper editorial today, we’re told of a new amendment to the federal Controlled Substances Act proposed by Rep. Diana DeGette that would simply exempt state laws regarding pot. It’s odd to learn of such a thing from an editorial as opposed to a news story, but we expect advocates for Amendment 64 will be happy to see it nonetheless.
So where does that leave Gov. Hickenlooper? Considerably less proactive, folks.
Hickenlooper’s first response to the passage of Amendment 64 was to warn proponents “don’t break out the Cheetos and gold fish too quickly.” Hickenlooper probably thought he was being cute, but doesn’t that seem a little insulting to the 53% of Colorado voters who approved this? Certainly not all of those voters were pot smokers with the munchies–they had other, more serious reasons for voting to legalize marijuana.
Like ending a failed policy that has needlessly criminalized millions of people.
On Friday, Gov. Hickenlooper and state Attorney General John Suthers, who has pledged to implement Amendment 64, had an inconclusive phone call with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Again, Amendment 64’s advocates are showing restraint in their public comments, but there is a sense that Hickenlooper is almost hoping the feds will put the kibosh on Amendment 64, and is purposefully not doing enough to support the will of the voters here.
With all of that in mind, and especially given Gov. Hickenlooper’s charge to uphold the will of Colorado voters–more directly his responsibility than DeGette’s–we think he should strongly consider adopting a more aggressive stand. We certainly aren’t downplaying the conflict between state and federal law, obviously that’s the 800-pound gorilla in the room.
But for Gov. Hickenlooper to more or less insult an electoral majority, while meekly awaiting the edict of federal law enforcement on Amendment 64, makes him appear feckless and contemptuous of the same Colorado voters who elected him–even more of whom, we are obliged to point out, voted to legalize marijuana than voted for John Hickenlooper in 2010.
Bottom line: on this issue, like marriage equality for gay and lesbian people, reproductive rights for women, and sane immigration reform, we see a new majority consensus emerging with generational change. The issues aren’t related except in the respect that the voters are really beginning now to act against what they see as wrong–and reject politicians who don’t.
Which side do you think Hickenlooper should be on?
In one of his first steps into the national spotlight at the Democratic National Convention last month, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper — whose Wynkoop brewery is largely credited with starting the microbrewery craze — proudly announced that he was the “the first governor since Sam Adams to get his start brewing beer.” The “former brewer” angle is one of those quirks of Hickenlooper’s personality that, oddly, give him national potential. It’s charming, right? Hick is the guy who accidentally became governor after he accidentally became mayor after he accidentally revitalized a city by brewing beer after he lost his job as a geologist. He’s the reluctant politician, the governor who’d rather be slinging craft brews than speaking to cheering throngs. And who doesn’t like beer? Well, aside from Mitt Romney.
Following in Hickenlooper’s footsteps is admittedly rough for Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. His last elected predecessor works across the street, after all, and as one of the most popular governors in the country, Hick clearly knows how to make both voters and the media swoon. It’s probably the beer angle.
Still, Hancock is committed to making his own mark on the city, no matter how tempting it would be to emulate John Hickenlooper. It’s far too early to determine what Hancock’s legacy will be, but as far as mayors go, he’s the perfect guy to succeed Hickenlooper: the administratively-minded former city councilman who’s lived in Denver for all his life and has always dreamt about being mayor. Hick had his quirks, Hancock has his narrative. Both are compelling on their own.
When Hancock does something that’s more in line with Hick’s personality, then, it can’t help but seem a little forced. Take, for example, the recent announcement that Hancock would be “brewmaster” at the upcoming Denver Beer Fest:
The Great American Brew Fest revealed Friday September 14, that Mayor Michael B. Hancock will be tapped as the brewmaster for Specialty Denver Brew which will be launching the Denver Beer Fest 2012.
Mayor Hancock will be showcasing his mad skills with the hops, malted barley and yeast on September 19, 2012. His special brew will be served while supplies last throughout Denver Beer Fest at the Denver Beer Company.
It’s not that Hancock shouldn’t be participating in events like this: presiding over a “beer fest” is one of those perks of being Denver’s mayor. And it’s not like Hickenlooper has a monopoly on mixing politics and beer. But by acting as “brewmaster,” Hancock invites direct comparisons between him and his predecessor. And, if Hancock wants to be celebrated on his own right and not as the “mayor after Hick,” he should avoid letting those comparisons be drawn.
Even if that means missing out on a beer fest or two.
UPDATE: A good speech if the crowd would just shut up and listen, courtesy NBC News: —– Politico’s Charles Mahtesian: The popular first-term Colorado governor tells the Denver Post that his first major speech to the national party won’t be a negative one marked by attacks on Mitt Romney or the GOP, an approach that’s […]
Aspen Daily News’ Andrew Travers, conservationists thrown for a (Hicken)loop(er) yet again: The controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing carries “literally no risk” if done correctly, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said during a conversation that covered his support for natural gas extraction at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference at the Aspen Institute on Tuesday. Hickenlooper said […]
