Text of Hickenlooper’s speech
The text of Gov. John Hickenlooper’s fourth State of the State address Thursday in Denver:
Good morning.
It’s great to be back here, together, in the people’s state Capitol.
To the four new members stepping into your first legislative session—I offer you my sympathies. Kidding. Just kidding. Welcome.
Fortunately
for you and for all of us, we will have the leadership of Senate
President Morgan Carroll, House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, Senate Minority
Leader Bill Cadman and House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso.
Another veteran hand is Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia; our thanks to Joe and to his wife, Claire, for sharing him with the state.
We
are honored to have the Vice Chairman of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe,
James (Ol-geen) Olguin, and the Vice Chairwoman of the Ute Mountain Ute
Tribe, Juanita PlentyHoles. Welcome.
I
want to thank my cabinet and senior staff (seated to my right), along
with all state employees who have worked so hard, especially, this year.
Our thanks to everyone who has been so dedicated to the flood recovery
efforts, especially the Colorado National Guard, the Department of
Transportation, the Department of Public Safety—and our volunteer Chief
Recovery Officer, Jerre Stead, and his team from IHS; we are indebted to
everyone of you.
Our thanks as
well to Attorney General John Suthers and Treasurer Walker Stapleton and
to our Secretary of State—the dogged “honey badger”—Scott Gessler.
Thank you to the distinguished members of the Colorado Supreme Court and to the Colorado State Board of Education.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is here; thank you, mayor, for your partnership with the state of Colorado.
Also,
I want to express my deep gratitude to Helen, not just for being here
today, but for being there every day, for our son, Teddy.
On behalf of all Coloradans, I want to thank the Denver Broncos for giving us something to cheer about this season.
And how could we not congratulate the Colorado State University Rams?
That
fourth-quarter win over Washington State—scoring 18 points in the final
three minutes to come from behind—THAT was nothing short of amazing.
That
victory was a reminder that when Coloradans are faced with challenging
circumstances, there is no “quit.” Giving up—that’s not going to happen.
In trying times, Coloradans do what we always have done: pull together and get it done.
Colorado has always been a good place to find what you’re made of.
Earning your keep, making your own way, looking out for your neighbor—that comes with the territory.
In Colorado, we know there will be times when we will be tested.
Times when we will take action that shows who we really are and what we stand for.
And, along the way, shows the world what it means to be a Coloradan.
Lately, we’ve had more than our fair share of those times.
When
we gathered for our last State of the State address, in the wake of the
Waldo Canyon Fire and the Aurora massacre, many of us thought we would
never again experience a year like 2012.
That was not the case. Every season of 2013 presented another unthinkable test.
During the spring, our executive director of the Department of Corrections, Tom Clements, was gunned down in his home.
Throughout the summer, wildfires burned: the Black Forest, Royal Gorge, West Fork, and Red Canyon.
In
the fall, we got the flood—against the backdrop of the politicians in
D.C. who couldn’t get along well enough to keep the federal government’s
doors open.
In the winter, came
the reports of a shooter in Arapahoe High School and the heart-wrenching
reality that 17-year-old Claire Davis had been fatally shot.
This past year, Colorado has been scorched.
Colorado has been flooded.
Colorado—once again—endured senseless, inexplicable violence.
Yet, despite all of it, we did not let that define us. That is not our story.
Our story—and what we showed the world is:
Colorado does not shutdown.
Colorado does not quit.
Colorado does not break.
We know there are folks out there still grieving, still recovering.
We
know there are people out there feeling the impact of the national
economy’s downturns. And we are doing everything within our power to
change that.
But make no mistake—the state of Colorado has not only endured, it also has thrived.
My fellow Coloradans, despite every unforeseen test, despite everything that was thrown at us…
… the state of our state is strong.
And according to just about every forecast, trend and study, the state of the state of Colorado is only growing stronger.
While the national economy around us remains sluggish …
Colorado’s unemployment rate has not gone up. It has gone down.
To the lowest levels since 2008.
This is our fourth consecutive year of economic growth.
According
to a study from the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business,
we can expect robust job growth in virtually every sector of the economy
this year.
Colorado is ranked among the top five states in the entire country for business, careers and job growth.
Four
of the top ten—and five of the top 20 communities in the country for
startups—are here in Colorado: Boulder, Fort Collins, Denver, Colorado
Springs, and Grand Junction.
We are also one of the very best environments in the country for small business.
According
to the Kauffman Foundation, when it comes to creating a small-business
climate, this year Colorado earned a grade of “A.” That’s up from a “B+”
in 2012.
And people like what’s happening here.
Colorado hosted a record number of tourists this year. We gratefully welcomed even more hunters than last year.
Agriculture—employing 173,000 people—keeps our economy strong, last year contributing $41 billion to the state economy.
Between 2009 and 2013, Colorado agricultural exports increased by almost 80 percent.
The fact that the state is strong and growing stronger is no accident.
… In Colorado, we work for our luck.
Shortly
after we took office three years ago we launched a strategy to be a
thoughtful and supportive partner with the business community. We
reached out and built relationships with people in 14 regions from
around the state, and based on what we heard, we designed a Colorado
Blueprint that focused on six core objectives:
Build
a business friendly environment / Increase access to capital / Educate
and train the workforce of tomorrow / Retain, grow, recruit companies /
Cultivate innovation & technology / Create a stronger Colorado
brand.
Because we know the economic
hard times have been especially hard in some rural communities, this
past year we launched the Rural Economic Development Grant Program, and
are in the process of awarding $3 million to our rural communities.
One
of the recipients is here with us today. Keith (Ber-Dorf) Buhrdorf.
With $350,000 in grants awarded to TK Mining in Delta County, Keith’s
company will be able to add 5 to 10 employees, which is almost doubling
the workforce of TK Mining’s Delta office.
Together,
we launched the Advanced Industries Accelerator Program making seed
capital available to start-up companies in aerospace, engineering,
advance manufacturing, biosciences, electronics, energy and tech.
We
created a unified brand logo, which is almost universally loved. Two
hundred companies have requested to use the brand. 117 of Colorado’s
companies are already using it.
We
launched COIN—the Colorado Innovation Network—which brings together
innovative thinkers and entrepreneurs from around the state.
We expanded the Biennial of the Americas, which is rapidly growing into something like a Colorado’s World’s Fair.
We
created the Pedal the Plains tour to promote all of the beauty and
opportunity of some of Colorado’s most gorgeous rural communities.
With
labor and business working together, we passed legislation that made
the state contracting process more transparent, while also making it
easier for Colorado firms and Colorado workers to secure state
contracts.
When there’s work to be done in Colorado, for Colorado, we should look to skilled Coloradans first.
My friends, in 2010, when it came to job growth, this state was ranked 40th in the nation.
Now—three years later, in that same ranking, Colorado is the 4th fastest job growth state in the country.
40th to 4th.
… Since January 2010, we have added 170,000 jobs.
In 2010, companies were leaving Colorado. Today, they are moving here.
While we are disappointed whenever a company leaves this state, Colorado is gaining employers and jobs.
Three Fortune 500 companies have decided to call Colorado home along with 26 additional companies.
Your budget decisions played a significant role in this success.
One of the most recent companies to establish headquarters in Colorado is Ardent Mills.
While we were Pedaling the Plains we got to talking with our friend, Darrell Hanavan, of the Wheat Growers.
Darrell
told us that two of the nation’s leading flour milling
companies—ConAgra Mills and Horizon Milling—were forming a joint
venture, Ardent Mills. They were six months into a search for a new
headquarters and Colorado hadn’t made the final cut.
Undeterred,
Darrell requested that I call the executives of this new company. In
roughly a month, Darrell and his team helped us persuade Ardent Mills to
locate their company here in Colorado. We pointed out that Colorado is a
place defined more by its future than its past. Which was clearly the
case with Ardent Mills.
Landing
Ardent Mills is a little like winning the Super Bowl—or at least the
Flour Bowl—especially for rural communities. It all began with the
Colorado Blueprint relationships we forged across the state.
We
have Bill Stoufer, who will be the Chief Operating Officer of Ardent
Mills, is here with us, along with Brad Berentson, who will be the Chief
Financial Officer.
Bill and Brad,
you have the support of everyone in this room to help make Ardent Mills
the most innovative and successful milling operation on earth.
The
economic infusion and energy of Colorado’s new companies, along with
the hard work of Colorado’s entire business community, has gone a long
way to take Colorado past pre-recession job numbers.
The unemployment rate in Colorado has dropped from 9 percent in 2010 to 6.5 percent, outpacing the national rate.
Unemployment in both Grand Junction and Greeley has dropped by even more, by more than 30 percent.
But
let’s be clear, the unemployment rate is not low enough, and all of us
share a commitment to keep a statewide focus on this issue.
More jobs all over Colorado is our highest priority.
As
some of you know, I took what you might call an unconventional path
into running for office. I started out here in Colorado as a geologist.
During a downturn, everyone in our company got laid off.
Next
thing I knew I was making beer and starting a brewpub business. It
turned out pretty well. But as every small business person knows, it’s
not easy out there, especially when bureaucracy gets in the way.
I didn’t run for public office until I was 50. Before that, I’d never run for anything. Not even in high school.
I ran for public office as a small businessman.
I thought government needed to operate with more common sense and less nonsense.
So
while we have been doing all we can to make it as easy as possible for
business to succeed in Colorado we also have been streamlining the state
government, making it more efficient.
Three years ago, we started with a budget that was facing staggering shortfalls.
Balancing the books is not the sexy stuff, but if the budget is wrong, nothing else can be right. Just ask Congress.
When it comes to this nitty-gritty of governing, you could say we have borrowed the motto: “Be Prepared.”
We have funded core priorities while preparing for future needs—and unforeseen events.
Because,
together, we have made hard choices, been disciplined, not spent more
than we have—we’ve put ourselves in the position to save more money for
rainy days. And as we’ve seen, when we get rain, it can be “biblical”
and all at once.
The single most
critical factor in Colorado being able to stay open for business
throughout hellfires and high waters has been reserves.
Three
years ago, Colorado was setting aside only about 2 percent of its
General Fund money for reserves. That 2 percent gave the state only a
seven-day cushion.
Last year, we more than doubled that rate, to 5 percent. Our budget request is to grow the fund this year to 6.5 percent.
At
the same time we have also shored up our Tabor Reserves to $48 million
and are requesting that they be increased to $78 million.
This
money in reserve is what has enabled us to respond quickly to the
disasters and get assistance to local partners. It’s what enabled us to
get roads rebuilt and open—ahead of schedule.
If
you were to have asked anyone in Jamestown, Estes Park or Milliken, if
they thought we had a snowball’s chance of getting those roads open by
Dec. 1, they would have laughed out loud — some did laugh out loud.
It
is because of the cooperation of the bipartisan Joint Budget Committee,
that we have been able to build this budgetary bedrock. D.C. should be
looking at our J.B.C. to see how collaboration gets done.
To ensure that we are maximizing state resources and providing as responsive customer service as possible, we have gotten LEAN.
LEAN,
as many of you know, is a type of business audit that scours operations
looking for ways to make processes run more efficiently.
We have re-evaluated how EVERY state agency does business.
And we have initiated more than 100 new LEAN processes, more than any state in America.
Colorado’s
Department of Transportation recently reported a 19 percent decrease in
contracting timelines. Combined with other improvements their efforts
are saving more than $2 million.
In 2008, only 33 percent of property assessment appeals were resolved within one year. Now, 79 percent are.
The Division of Real Estate reduced the average time it takes to complete an investigation of a mortgage loan by 44 percent.
These
are only a few examples of our LEANer customer service, where we are
doing what we can and should be doing: responding quickly and
effectively when needed, and then getting out of the way.
We’re LEAN, but we’re only getting started.
One
of the places where just about all Coloradans frequently become
aggravated is the Department of Motor Vehicles. Our DMV has made great
strides. But they have done so with a computer system that is nearly
three decades old.
While many of us
play around on our iPhones while waiting in line at the DMV, the
employees are struggling to update the files in MS-DOS. Our budget aims
to change that. This will reduce the average wait time in DMV offices
throughout the state from 60 minutes to 15.
Through
a statewide effort called Pits and Peeves, we have also reviewed,
modified or repealed nearly 11,000 state rules -- many of which were
redundant and flat-out dumb.
And we
launched the Responsible Acceleration of Maintenance and Partnerships
program—RAMP—a more nimble CDOT operation that is on its way to freeing
up $300 million annually for five years for accelerated construction.
This
smarter way of doing business is what enabled us to deliver on our
promise to complete the eastbound Twin Tunnels project, the first
capacity increase on this stretch of I-70 since it was built in 1961.
Just
about everyone of us has sat in a car on the way to or from the
mountains, frustrated, or even worse, stuck in traffic with a kid
needing a restroom.
This project
will reduce travel times significantly during peak Sunday hours, and
decrease the number of crashes in the area by more than a third.
The second Twin Tunnel project—the westbound lanes—will be completed by the end of this year.
And then there’s Kathy Nesbitt.
Two
years ago, a full third of state workers were approaching retirement,
and the state’s hiring system was 92 years old and loaded with countless
hurdles to hiring the best people.
Kathy
is the executive director of the Department of Personnel and
Administration. She and her team successfully created a Talent Agenda
and worked to pass a bipartisan bill to reform the personnel system.
Supervisors
can now focus on finding the best talent. Merit-pay is now based not
only on an employee’s seniority, but also on performance. Hiring times,
which previously had taken three months, already have been cut in half.
Just
weeks ago Kathy was recognized as one of only nine recipients of
Governing Magazine’s Public Officials of the Year Award, which is
something akin to an Oscar for best starring role in cutting red tape.
Thank you, Kathy.
Moving
forward, our priorities are clear: We are going to remain focused on
jobs, education; and ensuring that we have a state that is as healthy as
it is fiscally sound.
We are going to continue to improve Colorado’s customer service and efficiency; and support our military families.
Fourteen years into the 21st century is well past time to reform our telecommunications laws.
This
session, we ask you to pass legislation that will accomplish this, but
at the same time rural and other unserved parts of our state should have
the same broadband internet access as urban areas.
With
your help, this year, we will extend the job-creation tax credit from
five years to seven, enabling more businesses to maintain employees and
hire new ones.
Economic development
demands infrastructure. We will propose the formation of a non-profit
enterprise dedicated to fostering public-private partnerships to fund
infrastructure projects such as transportation and water. This will not
only bolster economic development, it also will lighten the burden on
taxpayers, and harness minds and resources outside of government to
address unmet needs and keep Colorado competitive.
Such
partnerships offer a path toward financing solutions to existing
challenges, such as traffic congestion, in places like Fort Collins and
Colorado Springs.
In the wake of
the floods, we proved our ability and commitment to rebuild bridges and
roads. We’ve seen what can happen when we lose that infrastructure. But
the single most important investment we can make in infrastructure is in
our bridges to tomorrow—our children.
We must support effective teachers, students and parents.
We must find a way to address key reforms that have made Colorado a national model.
Colorado
voters made clear they will not make new investments in education until
they are convinced that current resources are being prudently managed.
We
are going to request that the General Assembly fund a plan to make the
budget of every public school transparent. Let’s put the numbers on the
internet and make the web a window.
Under
the current statewide public education funding system, a school’s
funding is based on an enrollment which is counted on a single day,
early in the school year.
We are
going ask the General Assembly to pass legislation that will ensure a
more accurate assessment, by counting average-daily-membership in our
schools.
It is nonsense not to have a powerful economic incentive for student retention.
While
we are choosing to adhere to the prudent budgetary strategy that has
been the cornerstone of our policy, this year we are seeking an increase
in per-pupil funding of $223, for a total of $400 per pupil in the last
two years.
We are also requesting a significant investment in higher education.
In recent years, college tuition has been steadily increasing by a rate of double-digits.
Please
join me in supporting our request for an additional $100 million for
higher education, which would cap tuition increases at 6 percent and put
college within the reach of more families.
Another priority for Colorado families and for us, is supporting the energy industry while protecting the environment.
The
viability of the sage grouse has bedeviled Western states for a decade.
As chair of the Western Governors’ Association, I believe we can
protect the sage grouse while at the same time allowing ranches, farms
and other economic activity to flourish. At our invitation, Secretary of
the Interior Sally Jewell has agreed to visit Colorado and observe
mitigation efforts firsthand.
Colorado’s
oil and gas industry contributes $29 billion to our economy. Critical
to the success of the oil and gas industry is that operators recognize
their moral and legal obligation to protect our air and water.
Fortunately, we have been able to bring many in the industry together with the environmental community to work toward solutions.
As
a result, Colorado is now a national leader in developing a strong
regulatory environment. We brokered the nation’s strongest frack fluid
disclosure rule in 2011.
We are
proposing the nation’s first-ever methane capture rule, making Colorado
the leader in the nation for controlling emissions.
We’ve
said before that we’re committed to holding the oil companies to the
highest standards to protect Coloradans and our air and water.
To
that end, we are working with legislators, industry and the
conservation community to ensure we pass a bill this year that will
strengthen penalties for violations of permits and rules.
If
words were water the state would never run dry. Our budget is
requesting a second year of funding to help create cleaner water for
Colorado. This year we will complete the Colorado Water Plan, which will
emphasize conservation, address incremental storage, and address
drought mitigation. We must create alternative choices to buy-and-dry.
No matter where we live, we cannot afford to let our farm and ranch land
dry up.
Part of what has gotten overlooked in the debate about guns is our work on mental health.
When
you look at the massacres at Columbine High School and the Aurora movie
theater; and the tragedies of Platte Canyon High School, and most
recently at Arapahoe High School, guns are only a piece of the puzzle.
Another
clear piece is mental health: Trying to identify and assist those who
are feeling isolated, bullied, the mentally ill; and trite as this may
sound, those who are feeling abandoned and unloved.
We
allocated more than $34 million to create and bolster programs such as
school-based mental health services, behavioral health community
centers, and to train and staff round-the-clock mental health crisis
centers.
We repurposed Fort Lyon,
where right now there are some 80 people with addictions who are getting
clean, learning a skill, and turning their life around. People who
otherwise would have been on the street.
Just
as we must implement the voters’ wishes on marijuana, we are obligated
to make sure that children and parents understand brain development and
the risks of underage use. We are committed to a securing a safe,
regulated and responsible environment.
This
will be one of the great social experiments of this century, and while
not all of us chose it, being first means we all share a responsibility
to do it properly.
Part of being
the healthiest state, means we continue to prioritize services for the
most vulnerable. We ask for your support for Coloradans with
developmental disabilities and their caregivers, including addressing
the current waitlist, family support services, and transitional
services.
In that vein, the General
Assembly, with bipartisan support, created Connect for Health Colorado.
While other states have struggled with enrollment and implementation,
Colorado has outperformed the national exchange and most states. More
than 139,000 residents now have health insurance who didn’t have it
before.
In addition to being the healthiest state, we have consistently worked to be the most military friendly state.
We must continue to honor military veterans.
Not so long ago I received a letter from Silvia [Bonna-con-tee] Buoniconti. It was about her son, Frank.
Frank
was a Chief Warrant Officer 3rd Class United States Army. A helicopter
pilot. Among the many honors Frank received was the Distinguished Flying
Cross—one of the highest awards an aviator can receive for heroism in
combat. Frank saved the lives of two special operations teams.
He
died in a helicopter crash in 2011, while training in Washington state.
But because he did not die while in a Combat Zone—according to current
state law, Silvia and her husband, Frank, are not eligible to receive a
Colorado Fallen Service Member License Plate.
Silvia is not the only Gold Star Mother waiting for this recognition.
For families of veterans like Frank, this law must change.
Silvia
is here with her husband, Frank, (note where they are sitting). We are
deeply grateful for your son’s service, and commend you for your
commitment to having it recognized.
As I wrap up here and we begin this session, I have one more Ask of you—of us, really.
You
don’t need a poll to know that regardless of political leanings—the
typical American, the average Coloradan—doesn’t think much of politics
or politicians.
And who can blame them?
Shutdowns. Debt ceiling duels. Parties locked down, unwilling to compromise.
So much negativity.
The
public sees politicians as operators who put their own self-interest or
their party’s agenda above the people; and who are obsessed with petty
pursuits and ignore the public service part of being a public servant.
The
widely held perception today is that politicians divide and selfishly
scheme in the moment, whereas public servants unite and plan for the
greater good.
Over the course of the last year, everyone in this room has been tested.
Time
and again, you chose to put your communities and your fellow Coloradans
first. You chose to be public servants, before politicians.
We must continue to rebuild better than we were before. But our work is about much more than recovery.
Whether
we live in a mountain community or in a city; whether we are surrounded
by cows or concrete, we all want the same things: the chance to earn a
good wage, give our children a decent education; clean air and clean
water.
Vigorous debate is our ally. Partisanship is not.
Skepticism is productive. Corrosive cynicism is not.
So, as we begin this session, my Ask is we ignore the divisive politics.
No
one needs to remind us we’re going into a political season. And I
realize that if such a goal for a session ever seemed ambitious, it’s a
time like this. But that’s precisely why we should set such a goal.
Tom Clements was someone who set such ambitious goals.
It’s
been not quite a year since Tom’s death. A few months ago, I spoke at a
convention of the International Association of Corrections that was
held in Colorado Springs.
I
described that when Tom was murdered he was in the midst of major
overhauls to the department of corrections. He was reforming
administrative segregation, which most of us recognize as solitary
confinement, and he was about to re-engineer the parole system.
Tom
saw the entrenched problems. But he never gave up. He saw what could
and what should be. His philosophies and strategies were never about
locking people up, but rather, everything Tom did—really his whole
life—was about striving to unlock humanity.
It
is a tragic, awful irony that an inmate put on parole directly from
administrative segregation showed up at his door and killed him. But
that is not what defines Tom.
Part
of Tom’s legacy is everything that was discussed at that convention.
These were directors of correctional facilities, people who worked in
worlds of barbed wire filled with violent criminals.
Yet
the topics of discussion were things like “Alternatives for Mentally
Disordered Offenders,” “Giving Up Crime,” and “Faith Based Programming.”
In other words, it was about unlocking humanity. And it wasn’t a
coincidence. The theme of the convention was inspired by Tom and was
very much in his honor.
The other part of Tom’s legacy is his family, his wife, Lisa, and daughters, Sarah and Rachel, who are with us today.
Tom’s
story and life is not defined by what happened to him but by the
immense good he achieved and his legacy of love and compassion and
reform. His legacy of public service.
Tom was a public servant.
He walked the walk of public service every day.
Inexplicable, senseless violence. Fires. Floods. No, that is not our story.
Our
story is about how we came together and have been getting it done. Our
story is that we have learned that we are at our best, that Colorado is
at her best, when we are connected to one another, working together.
Our story is us.
That is what it means to be a Coloradan. That is what we have and will continue to show the world.
I’m all in.
To
keep Colorado Strong and to keep Colorado United, all of us in here,
and all of our fellow Coloradans out there—every one of us needs to be
all in, together.
Thank you, and God bless Colorado.
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