Capitol Review

By State Senator Mark Hillman

May 14, 2004

When you reach the cliff's edge and look down, the finality of jumping dwarfs all preceding threats, promises and calculations. That, I suspect, is why the Senate Democrat caucus backed away from an untenable position as this year’s legislative session clocked out.

The Legislature can’t amend the constitution unilaterally nor can it present an amendment to voters without a two-thirds majority, so constitutional changes necessitate bipartisan participation.

Through the first 118 days of the 120-day session, Senate Democrats were poker-faced in their approach to proposals aimed at harmonizing contradictory instructions which voters placed in the state constitution: TABOR’s cap on overall spending and Amendment 23’s non-negotiable mandate to increase education spending every year.

Rather than participate, Senate Democrats – harkening back to their strategy on redistricting – decided to block every proposal except for their favorite, the one which allowed the greatest increase in future spending. Most Senate Republicans turned "thumbs down" on that idea.

But Republican resistance didn’t matter, Democrats said, because a coalition of liberal special interests were prepared to put their favorite proposal on the ballot via petition if the Legislature didn’t do the job.

"I don’t feel required to (vote for) something that’s not as good," Sen. Ken Gordon of Denver, the assistant minority leader said.

"Politics is a game of chicken," said Sen. Sue Windels, an Arvada Democrat. "You wait to see who will blink first."

The peculiar part of the Democrats’ poker ploy was that almost everyone else was being reasonable – sometimes uncomfortably reasonable for those anticipating potential political splashback for "tinkering" with either TABOR or Amendment 23.

In the House, four proposals passed with Republicans voting in favor by margins of 32-5, 27-10, 31-6 and 28-9, respectively. A majority of House Democrats supported three of the four, voting 11-16, 19-9, 22-5 and 16-11.

Senators considered seven proposals. Republicans supported six of the seven, mustering from 13 to 16 of their 18 members as "yes" votes, but voted, 2-16, against the Democrats’ TABOR-buster. Senate Democrats, on the other hand, voted 17-0 for their favorite but voted against the other six by a combined 17-74.

Around 8 p.m. on the next-to-last day of the session, the last available compromise died with Republicans voting 15-3 in favor and Democrats voting 1-16 against. By the next morning, Senate Democrats began to experience buyers’ remorse.

Although the TABOR-buster petition still loomed, Senate Democrats realized that the voters might not be as predictable as the judge who conveniently adopted their favorite redistricting map the last time they deployed this strategy.

Since last September, voters in Alabama (66% to 33%) and Oregon (60% to 40%) smacked down legislative tax hikes despite broad support from leading politicians, overwhelmingly favorable press, and intimidating fundraising advantages ($16-to-$1 in Oregon).

Colorado voters are likely to be equally skeptical even though no proposal seeks to increase tax rates – just to retain "surplus" that would otherwise be refunded to taxpayers at the same time the Legislature is making drastic cuts.

Even Denver Post columnist Jim Spencer, who usually relishes any opportunity to thrash Republicans, recognized the Democrats’ overreach and its possible fallout, not just on Election Day but in next year’s budget: "If all you’ve got is a good idea that voters bury, all you’ve got is a $250 million budget shortfall."

So, a special session looms if legislators can first hammer out a compromise likely to muster the necessary two-thirds majority and one that honors the will of the voters who passed TABOR and Amendment 23.

State Sen. Mark Hillman (R-Burlington) is the Majority Leader of the Colorado Senate. His e-mail address is mail@markhillman.com.