New legislature's mission: fulfill Promise.

• Author: Hudson, Larry
• Position: Colorado Promise - Column

The most pressing issues facing the Colorado legislature in 2007 derive from Gov. Bill Ritter's policy agenda--or more aptly from the 2006 campaign trail--and what he has called his "Colorado Promise."

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For Colorado's business environment this includes an aggressive focus on changes in economic development and job growth, healthcare reforms, transportation-funding alternatives and state government fiscal accountability.

In particular, the Colorado Promise pledges to create a Colorado Jobs cabinet, to establish regional economic development plans, and to support small businesses and entrepreneurs through incubator co-ordination--all part of a scheme for economic development.

Health care is a much larger issue--and probably the most critical this session--in which the Promise will attempt to provide health-insurance coverage for 788,000 currently uninsured Coloradans.

The Promise invites stakeholders to convene to create the "Colorado Health Plan" over the next year as well as establish a Small Business Health Insurance Team to develop strategies for small business owners and their employees to access affordable health care.

The key component to system-wide health-care reforms, however, which we won't likely see until 2008, will be how the Colorado Health Plan is funded. Will it be through employers, new taxes or existing state general-fund dollars taken from other programs--or a combination of all three?

The new Ritter administration's Promise also vows to establish a Transportation Finance and Infrastructure Council within its first 90 days in office and to host a statewide Transportation Summit, which will revisit our transportation financing system and identify alternative revenue sources for building Colorado's transportation infrastructure.

With a Democratic-controlled legislature and a Democratic governor in office come challenges to the moderate, pro-business caucus to prevent unreasonable and unworkable legislation emerging from the left-wing of the Democratic Party.

Former Gov. Bill Owens faced the same dilemma when he took office in 1999 with a Republican-controlled legislature. Gov. Ritter will need to use the same strategy to define, control and pass several Promise agenda items and secure his first-year legacy.

Democrats no doubt will work hard this session to...