Colorado Capitol Report

The Colorado Chamber Gubernatorial Debate: Round 7—Hickenlooper vs. Beauprez!

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State Policy News

CACI Gubernatorial Debate: Round 7—Hickenlooper vs. Beauprez!

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Former Congressman Bob Beauprez (R) and Governor John Hickenlooper (D)

Yesterday, CACI hosted the seventh debate between incumbent Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper and Republican challenger Bob Beauprez, a former two-term Congressman.

The 30-minute debate before about 450 CACI members and guests took place at the 49th CACI Annual Meeting Luncheon, held at the Hyatt Regency at the Colorado Convention Center.

The debate was moderated by Shaun Boyd, CBS 4 political and statehouse reporter.  Here are the three questions that Shaun posed to the two candidates:

Fracking

Governor Hickenlooper, assume that the commission you appointed fails to produce recommendations for the legislature.  What will you do because (a) legislators will surely introduce bills to restrict fracking and (b) anti-fracking advocates, perhaps supported by Congressman Polis, will likely launch ballot initiatives?

Congressman Beauprez, if you are elected, what will you do about Governor Hickenlooper’s commission?  And what will you do if legislators then introduce bills to restrict fracking, and anti-fracking advocates launch ballot initiatives?

Employer Mandates

Each legislative session, bills to enact some kind of regulation on businesses are introduced.  CACI calls these bills unfunded “employer mandates.”  One proposal concerns a state-administered “family medical leave act” that would allow workers to contribute to a fund, controlled by the state, which would provide paid medical leave to workers.  Although employers would not initially be required to contribute to the fund, they would be required to bear the cost to administer their companies’ involvement in the system on behalf of the workers.  If elected Governor, what will you do if these bills, or others that place unfunded mandates on employers, come to your desk and why?

Civil Justice

Each legislative session, bills pertaining to civil justice are introduced that increase costs for businesses by subjecting them to more and more lawsuits.  Examples include:

  • Proposals to make it easier to sue in state courts,
  • Increases in compensatory and punitive damages,
  • Allowing any citizen to sue a company for an alleged violation of state law, and
  • Imposing an imbalance of an award of attorney’s fees to the plaintiff and not the employer if the employer prevails in a lawsuit.

If you are re-elected, Governor Hickenlooper, or if you are elected, Congressman Beauprez, how do you plan to address these types of bills?

 

For news media coverage of the 2014 CACI Gubernatorial Debate and the gubernatorial race, as well as the state legislative races, read:

“Unions, business leaders try to draw attention to legislative races,” by Ed Sealover, The Denver Business Journal, October 24th.

“Colorado candidates get down to business in governor’s race debate,” by Aldo Svaldi, The Denver Post, October 23rd.

“Hickenlooper, Beauprez focus on business issues,” by Ed Sealover, The Denver Business Journal, October 23rd.

“Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, after missteps, fights for a second term,” by Dan Balz, The Washington Post, October 23rd.

“Tracing the Line in Colorado: A State Split left and Right,” by Jack Healy, The New York Times, October 23rd.

 

Federal Policy News

October is National Cybersecurity Month

There’s still time left in October for CACI members to check out the FBI’s tips for protecting their companies, data and networks from IT things that go bump in the night (malware, phishing, spearing campaigns, cyber-attacks, etc.).