California is yesterday, Colorado is tomorrow
Published in the Boulder Daily Camera, 1/23/11
States take turns in showing the rest of America what the future looks like. Over most of the past century, California has certainly carried the torch as being the most progressive state in America, and I use the term "progressive" here not to mean "liberal," but as the beacon for how America needs to change to adapt to our ever shifting world. California has been the face of American progress for a very long time.However, reigns always end, and it seems to me that California has lost its mojo. To be sure, because of its size and inertia, California will keep America moving forward in many ways for a few more years. But, if we are looking for the cauldron of cultural, business, and government innovation, we should stop looking west and, instead, look down. Sometimes, the winds really do shift, and California is yesterday`s progressive leader, Colorado is today`s.
Why do I think this? How about government? Last week, Jerry Brown was sworn in as Governor of California. Jerry Brown was also sworn in as Governor of California in 1975 - 36 years ago. After 36 years and with the state government in tatters, the best Californians could do was to reelect the man affectionately known (36 years ago) as "Governor Moonbeam" -- a second-generation and lifetime politician. In Colorado, we elected the model of change in John Hickenlooper. Governor Hickenlooper comes from a successful business and local political background. He practically created one of the most vibrant industries in the state -- craft beer and brew pubs.
The result of California`s backward looking legislators? California is deep in debt and currently facing a long-term budget shortfall estimated to be over $20 billion per year, giving California the lowest credit rating of any state in the nation. Colorado, on the other hand, has demonstrated years of sound government fiscal management putting us in an excellent financial position and with top credit ratings. Coloradans, while we have some struggles in the near term, can define our government`s future; Californians are watching a slow train wreck.
Education? Last year, Colorado passed the most sweeping K - 12 education reform bill in the nation. This bill, essentially, eliminates tenure for teachers who are found to be doing a poor job of educating students, and the Colorado legislature did this with the support of teacher unions who placed their mission above protection of their jobs. Sounds like Colorado wants to raise a lot of well-educated innovators for the future. In California, the Los Angeles Times, one of the nation`s most union-friendly newspapers, did no more than publish the results of standardized test scores for teachers in Los Angeles. For this, they found themselves the subject of a boycott called by the teacher`s union who "Strongly disagreed" with this act of telling the public how well their public school teachers were educating their children. Hard to think how this kind of California attitude will help their kids get a better education.
Health and fitness? For years, we thought of California as the leader in showing America how to look good and stay fit. Yet, in 2010, California ranked 11th lowest among states for the rate of adult obesity. Not bad, but what state had the lowest rate of adult obesity? Colorado. And we Coloradans did not get there by starving ourselves, but by hiking, biking, swimming, and exercising our way to good health, as shown in the physical exercise survey by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention that ranked Colorado 8th and California 26th. Sound body, sound mind, sound future -- progress.
Business Climate? In the 2009 Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council Survey ranking the best states in which to start a business, California was ranked 49th overall, right above New York. Colorado ranked 8th. While these policies can take years to have an effect, California already has the third worst unemployment rate in the nation. If you think that a prosperous and innovative business community is important to the future, California is doing about everything it can to discourage business growth, and Colorado is making it easy.
Culture wars? If there was one thing we all thought we could count on California for, it was to lead us out of the disastrous war on drugs by legalizing marijuana. For heaven`s sake, in the land of Haight-Ashbury, they couldn`t even get that right. So, as the cover story in the Nov. 11, 2010 issue of Time Magazine makes clear, it`s Colorado where the innovative thinking and heavy lifting is taking place that will find the way forward. In all, would you rather that like-minded Hollywood and San Francisco frame the cultural issues we face, or would you prefer to hear the debate emerging from diverse-but-principled Colorado towns like Boulder and Colorado Springs?
Finally, from the census data, we now know that California`s share of the American population has declined over the past 20 years when they lost more than one million Americans to other states in each of the past two decades. Not Colorado. We have steady, sustained, and well-managed growth that just keeps coming and leading more Americans to call our state home.
Of course, anyone who claims to know the future is a fool, and so I may be. But, sometimes you get a feeling, and it feels to me like what we have going on here in Colorado is a cauldron of governmental, societal, and business innovation that just keeps getting better. Maybe we are the state that will lead America into the future. I certainly hope so.
Ron Laughery is the founder and former President of Micro Analysis and Design, Inc. in Boulder.
States take turns in showing the rest of America what the future looks like. Over most of the past century, California has certainly carried the torch as being the most progressive state in America, and I use the term "progressive" here not to mean "liberal," but as the beacon for how America needs to change to adapt to our ever shifting world. California has been the face of American progress for a very long time.However, reigns always end, and it seems to me that California has lost its mojo. To be sure, because of its size and inertia, California will keep America moving forward in many ways for a few more years. But, if we are looking for the cauldron of cultural, business, and government innovation, we should stop looking west and, instead, look down. Sometimes, the winds really do shift, and California is yesterday`s progressive leader, Colorado is today`s.
Why do I think this? How about government? Last week, Jerry Brown was sworn in as Governor of California. Jerry Brown was also sworn in as Governor of California in 1975 - 36 years ago. After 36 years and with the state government in tatters, the best Californians could do was to reelect the man affectionately known (36 years ago) as "Governor Moonbeam" -- a second-generation and lifetime politician. In Colorado, we elected the model of change in John Hickenlooper. Governor Hickenlooper comes from a successful business and local political background. He practically created one of the most vibrant industries in the state -- craft beer and brew pubs.
The result of California`s backward looking legislators? California is deep in debt and currently facing a long-term budget shortfall estimated to be over $20 billion per year, giving California the lowest credit rating of any state in the nation. Colorado, on the other hand, has demonstrated years of sound government fiscal management putting us in an excellent financial position and with top credit ratings. Coloradans, while we have some struggles in the near term, can define our government`s future; Californians are watching a slow train wreck.
Education? Last year, Colorado passed the most sweeping K - 12 education reform bill in the nation. This bill, essentially, eliminates tenure for teachers who are found to be doing a poor job of educating students, and the Colorado legislature did this with the support of teacher unions who placed their mission above protection of their jobs. Sounds like Colorado wants to raise a lot of well-educated innovators for the future. In California, the Los Angeles Times, one of the nation`s most union-friendly newspapers, did no more than publish the results of standardized test scores for teachers in Los Angeles. For this, they found themselves the subject of a boycott called by the teacher`s union who "Strongly disagreed" with this act of telling the public how well their public school teachers were educating their children. Hard to think how this kind of California attitude will help their kids get a better education.
Health and fitness? For years, we thought of California as the leader in showing America how to look good and stay fit. Yet, in 2010, California ranked 11th lowest among states for the rate of adult obesity. Not bad, but what state had the lowest rate of adult obesity? Colorado. And we Coloradans did not get there by starving ourselves, but by hiking, biking, swimming, and exercising our way to good health, as shown in the physical exercise survey by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention that ranked Colorado 8th and California 26th. Sound body, sound mind, sound future -- progress.
Business Climate? In the 2009 Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council Survey ranking the best states in which to start a business, California was ranked 49th overall, right above New York. Colorado ranked 8th. While these policies can take years to have an effect, California already has the third worst unemployment rate in the nation. If you think that a prosperous and innovative business community is important to the future, California is doing about everything it can to discourage business growth, and Colorado is making it easy.
Culture wars? If there was one thing we all thought we could count on California for, it was to lead us out of the disastrous war on drugs by legalizing marijuana. For heaven`s sake, in the land of Haight-Ashbury, they couldn`t even get that right. So, as the cover story in the Nov. 11, 2010 issue of Time Magazine makes clear, it`s Colorado where the innovative thinking and heavy lifting is taking place that will find the way forward. In all, would you rather that like-minded Hollywood and San Francisco frame the cultural issues we face, or would you prefer to hear the debate emerging from diverse-but-principled Colorado towns like Boulder and Colorado Springs?
Finally, from the census data, we now know that California`s share of the American population has declined over the past 20 years when they lost more than one million Americans to other states in each of the past two decades. Not Colorado. We have steady, sustained, and well-managed growth that just keeps coming and leading more Americans to call our state home.
Of course, anyone who claims to know the future is a fool, and so I may be. But, sometimes you get a feeling, and it feels to me like what we have going on here in Colorado is a cauldron of governmental, societal, and business innovation that just keeps getting better. Maybe we are the state that will lead America into the future. I certainly hope so.
Ron Laughery is the founder and former President of Micro Analysis and Design, Inc. in Boulder.
