He Can Skydive Later, That’s Fine

See you in October.

The Durango Herald's Joe Hanel reports on the word yesterday by Gov. John Hickenlooper that he will, as fully expected, support the school finance ballot measure set to dominate Colorado politics for much of the rest of this off-year:

The governor already had committed to supporting a ballot initiative this fall to fund reforms to the school-finance system that he signed into law in May.

But he has been silent since education advocates settled on Initiative 22, which raises income taxes and creates a two-bracket income-tax system. It was one of nearly two dozen options that the campaign had filed as possible ballot initiatives…

“I’m not sure it is my exact preference. You know, the bottom line is you’ve got to have something on there that’s winnable,” he said. “In that sense, in all that array of ballot language that could win, I think this is the best.”

Adds FOX 31's Eli Stokols (who first reported the news about Hickenlooper's "official" support):

“The governor has been talking to business leaders about how transformative the new school finance law will be for Colorado kids,” said Alan Salazar, Hickenlooper’s chief strategist, in a text message to FOX31 confirming accounts from other sources who heard Hickenlooper’s remarks Wednesday.

Salazar called Hickenlooper’s support for the proposal, however tacit, “probably the worst kept secret in town.”

Republicans are making as much as they can out of Hickenlooper's "quiet" announcement to business leaders yesterday, but the truth is his endorsement was never in doubt. It took time for proponents to settle on the one initiative everyone could agree on. Now that they have, there will be a united push for Initiative 22, a much more ambitious education funding proposal than 2011's failed Proposition 103. And unlike Proposition 103, Gov. Hickenlooper and a broad coalition–including some of those same business leaders–are on board. It's increasingly clear a repeat of the stillborn Proposition 103 is not in the cards: maybe the next Referendum C, the 2005 "TABOR timeout" measure that passed with Hickenlooper's charismatic support (above right)?

Either way, Hickenlooper can wait until Labor Day, when voters start paying attention, to turn on his fabled charm.

Full story: He Can Skydive Later, That’s Fine

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