March 19, 2002

From The Governor's Office...
Colorado Governor Bill Owens' e-Newsletter

Education Chief Praises Owens

President Bush's Education Secretary, Rod Paige, told Colorado educators and school board members last Wednesday that Governor Owens' testing and school accountability program was "the envy of states across the nation."

Owens welcomed Secretary Paige to Colorado for Owens’ Second Annual Education Summit, “A Conversation With Education Leaders.”  He emphasized Colorado’s commitment to “Leave No Child Behind.” 

Please see the Thursday Rocky Mountain News story on Paige's visit and Owens' conference.

Owens said that when he first became Governor, "I knew that the standards and accountability movement launched by Governor Romer had enormous potential for fundamentally changing Colorado education.   One key challenge in solidifying a new approach to education was bridging a gap in the public conversation about our schools."

"For too long," Owens explained, "the education debate has been marked by two opposite positions – one proposing more funding with no structural change and accountability, the other demanding structural change and accountability without the money needed to make those changes work."

Owens said, "We have bridged that gap.  And it is clear that President Bush and Secretary Paige have bridged that gap, too."

Colorado will harmonize its own reforms with those in the President’s landmark education reform legislation.  “Our accreditation, efforts and school accountability reports must complement – not contradict – each other,” emphasized Owens.

Owens said, “As we become armed with the CSAP data that will be coming in over the next few years, we can demonstrate the best and most useful way to measure students’ academic growth from year to year.”

Secretary Rod Paige followed in the footsteps of his parents by becoming a public school teacher.  Later, he became superintendent of the Houston school system and gained national recognition for his efforts to use business-style management techniques within the district.  

Paige's biography notes his wide variety of honors, including the National Association of Black School Educators' Superintendent of the Year award and the National Superintendent of the Year from the American Association of School Administrators.

Governor's Panel Invites Airlines

The Governor's Economic Development Commission joined with the City and County of Denver last week to announce an economic incentive to the first airline to offer regular non-stop service from Mexico City to Denver (see more).  It paid off quickly.

Just a day later, Mexicana Airlines announced that it will begin offering a non-stop route to Denver.  If the deal goes through, Mexicana would provide the first regular service on that route.  

Governor Owens previously assisted in arranging for Lufthansa to provide regular non-stop service from Frankfurt, Germany.  British Airways also offers non-stop service from London.  

Owens' International Trade Office, a branch of the Economic Development Office, maintains trade offices in Mexico City, Frankfurt and Tokyo.  The United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Mexico are all among Colorado's top-10 trading partners.

Year of Colorado Trails

Any way you look at it, Colorado is just a great place to be.  Governor Owens has declared 2002 the “Year of Trails,” celebrating Colorado’s great outdoors.  “Outdoor recreation activities are a key part of this quality of life that Coloradans have come to enjoy,” he said. 

Colorado has 11,000 miles of public trails, and Owens announced that the Colorado Front Range Trail will eventually stretch from Fort Collins to Trinidad – a magnet for outdoor enthusiasts and tourists.  Nearly 1/3 of that trail is already in place, and the rest will be complete within 5 years. 

Owens is encouraging citizens to walk, run, bike or hike one of Colorado’s scenic byways.  For more information about Colorado’s Year of Trails, please see the State Parks' "Year of Trails" website.

In his time as governor, Owens has taken action to protect large tracts of scenic open space across Colorado in full cooperation with land owners.  Some of his accomplishments include setting aside the Greenland Ranch along I-25 – assuring that open space will always exist between Denver and Colorado Springs – working with Sen. Allard and federal officials in expanding protected lands around the Great Sand Dunes of southern Colorado, and halting a proposed sale of land in the Vail Valley by the State Land Board.  

Owens Urges Suspension of Radioactive Shipment

Governor Owens, in a letter last Wednesday, urged the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to act to suspend any shipment of New Jersey radioactive materials to the Cotter Corporation Uranium Mill site near Canon City until the matter can be investigated and additional information obtained (click here for more information).

Owens said, "The health department should thoroughly review whether the proposed shipments from New Jersey are covered by Cotter Corporation's current permit.  The department also should ensure that the company has provided necessary documentation on how it will meet the safety requirements contained in the company's permit.  Our first consideration must be to protect the health and safety of the surrounding communities."  CDPHE notified Cotter of the suspension last week.

Questions the letter said would need to be satisfied to ensure public health include the method of unloading from railroad cars, the specific storage location for the low-level radioactive waste, how the material would be kept from blowing during the transport process, and samples to determine the level of radioactivity.

Employees' Retirement Fund Safe

It was sensational news – the Governor “raiding state pension funds” in order to balance the budget.  Only, it wasn’t true.  The facts show that not only isn’t Owens responsible for the proposal, but he couldn’t take this action at all without the approval of a system of checks and balances.

The Denver Post had a front-page banner headline March 1^st, charging Governor Owens with unilaterally raiding the state’s PERA retirement funds, and further asserting that the fund would be raided starting that very day. 

This was, Owens said, the first time a story was inaccurate enough for him to request a retraction from the Denver Post.  The Post obliged, not only printing a correction on the 3^rd, but also running an article in its early Sunday edition detailing some of the inaccuracies.

The JBC's Sen. Penfield Tate (D-Denver) indicated last Tuesday that they had decided the action was unnecessary at this point, but that new budget forecasts may modify that decision.

Unemployment Benefits Extended

With passage a week ago of legislation that will provide eligible individuals with up to 13 weeks of additional unemployment benefits, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment is prepared to expedite those claims (click here for the website).  “We want to start getting checks in the mail within the next two weeks, says Department of Labor and Employment Executive Director Vickie Armstrong.

“This extension of unemployment benefits did not catch us by surprise,” she says.  “We have been preparing for it for weeks and are ready to put a process in place to provide economic assistance to those who have exhausted their unemployment benefits.”

Colorado will be utilizing a combination of internet and telephone technology to expedite claims processing for individuals who are potentially entitled to the extended benefits.  The process begins with the Department of Labor and Employment calling the households of approximately 25,000 potentially eligible individuals who filed for benefits on or after March 15, 2001 and whose benefits have been exhausted. In notifying them of their possible eligibility for extended benefits, they will be offered a choice of filing online or by calling a special interactive telephone line dedicated to taking TEUC filings.

“For the process to work smoothly, it’s important that individuals wishing to file for extended benefits do so either on the website or the special phone line,” Armstrong says.  “The regular unemployment insurance phone line will not be available to take TEUC claims.  Individuals potentially entitled to TEUC will be notified of the special number and Internet address with a Department initiated phone call.  That way, they will be served efficiently and our regular unemployment telephone line can continue to be utilized by those filing a new claim.”

Armstrong says the Internet will be the preferred method of filing because the Internet gives claimants an opportunity to answer simple questions that will make the eligibility determination faster.  “But for those people who cannot file via the Internet, our automated phone line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”  Twenty three staff members at the Department of Labor and Employment will be dedicated to processing the claims that come in at the website and the special phone line and getting checks mailed to those who are determined to be eligible.

With the technology and human resources now in place, Armstrong says the Department is ready to move quickly to provide eligible claimants with extended benefits.  President Bush signed the legislation into law on Saturday and our goal is to start the first checks to eligible people within two weeks.”