Two Democrats are facing off in Colorado’s Democratic primary for governor on June 30: U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Attorney General Phil Weiser.
Michael Bennet, 61, was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2009 by then-Gov. Bill Ritter. He was reelected in 2010, 2016 and 2022. He briefly ran for president in 2020. Before his appointment to the Senate, Bennet was superintendent of Denver Public Schools, chief of staff to then-Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and worked on investments for the billionaire Anschutz family. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Yale Law School.
Phil Weiser, 58, was elected Colorado’s attorney general in 2018 and then reelected in 2022. Before that, he was dean of the University of Colorado Law School and worked on antitrust cases in the Clinton and Obama administrations. He graduated from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and New York University’s law school.
The Colorado Sun interviewed the pair to see where they stand on the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, water, housing and other top issues.
Here are their answers.
Jump to a topic What do you think should be done about the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights? If a question imposing a graduated income tax is on the November ballot, will you vote “yes” on it? Under Colorado’s Labor Peace Act, unions cannot begin negotiating with employers over requiring all employees in a workplace to pay collective bargaining fees unless 75% of workers sign off on it. That’s after they form a union with a simple majority vote. Would you sign a bill ending that second vote? Do you agree with the assertion from Gov. Jared Polis and state business leaders that “Colorado is increasingly viewed as a less predictable and less competitive environment for building and scaling technology companies, other growth-oriented businesses, and traditional corporations alike”? If so, what do you plan to do about it? How would you lower healthcare costs in Colorado? Medicaid spending in Colorado is outpacing state tax revenues. What are three ways you would work with the legislature to rein in costs? Colorado is no longer on track to reach 100% renewably generated electricity by 2040. Do you have a plan to get the state back on track? Is it even possible? Transportation remains a main source of greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado. What’s your plan to tackle that problem? Should Colorado increase its water storage capacity? If so, how and where? Should Colorado restrict or place limits on how farmers and ranchers can use their water? Gov. Jared Polis and Democrats in the state legislature have pushed local governments to overhaul their zoning codes and reduce barriers to building denser housing. Will you continue or even expand those efforts if elected? Why or why not? Colorado prohibits local governments from imposing rent-control measures. Should that remain in place? A bill that failed in the legislature this year would have required state and local police to intervene when federal immigration agents use excessive force. Do you support such a requirement? That same bill also would have prohibited local, state and federal police officers from hiding their identities. Do you support such a prohibition? Childcare is unaffordable for Coloradans across the income spectrum, and providers are struggling to stay in business. What would you do as governor to fix the system, and how would you pay for it given the state’s budget constraints? How should Colorado regulate data centers? Should data centers receive tax credits from the state? What do you think the biggest mistake Jared Polis has made as governor? What about Polis’ biggest success?Use arrow keys (← →) or swipe to read through topics
TABOR
What do you think should be done about the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights?
Michael Bennet
“I think that we should reform the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights so that we can invest in our kids, we can invest in our teachers — they can stop fighting with one hand tied behind their back,” he said. However, Bennet thinks the part of TABOR that allows voters to approve or reject any tax increases should remain in place. “But my mind is open on the rest of TABOR,” he said.
Phil Weiser
Weiser says he wants to maintain how TABOR allows voters to weigh in on tax increases — “that’s not on the table, the public expects that right” — but beyond that he wants to solicit feedback on what should be changed about the 1992 constitutional amendment. And then go from there. “My plan would be: let’s go to the public, give them the concerns, outline the opportunity, and give people a sense of understanding and buy-in to help us reform and improve TABOR,” he said.
INCOME TAX
If a question imposing a graduated income tax is on the November ballot, will you vote “yes” on it?
Michael Bennet
“I don’t want to answer that hypothetical,” Bennet said, explaining that he is generally in favor of a graduated income tax rate. He also said he’s generally supportive of lifting TABOR’s cap on government growth and spending to increase education funding and plans to vote “yes” on a November ballot question doing just that.
Phil Weiser
“My stance is: Until we know what the ballot is, I’m not going to be making any pronouncements about what’s on the ballot,” he said. Weiser has said, however, that he is in favor of the measure already on the ballot that would eliminate TABOR refunds for the foreseeable future to let the state keep and spend billions of dollars for education and other programs benefiting kids.
LABOR
Under Colorado’s Labor Peace Act, unions cannot begin negotiating with employers over requiring all employees in a workplace to pay collective bargaining fees unless 75% of workers sign off on it. That’s after they form a union with a simple majority vote. Would you sign a bill ending that second vote?
Michael Bennet
“I would sign a bill that preserved the second election, but reduced the threshold,” Bennet said.
Phil Weiser
“I expect to improve and to replace what I see as an antiquated Labor Peace Act,” Weiser said. “I have not spelled out what that would look like exactly, because I believe in the process of dialog that we will have to get to the best result. I’m not starting the process with any preconditions.”
REPUTATION
Do you agree with the assertion from Gov. Jared Polis and state business leaders that “Colorado is increasingly viewed as a less predictable and less competitive environment for building and scaling technology companies, other growth-oriented businesses, and traditional corporations alike”? If so, what do you plan to do about it?
Michael Bennet
“Colorado is developing a reputation as a state where it’s harder to do business and we are living in an increasingly competitive environment with states across the country that are competing for businesses,” Bennet said. “I think that we do need to turn that reputation around.” Bennet said Colorado needs to market its educated workforce and expertise in aerospace, technology and agriculture to attract businesses to the state. “I don’t think we’ve advertised that very well recently,” he said. “We should also build a coalition of business leaders and public officials across our state to put our best foot forward.”
Phil Weiser
“There’s two separate issues here: there’s perception and there’s reality — and both matter,” Weiser said. “With regard to perception, one of the goals that I have is to make sure that businesses know they are wanted in Colorado, that the wind is at their back, not in their face. And to the extent businesses feel a lack of support, or they feel the reality of interference, we’ve got work to do to change that equation.” He said that regulations should be treated like cooking with garlic: just enough and not more than you need. “It is very important that we be rigorous and thoughtful, and that anytime we’re looking at adopting regulations, the person who’s going to be subject to regulation has been listened to,” he said.
HEALTHCARE
How would you lower healthcare costs in Colorado?
Michael Bennet
Bennet wants to create a public health insurance option in Colorado and let more people sign up for the health insurance plan offered to state employees to increase the size of the insurance pool and hopefully reduce costs. As for how he would create a public option, Bennet said “I think it would be great if we could partner with other states.”
Phil Weiser
Weiser wants to achieve universal primary care in Colorado by increasing the healthcare workforce. “We spend most of the money on healthcare on those with acute conditions who are facing, let’s say, a serious situation, like an amputation for someone who’s got type two diabetes.” he said. “By contrast, we help someone avoid type two diabetes or treat it quickly, it’s going to be a lot more cost effective.” Second, Weiser said he wants to examine the cost drivers in healthcare and attack them head on. Finally, he said he plans to improve the consumer experience.
MEDICAID
Medicaid spending in Colorado is outpacing state tax revenues. What are three ways you would work with the legislature to rein in costs?
Michael Bennet
Bennet thinks Colorado’s Medicaid program should move more toward a managed-care model and away from fee-for-service coverage. Doing so would require the state to pay a monthly, set fee per Medicaid enrollee instead of paying for every service that an enrollee gets. He thinks that would improve preventative physical and mental health care and prevent the big costs from emergency and chronic care. Bennet said the fee-for-service system “is not working well, either to control costs or to provide good health care outcomes.”
Phil Weiser
“The first way is to make sure that we’re listening to those who are the intended beneficiaries and hearing ideas from them during the campaign and talking to groups that depend on Medicaid,” Weiser said. “I’ve heard a number of ideas from those who depend on it.” Weiser said he’s not deep enough in the Medicaid conversation right now to single out any specific areas that should be cut.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Colorado is no longer on track to reach 100% renewably generated electricity by 2040. Do you have a plan to get the state back on track? Is it even possible?
Michael Bennet
“I think this state can be on track to get to a goal of net zero by 2050,” Bennet said. He’s pushing a “cap-and-invest” program under which the state would charge polluters for their emissions and use the revenue to expand renewable energy production in Colorado.
Phil Weiser
“I believe what the governor said is the actions of the federal government have made this impossible,” he said. “Whether or not it’s possible or not, I can commit. I’m going to do all I can to advance our clean energy goals.” Weiser said he wants to drive more solar energy onto the grid and expand Colorado’s electrical storage capacity. Weiser said he is open to Bennet’s cap-and-invest idea, but he has concerns about it running afoul of TABOR.
EMISSIONS
Transportation remains a main source of greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado. What’s your plan to tackle that problem?
Michael Bennet
Bennet said Colorado needs to continue working toward a transition to electric vehicles and other technologies that can reduce transportation emissions.
Phil Weiser
“We in Colorado want and deserve multimodal transportation, transit-oriented development, and a continued transition to more and more electric vehicles,” Weiser said. He believes expanding popular transit options, like the Bustang service and train to the airport, are areas to build upon. As for increasing EV adoption, Weiser says tax credits have proven effective.
WATER STORAGE
Should Colorado increase its water storage capacity? If so, how and where?
Michael Bennet
“I don’t think that should be our priority,” he said. “I think our priority should be (working) to create voluntary conservation that could help sustain agriculture and the rest of Colorado’s economy.” He highlighted the Shoshone Power Plant water rights deal, in which Colorado River water will be protected in perpetuity.
Phil Weiser
Water conservation, including an examination of the crops grown in Colorado, and reuse should take precedent, Weiser said, but increasing water storage is also important as Colorado looks toward the future. “We need to look for more forms of smart storage,” he said. “The city of Greeley has an exemplary project where they’ve used their aquifers by replenishing them.”
AGRICULTURE
Should Colorado restrict or place limits on how farmers and ranchers can use their water?
Michael Bennet
“No.”
Phil Weiser
“We already have restrictions on how water is used for agriculture,” he said. “We already have them, we’re going to have them. For me, it’s more: how would you do it? What is your governance approach to making these decisions? And that’s where I’m leaning in. We’re not going to do it at the expense of certain communities. We’re going to do it in a way that works for all Coloradans. That’s a critical challenge for us, because there are efforts to take shortcuts that would just take water from agricultural communities and ship them to urban centers. I’m not going to let that happen.”
DENSITY
Gov. Jared Polis and Democrats in the state legislature have pushed local governments to overhaul their zoning codes and reduce barriers to building denser housing. Will you continue or even expand those efforts if elected? Why or why not?
Michael Bennet
Bennet’s goal is to ensure no one is paying more than 30% of their income on housing, whether that’s for rental housing or home ownership. “I imagine there will be a system of incentives and disincentives that we’re going to have to put together in Colorado to drive us toward that 30% outcome,” he said. “I think that Colorado supports the idea that we are going to have to make changes at every level of our regulatory approach in order to be able to achieve that.”
Phil Weiser
“A number of these efforts are ones that make a lot of sense to me, and I’m going to make sure that we continue to defend them and build on the progress, like getting rid of parking minimums, for example, or allowing ADUs (accessory dwelling units),” Weiser said. “I also believe the best way forward is not going to be one-size-fits-all, prescriptive from the state. It’s going to be bringing local communities together around a shared goal and a shared metric.
RENT CONTROL
Colorado prohibits local governments from imposing rent-control measures. Should that remain in place?
Michael Bennet
“I’m not taking any ideas off the table,” he said, “but I’m focused more on building more housing to meet what we need and drive down costs.”
Phil Weiser
“I am skeptical of the efforts to change that, because when I have seen the literature, for example, comparing Minneapolis to St. Paul, it doesn’t have the outcome that people are hoping for,” Weiser said. “I share the concern that renters are being squeezed. I believe it’s crucial to protect them from predatory practices like junk fees or algorithmic collusion from big corporate landlords. But I am skeptical about the effort to try to impose rent control.”
POLICE VS. ICE
A bill that failed in the legislature this year would have required state and local police to intervene when federal immigration agents use excessive force. Do you support such a requirement?
Michael Bennet
“No.”
Phil Weiser
“I am not familiar with that specific bill,” Weiser said. “I believe Denver has adopted an executive order along those lines, and I do believe that police officers need to keep people safe. If a federal agent is the source of the risk, they should protect the public and they should hold accountable federal officers who act in criminal ways, like we saw in Minneapolis or even the incident that is now being prosecuted in Durango.”
FACE COVERING
That same bill also would have prohibited local, state and federal police officers from hiding their identities. Do you support such a prohibition?
Michael Bennet
“I don’t think that any law enforcement officer should hide their identity,” Bennet said.
Phil Weiser
“I do not believe that ICE officers should be able to hide their identities and wear masks,” Weiser said, but he thinks there is a legitimate law enforcement need to protect state and local officers’ identities during some police operations. “If we were to make any policy in Colorado, the key challenge is to make sure you’re not restricting what could be a legitimate law enforcement operation. But that’s the very limited exception, and what’s offensive about ICE is they turn that into the rule.”
CHILDCARE
Childcare is unaffordable for Coloradans across the income spectrum, and providers are struggling to stay in business. What would you do as governor to fix the system, and how would you pay for it given the state’s budget constraints?
Michael Bennet
“In the short term, we’ve got to work with providers to see if there are ways of reducing the regulatory burden so that we can make childcare less expensive,” Bennet said. “I think we should be on the lookout to find empty space across Colorado that we could repurpose or rededicate for early childhood purposes, including schools that may not be being used fully. I think over the long term, we’re going to have to consider finding a dedicated revenue source to support early childhood education in Colorado, similar to what New Mexico has done.” Bennet said he doesn’t have any ideas on what that funding source should be and that he’s “open-minded about that.”
Phil Weiser
Weiser said he wants to use revenue generated by changes to TABOR to pay for a state childcare solutions fund. “By building a fund at the state level, you can be a catalyst — joining local funding as well as local nonprofit and business groups — to build capacity that currently doesn’t exist,” he said.
DATA CENTER REGULATION
How should Colorado regulate data centers?
Michael Bennet
“I think that we should allow data centers in Colorado, but we need to do it in a way that’s responsible,” Bennet said. “They need to pay for the resources they use, and we need to make sure they don’t increase energy rates for Coloradans for threaten our water.”
Phil Weiser
Weiser said data centers need to be willing to pay for the energy they use and not push those costs onto consumers; they need to use clean energy; and they need to be welcomed in the communities they seek to be placed in. As for the last piece, Weiser said he means “that they are not viewed as a threat to water, for example, either the water quality or the water quantity, or otherwise be a nuisance in the community.”
DATA CENTER TAX CREDIT
Should data centers receive tax credits from the state?
Michael Bennet
“I don’t think they should.”
Phil Weiser
“I am open to offering tax credits when it achieves economic development goals,” Weiser said, like helping workers in northwestern Colorado transition away from a fossil-fuel based economy.
POLIS MISTAKES
What do you think the biggest mistake Jared Polis has made as governor?
Michael Bennet
“Commuting Tina Peters’ sentence.”
Phil Weiser
“Commuting Tina Peters.”
POLIS SUCCESSES
What about Polis’ biggest success?
Michael Bennet
“His focus on kindergarten and early childhood education,” Bennet said.
Phil Weiser
“I think the way he managed COVID was a tremendous accomplishment,” Weiser said. “People probably don’t recognize the level of difficulty to be in that position. His ability to make decisions based on data, and recognize the tradeoffs between closing down economic activity and protecting public health — and doing so in a way that was sensitive to the different parts of our state — was very well done.”
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