{"id":37849,"date":"2022-10-14T12:42:46","date_gmt":"2022-10-14T18:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/heres-where-colorado-treasurer-candidates-stand-on-the-issues\/"},"modified":"2022-10-14T18:42:46","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T18:42:46","slug":"heres-where-colorado-treasurer-candidates-stand-on-the-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/heres-where-colorado-treasurer-candidates-stand-on-the-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s where Colorado treasurer candidates stand on the issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Colorado
Colorado Treasurer Dave Young, a Democrat, and his Republican challenger, former state Rep. Lang Sias, face off at a debate hosted by The Colorado Sun, The University of Denver and CBS4. (David Zalubowski\/The Associated Press)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Colorado Treasurer Dave Young, a Democrat, is running for reelection this year against former state Rep. Lang Sias, a Republican.<\/p>\n

The treasurer\u2019s duties include overseeing the state\u2019s money, handling its investments, serving on the board for the Public Employees\u2019 Retirement Association and managing Colorado\u2019s unclaimed property program.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know about the candidates and where they stand on the issues:<\/p>\n

The candidates\u2019 backgrounds<\/p>\n

Young, a Greeley resident, is a former math and science teacher. He served as a state representative from 2011-2019, including as a member of the Joint Budget Committee, which writes Colorado\u2019s budget. In 2018, he was elected state treasurer and he\u2019s running for a second four-year term.<\/p>\n

Sias also served in the state House. He was a state representative for four years before running unsuccessfully in 2018 to be Colorado\u2019s lieutenant governor on a ticket with GOP candidate Walker Stapleton. He also ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2014 and for Congress in 2010. Sias, a former fighter pilot in the Navy and Air National Guard, lives in Arvada and works as a pilot for FedEx. He also currently serves on a bipartisan subcommittee overseeing PERA.<\/p>\n

The Taxpayer\u2019s Bill of Rights<\/div>\n

Colorado\u2019s Taxpayer\u2019s Bill of Rights is central to every conversation about the state budget and its finances.<\/p>\n

The constitutional amendment, approved by voters in 1992 and championed by Republicans, requires voter approval for all tax increases and limits government growth and spending to the combined rates of inflation and population growth.<\/p>\n

While neither Young nor Sias would have the power as state treasurer to change TABOR, they can use the bully pulpit of the office to discuss it.<\/p>\n

Young, speaking at a debate hosted by The Colorado Sun, the University of Denver and CBS4, said he\u2019d like to see Colorado\u2019s tax policy changed because he feels TABOR has hampered the state\u2019s ability to fund schools, health care and infrastructure. Young, however, didn\u2019t provide specifics on how he\u2019d like to see the policy changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, we\u2019re in survival mode,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to get out of that model.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sias said he is a supporter of TABOR \u201cbecause I think it prompts an important conversation between the voters and our elected officials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats and Republicans in the legislature are having conversations about changing TABOR\u2019s limit on government growth and spending to decouple it from the inflation rate because the rate used to calculate the limit lags current economic conditions.<\/p>\n

Young said he is interested in exploring ways to better link the TABOR cap to Colorado\u2019s economic conditions \u2014 \u201dI would like to see what the Joint Budget Committee is actually mulling over\u201d \u2014 while Sias said he is opposed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that we\u2019re in, all of a sudden, crisis mode sort of flies in the face of the fact that the state budget has increased by over 25% in the last four years,\u201d he said. \u201cSecond of all, there\u2019s nothing to prevent going to the voters and asking them to change the inflation formula.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former
Former state Rep. Lang Sias, a Republican running for Colorado treasurer, makes remarks during a debate Oct. 11, 2022, at the University of Denver. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
TABOR refunds<\/div>\n

How the state refunds money to taxpayers in excess of the TABOR cap is another area where Young and Sias disagree.<\/p>\n

This year, Democrats in the legislature, with the backing of Young and Gov. Jared Polis, temporarily changed the state\u2019s TABOR refund mechanism to make it a flat rate instead of tying it to income and giving the biggest refunds to the highest earners. Individual filers got a $750 refund while joint filers received a $1,500 refund.<\/p>\n

Sias said he thinks Colorado should keep TABOR refund amounts tied to Coloradans\u2019 income levels. \u201cI would prefer to stick with the original TABOR (refund) mechanism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the move to a flat system was actually more beneficial to a larger number of people here in the state of Colorado,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n

Sias, meanwhile, criticized Young for supporting an unsuccessful 2019 ballot measure, Proposition CC, that would have ended Colorado\u2019s TABOR refunds forever and let the state government keep the money and spend it as the legislature wished. He called Young a hypocrite for backing Proposition CC and then celebrating TABOR refunds this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI supported CC because it said, \u2018let\u2019s use our refunds to meet essential needs,\u2019\u201d Young said. \u201cWe aren\u2019t meeting the essential needs of people. So I\u2019m happy that I made that effort to try to solve problems in the state of Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado state treasurer candidate Dave Young, a Democrat, makes remarks during a debate Oct. 11, 2022, at the University of Denver. (Olivia Sun\/The Colorado Sun via Report for America)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
PERA\u2019s financial stability<\/div>\n

One of the treasurer\u2019s most important jobs is sitting on the board overseeing the Public Employees\u2019 Retirement Association, the pension program for tens of thousands of state employees. PERA has faced economic challenges in recent years, and Young and Sias have different philosophies on how to fix it.<\/p>\n

In 2018, the legislature approved Senate Bill 200, a measure aimed at strengthening PERA by injecting $225 million each year from the state budget into the program.<\/p>\n

Young voted against the bill, while Sias voted for it.<\/p>\n

Young says he thinks the fact that the measure prevented PERA\u2019s credit rating from being downgraded \u201cwas a good feature,\u201d but that the legislation should be revisited now to determine whether it\u2019s working properly. He said he voted against the measure because it was passed in the final minutes of the 2018 legislative session and he didn\u2019t feel he had enough information to analyze its effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s coming up on five years of activity,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so I think we should lay all the facts out on the table, we should do a deep analysis of the impact of Senate Bill 200 to see if there are changes that are warranted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sias said Young should have voted for the 2018 bill and that he thinks more time should pass before the measure is revisited per the recommendation of a bipartisan PERA oversight subcommittee that he is a member of.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe right thing to do right now is to let the Senate Bill 200 work, give it some time to work and percolate through the system before we make any other adjustments to it,\u201d Sias said.<\/p>\n

PERA\u2019s investments<\/div>\n

As members of the state legislature, both Sias and Young supported a 2016 bill that required PERA to halt investment in companies that have divested from Israel.<\/p>\n

When asked if PERA should have investment policies related to social and environmental issues, such as divesting in fossil fuel companies in an effort to combat climate change, Young said his priority is for a sustainable future for PERA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in the science of climate change,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody needs energy. I think it\u2019s a bad fiduciary decision to actually divest from fossil fuels or only invest in fossil fuels. We need to be actually investing in businesses that have a sustainable future in mind. We\u2019re not day traders at PERA. We\u2019re long-term investors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sias said he doesn\u2019t think politics should have any place in the office\u2019s investment policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that politics should be having a place, either from the left or from the right, in our investment policies, least of all unilaterally from the treasurer\u2019s office\u201d Sias said. \u201cIt should be extremely rare and come from the legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sias said the 2016 bill was appropriate because it affected a small number of businesses and helped prevent what he felt was an existential threat to Israel. \u201cWe were dealing with a very specific universe of companies, not an entire sector of a market,\u201d Sias said.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Secure Savings Program<\/div>\n

Sias voted against a 2018 bill that would have created state-run retirement accounts for private-sector employees. The policy, aimed at helping Coloradans plan for a sustainable financial future, became law in 2020, after Sias had left the legislature, and the treasurer\u2019s office is charged with implementing it.<\/p>\n

The measure created Colorado\u2019s Secure Savings Program, which starting next year requires most business owners to enroll in a state-run retirement program for their workers if they don\u2019t already offer a 401(k) or something similar. (Employees are responsible for contributing to their retirement accounts and can opt out.)<\/p>\n

Sias said if elected, he would manage it to the best of his ability, even though he still dislikes the policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bill as presented, I thought, was not a very good deal for the actual people it was supposed to be helping. And that involved largely the fees they were going to be charged,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Young, who has touted the program, said the state is preparing to launch a pilot to streamline the system for businesses and make it easy for them to enroll. He added that his office is in talks with New Mexico to partner on a similar program there in the hopes of reducing user fees in both states.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working to minimize the fees and make it easy for businesses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Future political aspirations<\/div>\n

Since 2010, Sias has run for several political offices. He said, however, that he doesn\u2019t see the treasurer\u2019s office as a stepping stone to higher political office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a job that I really want to do,\u201d he said. \u201cI think I have the passion for service, I have a very relevant background and I have an interest in the issues<\/p>\n

Young didn\u2019t directly say if he plans to run for higher office if he is elected to a second term \u2014 \u201cI consider the treasurer higher office,\u201d he joked \u2014 but said he loves his work as treasurer.<\/p>\n

Why should you vote for them?<\/div>\n

In his closing statement, Young said if he is elected to another term he wants to focus on the state\u2019s infrastructure struggles, including affordable housing, education, water and transportation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have what may be approaching a $100 billion problem and I think it\u2019s the treasurer\u2019s role to begin to pull people together and make sure that we can actually can address this problem in a way that gets us out of survival mode,\u201d he said<\/p>\n

Sias said his goal is to bring political balance to a state dominated by Democrats, citing stats about Colorado\u2019s growing inflation and budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has all happened with one party controlling everything,\u201d he said. \u201cNo compromise and no conversation, it is time to restore some balance because our state works better with balance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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