{"id":72946,"date":"2017-01-13T20:21:42","date_gmt":"2017-01-14T03:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hickenloopers-legacy-discussed-as-legislators-convene\/"},"modified":"2017-01-14T03:21:42","modified_gmt":"2017-01-14T03:21:42","slug":"hickenloopers-legacy-discussed-as-legislators-convene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hickenloopers-legacy-discussed-as-legislators-convene\/","title":{"rendered":"Hickenlooper\u2019s legacy discussed as legislators convene"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Hickenlooper\"
Hickenlooper<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

DENVER \u2013 Wednesday marked the midpoint of John Hickenlooper\u2019s final term as governor, as well as the beginning of the 2017 legislative session.<\/p>\n

And discussions of his legacy Hickenlooper<\/a> are stirring.<\/p>\n

For Republicans in the Senate, the jury is still out, said Colorado Senate President Kevin Grantham, R-Ca\u00f1on City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That is because Grantham believes most of what the governor has accomplished comes from the 69th General Assembly, the 2013 and 2014 sessions, when Democrats held the majority in both chambers and the executive office, he said.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, every assembly under Hickenlooper has been with a split Legislature where the Republicans held a majority in the state Senate and the Democrats in the House, Grantham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re going to look at a legacy for him, apart from what happens the next two years, it\u2019s what he and the left-wing of the Democratic Party accomplished in those two years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grantham said despite issues he may have with specific legislation passed during the years of the Democratic trifecta, he holds Hickenlooper in high esteem and believes there is real potential for the governor to expand his legacy by addressing such hot-button issues as construction defects and regulations and the growing transportation funding needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the potential for his legacy to be able to point towards things like that is still out there. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s there yet, but maybe that\u2019s a better question for two years from now,\u201d Grantham said.<\/p>\n

Sen. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood<\/a>, said Hickenlooper\u2019s legacy will form in the years after his final term, and it will involve his work promoting renewable energy and civil rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably the biggest thing is the movement we\u2019ve made in the last six years around civil rights, specifically around LBGT issues and the civil unions bill that he signed in his first term,\u201d Kerr said.<\/p>\n

During an availability with reporters on Tuesday, Hickenlooper was hesitant to answer questions about his legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will address that in great detail when I get to my final General Assembly (session),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even so, Hickenlooper said, \u201cI\u2019m always going to be proud that we fought for civil rights, same-sex marriages, making sure that the DREAMers were able to get in-state tuitions,\u201d he said. DREAMers are immigrants in the country illegally who meet the requirements for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act.<\/p>\n

Colorado Senate Majority Leader Chris Holbert, R-Denver<\/a>, said the governor is acutely aware that his time in office is coming to an end.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust the governor that he\u2019s looking for opportunities. His staff is looking for opportunities on transportation, constructions defects and really anything else that may come down the line,\u201d Holbert said. \u201cI think that is going to be a healthy working relationship. I hope it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Grantham and Holbert cited Hickenlooper\u2019s ability to work across the aisle as a reason for optimism for the upcoming session.<\/p>\n

One such occasion occurred in the 2015 legislative session, Holbert recalled during a pre-session briefing with the Capitol press corps on Monday.<\/p>\n

He said he was approached by the governor regarding a controversial bill that would allow students to opt-out of state testing that Holbert was sponsoring.<\/p>\n

After a news conference was held by Hickenlooper in which the opt-out bill was criticized, Holbert had a private meeting with the governor, he said.<\/p>\n

The meeting provided an opportunity for the two to air differences on state testing in K-12 education and begin finding common ground toward what became House Bill 1323, Holbert said. \u201cI am grateful for Governor Hickenlooper for making that invitation and taking the time for that conversation because that really was the basis that brought Senator Kerr and I together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kerr said Hickenlooper was influential in the process behind H.B. 1323 and he appreciated how upfront and inclusive the governor was.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it had been a governor who was less interested in education, if it had been a governor who was less interested in really getting people with different views into the same room and hammering those out, it might not have happened,\u201d Kerr said.<\/p>\n

lperkins@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Before he was governor<\/h4>\n

Before John Hickenlooper became the governor of Colorado, he found himself invested in a race to open the first brew pub in the state with none other than Durango\u2019s own Carver Brewing Co.
\n Opened as a bakery and cafe in 1986, Carver\u2019s officially became a brewery in 1988, just months after Hickenlooper opened the Wynkoop Brewing Co. in downtown Denver, according to the Durango restaurant\u2019s website.
\n Carver\u2019s claims the title of first brewery in the Four Corners since prohibition, and it attributes opening its doors after the Wynkoop to a rather unique set of circumstances involving a trip down the Grand Canyon, according to its website.
\n \u201cWe did do a Grand Canyon trip that summer. So we put our construction on hold until the fall,\u201d said Bill Carver, co-founder of Carver\u2019s.
\n The trip and the general hustle and bustle of summer in Durango led to construction being delayed until fall, Carver said. \u201cWe were a little distracted with work and play, and John kept his nose to the grindstone and opened first.\u201d
\n Carver said he maintains a close connection with Hickenlooper and feels the governor\u2019s experience in the hospitality service has positively influenced his time in the Capitol.
\n \u201cI think the lessons he learned running a restaurant and being in the service industry are very transferable positive qualities he brings to his job as governor,\u201d he said.
\n Luke Perkins<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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