DENVER — Rice was thrown on Gov. John Hickenlooper after his State of the State address Thursday, but it was all in good faith.
Republicans surprised the governor by throwing rice on him at the conclusion of his speech to celebrate his upcoming marriage to Robin Pringle, scheduled for Saturday.
The bipartisan cooperation however appears to end there.
Throughout the speech, Republicans sat quiet while the governor discussed the need to raise new forms of revenue. The governor’s main priority is to shift the state’s hospital provider fee into an enterprise fund, exempting it from being refunded to taxpayers through TABOR.
“Our budget request calls for a $20 million cut to education and no increase in financial aid,” Hickenlooper said, speaking to the severity of the state budget situation.
Apart from raising new money, the governor seemed to reject a Republican proposal to fund a new transportation plan through bonds.
“Some have suggested a version of TRANS bonds as an option, but without new revenue, that’s like trying to drive your new truck across the state with a dollar’s worth of gas,” Hickenlooper said.
The governor also challenged the state to reduce Colorado’s suicide rate, currently ranking fifth in the nation.
“Colorado lost 1,058 people to suicide in 2014; that’s an all-time high for our state,” Hickenlooper said.
The governor also wants to reduce marijuana edibles that look like candy.
“Pot-infused gummy bears send the wrong message to our kids about marijuana,” Hickenlooper said.
After the speech, Republican Senate President Bill Cadman expressed skepticism at the governor’s belief that the state budget needs to have serious cuts.
“We are growing at a minimum of around 3 percent and that’s not a crisis,” Cadman said.
During a one-on-one interview, the governor asked about the belief, held by some, that the private sector would view a 3 percent budget increase as a successful year.
“If a business was growing at the rate we were growing, they would have more revenue than 3 percent,” Hickenlooper said.