Will Bill Ritter Really Pursue “Best Public Policy” and Veto Big Labor Bills?

So Colorado Governor Bill Ritter has a couple tough decisions to make. That could pose a problem.

This morning the Denver Post‘s John Ingold follows up on the political challenges posed to Ritter from the legislature placing Big Labor bills Senate Bill 180 and House Bill 1170 on his desk. The Governor sure is talking a good game:

“This is not a zero-sum game,” Ritter said. “The way I approach this is not based upon this notion that somebody wins, somebody loses. The way I approach this is ‘What is the best public policy for us?’ “

In that case, from the standpoint of “best public policy”, vetoing the costly and intrusive SB 180 is a no-brainer — for all the reasons I’ve previously explained. HB 1170 is problematic for its own reasons, as the legislation would unbalance the scale of leverage toward labor unions during contract disputes.

It will be interesting to see where Bill Ritter comes down on these bills — whether he has the courage and good judgment to send them both to the trash bin. His high-minded rhetoric aside, I’d like to see something other than shameless political posturing.