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Home Archives for Executive Order

5/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado LOSES: Represent State Employees, No Union Middleman

Having already won Colorado Governor Bill Ritter's November 2007 executive order allowing exclusive union representation in state government, the table is set for organized labor to push for full-fledged and permanent bargaining legislation by next year. Many of those who would be purported to benefit from such legislation might have a different idea, however. On an iVoices podcast, I talk with state employee Dave Ohmart about his developing plan to provide representation for state employees without the costly union middleman services of Colorado WINS: Dave says he's open to input to refine and improve his plan. You can contact him by leaving a comment at the Colorado LOSES website. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, PPC Tagged With: audio, bargaining, benefit, Bill Ritter, Colorado, Colorado WINS, comment, contact, costly, Dave Ohmart, developing, exclusive, Executive Order, full-fledged, Governor, idea, improve, input, iVoices, legislation, middleman, organized labor, permanent, plan, podcast, purported, services, set, state employee, state government, table, talk, union, union representation, website

5/4/2009 By Ben 5 Comments

Senate Bill 180: Another Big Labor Veto Dilemma for Vulnerable Bill Ritter

Two years ago Governor Bill Ritter came right out of the gate and ran smack into a tough veto choice that caused friction with his Big Labor supporters. Ritter made up for the nixing of House Bill 1072 later in 2007 with an executive order giving union organizers a gold-plated invitation into Colorado state government. Now, to some extent, history is replaying itself. As the Denver Post's John Ingold reports, the choice Bill Ritter is confronted with now is whether to sign or veto the bad policy that is Senate Bill 180. The bogus argument used for SB 180 -- which narrowly passed the Democrat-controlled legislature -- is that firefighters need greater union bargaining rights to ensure they get needed safety equipment. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: alienate, approval ratings, argument, Aurora, bad policy, bargaining agreements, bargaining rights, benefits, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, bogus, business community, choice, Colorado, Colorado Municipal League, confronted, costly, curry, decide, Democrat, Denver Post, disses, Drop dead, Englewood, evidence, Executive Order, favor, fire departments, firefighters, Fort Collins, friend, gold-plated, government, Governor, Greeley, heroes, higher, History, House Bill 1072, invitation, issues, John Ingold, legislature, little attention, local communities, local officials, management rights, mountain communities, narrowly, nemesis, opposition, overwhelmingly, passed, political, political side, power, Pueblo, rejected, reports, safety equipment, safety records, Senate Bill 180, sign, state government, state mandate, statement, sunk, union organizers, uphold, veto, wages, wise course

4/14/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Legislation to Unionize Colorado State Government: Coming 2010 Battle?

Via the Right to Work blog comes news that the new Republican Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer has repealed her predecessor's executive order granting union powers to state workers. This scenario (and others like it before - witness Missouri and Indiana as examples) is precisely why the Colorado WINS labor coalition will not rest satisfied with Bill Ritter's November 2007 executive order that introduced collective bargaining to our state government. Odds are strong that the political winds will favor Big Labor pushing a broad piece of government employee collective bargaining legislation in 2010. The question is whether the Democrats in charge at the State Capitol by then will have backed off the cliff's edge, and from governing away their … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: 2010, Arizona, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, broad, cliff's edge, Collective Bargaining, Colorado WINS, Democrats, Executive Order, governing, government employees, Governor, Indiana, Jan Brewer, labor coalition, legislation, majority, Missouri, political winds, precisely, predecessor, question, Republican, right-to-work, satisfied, scenario, State Capitol, state government, state workers, union powers

4/9/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Dress Down: Bill Ritter’s Big Idea

Let it never be said that Governor Bill Ritter is not a man of big ideas:In a recent letter to state employees in the state publication Stateline, Ritter talks about the hard economic times and thanks employees for their hard work. He then applauds a stress-reducing move by the Department for Health Care Policy and Financing to extend “‘dress down Fridays’ to every day of the week.” Senator Ted Harvey wondered whether it might be an April Fools Day joke. I'm wondering if it was an idea hatched as the result of his executive order authorizing collective bargaining -- er, employee partnerships. Whatever it is, somehow methinks this wasn't the dressing down being cited by our governor. Five days a week of that would make most … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: April Fools Day, authorizing, big ideas, Bill Ritter, Collective Bargaining, Department for Health Care Policy and Financing, dress down Fridays, employee partnerships, Executive Order, Governor, hard economic times, hatched, idea, joke, letter, man, publication, result, senator, state employees, Stateline, stress-reducing, Ted Harvey

10/1/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Gov. Bill Ritter’s “Slow (Hiring) Freeze” vs. Bill Owens’ Immediate Action

Here's a nice, clear contrast in leadership for you. Last Thursday, Gov. Bill Ritter sent out a press release announcing ways to save state taxpayers money. First on the list:Implementing a hiring freeze for the Executive Branch effective Oct. 1. For those doing the math, that left a few extra days to give all departments notice to fill all open positions. In 2002, then-Gov. Bill Owens, also facing a fiscal crunch, issued an executive order with a similar purpose:Pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-2-102(4), I order a hiring freeze applicable to state government. This hiring freeze is effective immediately. [emphasis added] It will be interesting to see how many last-minute hires came in before Bill Ritter's "slow freeze" went into effect. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: Bill Owens, Bill Ritter, contrast, departments, difficult economic circumstances, Executive Branch, Executive Order, hiring freeze, immediately, leadership, open positions, press release, savings, taxpayers

9/23/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

The Need for Journalistic Remediation on Colorado Amendment 49

Channel 7 reports that Gov. Bill Ritter has turned down an offer from Jon Caldara to withdraw Amendment 49 from the Colorado ballot in exchange for Ritter revoking his executive order that unionized state government:Jon Caldara, head of the Independence Institute, a conservative think tank, said he also wants Ritter's word to oppose any effort to pass a paycheck deduction into law. Not exactly, at least if you read the letter Caldara sent to Ritter yesterday:...These same opponents have been champions of your Executive Order D 028 07, which drastically reshaped labor relations by introducing collective bargaining to state government. I therefore propose withdrawing Amendment 49 from the statewide ballot, contingent upon your repeal of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Amendment 47, Amendment 49, Bill Owens, Bill Ritter, blogger, Bridget Johnson, Channel 7, clarification, Collective Bargaining, Colorado ballot, confusing, correction, Denver Post, egregious, error, Ethical Standards, Executive Order, headline, headline writer, inaccurate, Independence Institute, initiative, Jon Caldara, letter, misleading, monopoly representation, MSM, offer, paycheck deduction, paycheck protection, reporter, right-to-work, Rocky Mountain News, state government, think tank, unionization, unwanted union representation, wages, withdraw, working conditions

9/16/2008 By Ben 2 Comments

With Apologies to Fido, Lassie, and All of Loyal, Trustworthy, Canine-Kind

Okay, this one made me laugh. When I read the liberal wag's op-ed, I nearly fell out of my chair. Now, there's no need to glorify his work with a link or even a free Google mention - especially since, given the site, the link figures to evaporate very soon. Nevertheless, the following paragraph was written under the sub-heading "Bigoted remark":Another senior staff member of the Independence Institute, education policy analyst Ben DeGrow, offered the "analysis" on a Feb. 20 Internet broadcast of RIGHTTALK.COM, that because of [Governor Bill] Ritter’s executive order enabling state employee groups to form partnerships, a variety of unions had "been attracted to the state like opening up a can of dog food and getting your dog to come … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor, My Life, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: analogy, Ben DeGrow, bigotry, Bill Ritter, canine-kind, corruption, dog food, education policy analyst, Executive Order, fatcat, Fido, inartful, Independence Institute, labor unions, Lassie, liberal wag, loyal, op-ed, outburst, Partnerships, pension dollars, political causes, restoration, RightTalk, secret ballots, state employee groups, trustworthy, union leaders, workers paychecks

8/5/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Pushy Union Rep Making Himself at Home on Colorado State Property

Regular readers of this blog and followers of the Colorado political scene generally are aware of Gov. Bill Ritter's executive order that has given union leaders the keys to state government. Already the "Colorado WINS" labor union coalition has ridden the popularity of the "don't give a crap" mentality to become the "exclusive representative" for a majority of state workers. Right now, two elections are pending that would unionize the remaining 9,500 Colorado state employees. Disturbed by the "don't give a crap" mentality and wanting his fellow public servants to judge the union's promises for themselves, state employee Dave Ohmart has started the tongue-in-cheek group "Colorado Loses." He has a regular e-mail list of interested state … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Bill Ritter, Colorado WINS, Dave Ohmart, don't give a crap, Executive Order, poster, state employees, union elections

7/23/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Pollster Floyd Ciruli Rehashes Reasons for Bill Ritter’s Sinking Popularity

In today's Rocky Mountain News, Colorado Democrat pollster Floyd Ciruli takes a cold, analytical look at Gov. Bill Ritter's approval ratings -- boiled down, the picture isn't pretty for the potential one-term governor:Surprisingly, new Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter may be in trouble. When compared with his Montana counterpart, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, in recent Rasmussen polls, Ritter's job rating lags behind Schweitzer by 19 points. Only 45 percent of Colorado voters gave Ritter an excellent or good job rating, whereas 64 percent of Montanans rated Schweitzer as doing an excellent or good job. Floyd Ciruli cites a litany of reasons for Bill Ritter's sagging popularity, reasons that have been regular themes of this and other local new media … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Hysteria, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Education, Energy, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, Labor Tagged With: bathroom bill, Bill Ritter, blue-ribbon panels, Brian Schweitzer, campaign finance violation, Collective Bargaining, Colorado, Executive Order, Face the State, Floyd Ciruli, Human Events, Montana, oil and gas drilling, Property Tax Increase, Rasmussen poll, Rocky Mountain News, Senate Bill 200, severance tax, state government, TV commercials

6/12/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

“Don’t give a crap” WINS Bill Ritter’s State Employee Union Elections

Gov. Bill Ritter's November 2007 executive order at last has successfully completed the loop in unionizing state government in a very un-democratic fashion. Today's Denver Post reports:At least 22,500 secretaries, prison guards and other state employees will soon fall under a union contract following a vote tallied Wednesday, though the majority of eligible workers didn't cast a ballot.... About 6,900 state workers from a pool of 22,500 who were eligible participated in the election, which gave them a choice between Colorado WINS [editorial comment: "Big Labor WINS, Colorado LOSES"] or no union representation. Of those, 5,481 supported the union. That's right. Fewer than one-quarter of eligible state employees voted to be unionized. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: agency fees, Backroom Bill Ritter, Bill Ritter, Collective Bargaining, Colorado taxpayers, Colorado WINS, Denver Post, don't give a crap, election, Executive Order, government services, Intercepts, labor unions, Mike Antonucci, non-union workers, undemocratic, union petition cards, union representation, unionization

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

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