YOUNG:

Why run for Treasurer — On the JBC for four years, “I also got a pretty good view of what goes on in the Treasurer’s office. I think I bring the skill set that is well suited for that department. The budget is $30 billion, $7 billion flows through the Treasurer’s office. It is all connected to the budget, and the work done in the appropriations committee. I was chairman of the appropriations committee. The money in there has to be well invested, safe and liquid so that when the budget comes out of the appropriations committee, you can pay the bill.”

What is the role of Treasurer — “Make sure the money is wisely invested, safely invested and transparently invested. Avoiding risky investments is a big thing. Work with school districts; tax revenues come in in an unequal way, but payrolls have to be made on a monthly basis so sometimes there is some work the Treasurer’s office has to do with the school districts to make sure they have a cash flow situation.”

TABOR — “The influence or roll (of the Treasurer’s) job description doesn’t preclude the Treasurer from collaborating or working with others to say we need to do something about this. Because these items are in the constitution, these items are in the hands of the voters. I think that there are better tools.  I think most people like the idea of being able to vote on their taxes. I think people like the idea of refunds. But that is only in the context of have we met the essential needs of what we think are appropriate needs of government? I think most of us agree that it is a bad tool. There are lots of things about TABOR that we continue to uncover and learn about, even 25 years later. At the end of the day, it results in more debt, less good planning and more crisis planning, and as a result, we’re not really maximizing or effectively using taxpayer dollars.”

PERA – “In 2000, (PERA) was 105 percent funded. The talking point at that time was that since this was taxpayer money, we shouldn’t ever have it be overfunded, so an option was given to members to buy service credits that were not employer matched. At the end of the day, if you are buying credits, you are making yourself eligible sooner. So, if you’re not paying the full cost of that, where does the money come from to pay your benefits when you retire? On top of that, people are living longer than ever, so now you’ve got a system out of balance.”

GUN CONTROL – “Gun safety has ballooned up in the legislature rightfully so because we see things that happen in schools that we don’t like. PERA has money invested in gun manufacturing. People are upset. There is a recognition that there are many companies and corporations that are really great community partners that really hold up more than just shareholder value but have doing good for the community as a goal as well. When people don’t think a company is doing (good), pressure get put on it, and maybe that’s impetus for them to change. (PERA’s investment in gun manufacturers) is one that has to be carefully vetted. You don’t want your investment strategy to result in PERA being hurt, but at the same time, if the members of PERA, who are the ones that voted in the PERA board, ultimately say we don’t want our investment portfolio to look this way, and in general the citizens of the state of Colorado agree,  you can change that over time. And maybe it will provide some incentive for a company to make some changes. I would work toward understanding the investment strategy and have that conversation.”

ENERGY – “Oil and gas are nonrenewable assets of the state of Colorado. If you look at other states and what they’ve done, overall Colorado has a very ineffective tax rate. We are in the bottom one third. Others have taxed it higher and they also have been smarter about how they’ve invested it. I think we should weigh in on that. It’s how we invest in ourselves. Are we just going to diminish our resources and let them expire without getting full benefit?  Is there a better way to invest the proceeds on that so the state can reduce its tax load in other areas? If we would have done something different 20-30 years ago, I think you would have seen a different trajectory. That doesn’t mean we can’t start thinking about it now.”

OTHER IDEAS — “We get a balanced budget in the state every year and people are like, ‘oh that’s good.’ In my estimation, we are just cost shifting. And if you look at the big picture, we are in great debt. The Treasurer can’t fix this alone, but the Treasurer can use the bully pulpit to help find ways to do that. To advocate and work with the state legislature, work with other elected officials and work with communities to say how do we become more effective and responsive and work as a problem solver. I can go down the list where there is a deep hole from our inability to meet the need or cost shifting that’s gone on. I think you have to take a step back and say, ‘are we going to continue to play this game of reaching into one hole and pulling a little bit out to put into that hole,’ or are we actually going to say what is an effective solution? We’ve allowed ourselves to be in a crisis mode due to the TABOR and Gallagher collision.”