Rep. Mike Coffman has embarrassed the entire state of Colorado once again.

Yesterday, 9NEWS in Denver broke the story of Coffman's shocking and hateful remarks at a fundraiser in Elbert County this past weekend.

"I don't know whether Barack Obama was born in the United States of America. I don't know that," Coffman said. "But I do know this, that in his heart, he's not an American. He's just not an American." [1]

Click here: tell Mike Coffman you've had enough.

When news reporters contacted Coffman yesterday with a recording of his remarks in hand, he was quick to apologize. But radical and divisive statements from Congressman Coffman are nothing new. He continues to pander to the far right, and it's getting harder for him to backpedal from his extremist record.

There are many recent examples of similar extremism from Coffman. Coffman has repeatedly called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme." Coffman supported the radical "personhood" abortion ban in the 2010 election. Coffman opposes ballots for legal U.S. citizens in any language other than English. Coffman even supported the clueless Rick Perry for president, and Paul Ryan, the man who proposed the privatization of Medicare, for vice president.

Enough is enough: Coffman's far right extremism is wrong for Colorado. Sign our petition calling on Coffman to stop embarrassing our entire state with his disgusting antics.

We'll share your name and comments with the press, Coffman's campaign, and other elected officials.

Thanks for your quick response. Working together, we'll make sure everyone in America understands that Mike Coffman does not speak for Colorado.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 14th, 2012
CONTACT: Joanne Kron, executive director at joanne@progressnowcolorado.org

DENVER: Responding to the failure in a special session today of legislation to authorize civil unions in Colorado, the second such failure in as many weeks, ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization, updated its published list of "Winners and Losers of the 2012 Legislative Session."

2012's Big Loser: Over 70% of Coloradans Who Support Civil Unions

This year, Colorado came heartbreakingly close to passing civil unions legislation for committed gay and lesbian couples. Polls clearly demonstrate strong public support for these basic protections. Despite a groundswell of support, including many conservatives from the new Coloradans for Freedom advocacy group, intolerant, right-wing Speaker of the House Frank McNulty killed the bill in the regular session before it could be voted on by the full House. After Gov. John Hickenlooper called for a special session of the legislature to revisit many bills that were killed by McNulty to stop civil unions, McNulty again acted to kill the bill instead of allowing a fair vote.

Twice now in as many weeks, House leadership has made an absolute mockery of the legislative process in Colorado. Instead of allowing a simple up-or-down vote by all of Colorado's elected representatives, Speaker McNulty chose to play politics with this bill even after Gov. Hickenlooper gave McNulty a second chance to do the right thing. While an overwhelming majority of Coloradans support civil unions, and a bipartisan majority in the Colorado House was waiting to pass the bill, McNulty and House leadership pandered to the extremist fringe of their party once again.

Coloradans who believe in fairness have taken notice, and these actions will play a role in the outcome of the November election.

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This week we witnessed one of the most shameful examples of abuse of power in the history of the Colorado legislature. With more than three dozen pieces of legislation waiting to be debated on Tuesday, Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty "went nuclear" and shut down the House. This shocking obstruction of the process effectively killed several pieces of legislation that were of vital importance to the state, including more than $20 million for community water projects.

We need your help now to call on the legislature to finish its job.

Speaker McNulty did all of this because he knew civil unions for gay and lesbian couples would pass with Republican support. The personal ideology of one man overruled the legislative process, and stopped cold the overwhelming bipartisan momentum in favor of passing civil unions.

Is this what we call democracy?

Thankfully, Gov. John Hickenlooper has called a special session of the legislature to revisit some of the bills that died when McNulty shut down the House on Tuesday. The bad news is that the state will now be forced to spend more than $23,000 per day, finishing the important work that House leadership refused to finish during the regular session.

Click here to tell your Colorado representative and state senator to approve civil unions legislation without delay, and vote swiftly on the merits of all the legislation Gov. Hickenlooper has called this session to consider.

It's the legislature's job to pass laws that are in the best interests of the state of Colorado. But House Speaker Frank McNulty abused his power, killing dozens of bills indiscriminately rather than allowing a vote on a single bill with bipartisan support. As Gov. Hickenlooper said in his executive order announcing the special session, "much of this legislation had significant bipartisan support and addressed subject matter crucial to the people of Colorado."

What McNulty and the Republican House leadership did on Tuesday was wrong. Call on your representative and state senator to clean up the unethical mess McNulty made, and to pass civil unions.

And, please share this email to your friends and family.  This is our only chance to salvage some progress out of this debacle and we need all the help we can get.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 9th, 2010
CONTACT: Joanne Kron, ProgressNow Colorado executive director at 303-991-1900
 
FT. LUPTON: As Mitt Romney flew into Northern Colorado for a photo op at a Weld County drilling site, progressives and clean water advocates called on Romney to tell the truth about increasing domestic oil and gas production, profits, and consequences for the environment.
 
"The same oil and gas industry funders of Mitt Romney are the ones gouging Americans with high prices at the pump," said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Joanne Kron. "They've got the money to spare for Romney after reaping $137 billion in profits, and $9 billion in tax breaks in 2011 alone. And it's even more ironic that Romney is coming to Ft. Lupton to speak at a drill site, after the documentary Gasland made Ft. Lupton famous for its flammable tap water."
 
"The biggest problem with Mitt Romney's claim that domestic oil and gas development is being held back is that it isn't true," said Gary Wockner of Clean Water Action. "The truth is, oil and gas production in Colorado reached an all-time high in 2011. And as much as the industry complains about access to new leases, only 25% of the oil and gas industry's leases in Colorado are even in use."
 
"In Colorado, like all energy producing states, we face a constant tension between the economic need for energy and the consequences of oil and gas production," said Kron of ProgressNow Colorado. "What we don't need is a politician with a self-serving agenda using Colorado as a backdrop to mislead the public. We're asking for Romney to tell the truth about energy, not run cover for the speculators picking Americans' pockets day after day."
 
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DENVER: Reacting to the last-minute failure this evening of Colorado Senate Bill 2, the bipartisan supported legislation to create civil unions for committed gay and lesbian couples in Colorado, ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization, offered the following statement:

"The extremist right-wing leadership in the Colorado House decided today that it was more important to play politics than carry out the will of the citizens who elected them," said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Joanne Kron. "In November, Colorado voters will not forget that conservative House leadership obstructed the process--killing a bill that was otherwise assured bipartisan support on the House floor."

"Instead of standing up for all Colorado families, House Speaker Frank McNulty and other Republicans in the House pandered to the fringe of their party once again," said Kron. "Coloradans who believe in fairness have taken notice and today's actions will play a role in the outcome of the November election."

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Joanne Kron, executive director at joanne@progressnowcolorado.org

DENVER: As the 2012 session of the Colorado General Assembly prepares to adjourn next week, ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization, released the following list of "2012 Colorado Legislative Session Winners and Losers."

"This year, progressives in the Colorado legislature had many successes fighting for Colorado jobs, our public health and environment, and advancing equality that we can all be proud of," said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Joanne Kron. "Unfortunately, right-wing extremists in both chambers obstructed progressive jobs and equality goals whenever they could, and a lot of good bills died as needless political fodder. One of the most suspenseful issues of the year, the fate of historic civil unions legislation, will come down to the very last moments of the session. We've also included a few 'Draw' awards, for issues that had mixed outcomes of good and bad."

"In politics, there are always winners and losers," said Kron. "Here is a progressive recap of the 2012 Colorado legislative session, which featured powerful examples of both."

Winners 1. House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino had perhaps the hardest job at the Colorado Capitol this year, but he managed his caucus, and relations with the conservative one-seat majority, with patience and determination. Ferrandino drove the pro-jobs agenda from the House as the majority's leadership faltered (see: Losers). Ferrandino's tireless efforts are one reason why the state's budget passed this year with near-unanimous approval--a truly rare event. Ferrandino was also a key negotiator in the groundbreaking state personnel reform ballot initiative headed for the ballot this November. 2. Rep. B.J. Nikkel Republican Rep. B.J. Nikkel, who is not running for re-election, cast the deciding vote in the House Judiciary Committee in favor of civil unions. Her unexpected vote of conscience changed the fate of this legislation, and quite possibly Colorado history. Rep. Nikkel also helped carry important juvenile justice legislation (see #9). The gratitude progressives in Colorado feel for Rep. Nikkel for these votes, despite disagreement on any number of other issues, can't be overstated. 3. Rep. Tom Massey Rep. Tom Massey of Poncha Springs has once again distinguished himself as the go-to negotiator for getting things done in a House too often paralyzed by partisan politics. Rep. Massey co-sponsored numerous pieces of legislation across the aisle, particularly with regard to education. Most importantly, Rep. Massey's vote in favor of the ASSET legislation for a better tuition rate for undocumented students was cheered by progressives and many of his fellow Republicans. Unfortunately, Rep. Massey's best intentions were frequently thwarted by his extremist colleagues in the right wing-controlled House. 4. Your basement, closet, alley, or garage (and Colorado landfills) This year, the Colorado General Assembly passed the Electronic Recycling Jobs Act. This legislation will stop the flow of dangerous electronic waste into Colorado landfills, while ensuring easy options for consumers to recycle their old components. It will create jobs, help the environment, and make it easier for us all to reclaim valuable storage space taken up by old electronics. 5. Colorado's public employees With Colorado's economy slowly recovering from the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, progressive budget negotiators held the line against the right wing and saved jobs that would otherwise have been lost throughout Colorado state government. A proposed 2% reduction across the board, coming on the heels of years of cuts and pay freezes, would have done unnecessary harm to thousands of working families. Thankfully it did not pass. 6. The #coleg Twitter hashtag For the second year in a row, the #coleg "hashtag" on Twitter served as the go-to location for breaking news from the Colorado state capitol. Reporters, officials, stakeholders, and interested members of the general public turned to this live resource, which helped media outlets develop their stories as primary source material. 7. Students Entering the Workforce A piece of legislation signed into law this year by Sen. Linda Newell and Rep. Daniel Kagan, the Skills for Jobs Act, will set up a new collaborative relationship between the state's Departments of Labor and Higher Education, to help ensure that skills being taught in Colorado colleges line up with the needs of Colorado employers. This is an important bill to ensure Colorado students get the practical skills they need to get to succeed in the workforce. 8. Three Brave Republican Women, Again For the second year in a row, three brave Republican women in the Colorado Senate--Sens. Ellen Roberts, Nancy Spence, and Jean White--stood with their progressive colleagues to pass civil unions legislation for Colorado's committed same-sex couples. Other conservatives like Sen. Shawn Mitchell backed away from supporting this legislation, but someday it will be remembered that a few Republican women Senators were on the right side of history. 9. Juvenile Justice In late April, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed legislation that significantly limits the ability of Colorado prosecutors to arbitrarily file charges against juveniles accused of crime as adults. While preserving the ability to do so for the most violent crimes and giving a judge the final say, this legislation will save some kids who make a bad choice in their youth from a lifetime of ostracism and limited opportunity. Gov. Hickenlooper was under pressure to veto this bill, but progressives are grateful he didn't. 10. Colorado's sensible gun laws Conservatives tried once again to unravel Colorado's reasonable and experience-tested gun laws, but fortunately progressives in the Colorado Senate held the line. Some of the worst of these bills would have stripped the state government of the power to regulate guns in an emergency, and severely weakened the instant background checks performed on gun buyers. In Colorado, we respect the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns, but with that right comes responsibility to protect everyone's safety.

Losers 1. Sen. Greg Brophy This spring, Sen. Greg Brophy brought the "war on women" to our state, after publicly defending radio host Rush Limbaugh's disparaging remarks about a law student who testified on Capitol Hill in Washington about contraceptive insurance coverage. Sen. Brophy actually told followers on Twitter that he too did not want to pay for "booze," "spring break," or birth control for the college student, Sandra Fluke of Georgetown University. Sen. Brophy's antics had the opposite of their intended effect, motivating women to organize a large rally at the Capitol, and to get more politically involved in general to protect their basic rights. 2. Great Minds, Wasted Last fall, an article in the New York Times quoted the chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, as well as an Hispanic Republican member of the state legislature, hinting strongly at possible support in 2012 for the "ASSET" bill--legislation to give the student children of undocumented workers a chance to attend college at a price they can afford. But despite their lip service, as well as a lobbying push by prominent Republicans in support of this legislation, it was once again killed on a party-line vote in a House committee. 3. House Speaker Frank McNulty Speaker of the Colorado House Frank McNulty presided over a disastrous legislative session for conservatives. McNulty began the session by promoting a "jobs bill" meant to address a problem that, as it turns out, does not exist. And it didn't get any better for McNulty: he spent most of the session managing a bitter primary between his Majority Leader Amy Stephens and another sitting legislator. When he wasn't wrestling with infighting in his caucus, McNulty was making a hypocrite of conservatives everywhere trying to take local control over oil and gas drilling away from local communities. Media outlets hammered McNulty as he wasted millions of taxpayer dollars by inexplicably delaying uncontroversial, bipartisan finance legislation. This was the definition of failed leadership. 4. Extremist Colorado Senators Members of the Colorado Senate Minority gravely embarrassed themselves at a March rally held on the Capitol steps in favor of "religious freedom," in part a response to outcry over Sen. Brophy's comments (see: #1). What this rally became known for was its shameful attack on women and contraceptive rights, comparing contraception insurance coverage to communism and even the Holocaust. Along with similar testimony on the floor of the Senate, in which another Republican had to distance herself from "references to stars and ghettoes," this was a new low (for Colorado) in the right's war on women. 5. Rep. Robert Ramirez Rep. Ramirez is the legislator quoted by the New York Times (see: #2), who paid lip service to the idea that Republicans could be an inclusive and tolerant party. Ramirez claimed to be working with proponents of the ASSET legislation to give the student children of undocumented workers a chance to attend college affordably, but ultimately voted no in a capitulation to the far right--bitterly disappointing those who had hoped his previous words were sincere. The story of Rep. Ramirez's hypocrisy and bad faith will not be lost on Hispanic voters this fall. 6. Oil and Gas Industry This year, the oil and gas industry prevailed on Speaker Frank McNulty to attempt to pass terrible legislation that would have penalized local governments for trying to regulate drilling in their jurisdictions. This idea, contrary to the principle of "local control" that conservatives claim they support, was so bad that members of McNulty's own caucus joined progressives to oppose this bill. 7. Sen. Shawn Mitchell Much like Rep. Robert Ramirez with undocumented student tuition, Sen. Shawn Mitchell had given supporters of civil unions legislation hope that he might vote for this year's bill--after repeatedly opposing the bill in previous years. But despite the overwhelming support for civil unions expressed in polls, and a new conservative Colorado group advocating for civil unions, Mitchell disappointed them all by finding fresh quibbles to justify another "no" vote. 8. Rep. Libby Szabo What can you say about Rep. Libby Szabo? After a close election win in 2010, this freshman has eagerly taken point on a broad rage of extremist issues that may hurt her this year with voters. But Rep. Szabo has also become the face of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in Colorado, a right wing special interest funded group that unites corporate lobbyists and conservative legislators to pass harmful legislation in state legislatures around the nation. ALEC's activities have become a nationwide controversy after legislation promoted by ALEC became a factor in the aftermath of the killing of an African-American teenager in Florida, Trayvon Martin. 9. Rep. Laura Bradford Rep. Laura Bradford's brush with the law after a "legislative happy hour," and avoidance of arrest via an obscure law preventing the arrest of legislators during the session, turned into a major public embarrassment for the entire Colorado General Assembly. Although Rep. Bradford was subsequently "cleared" by Denver Police of asking for special treatment, the public was left to reconcile major questions about accountability for public officials with the fact that she was never charged or properly investigated. Lingering questions about what really happened that night were too much for Rep. Bradford's constituents, and she is no longer running for reelection. 10. Pinnacol Insiders This year, Pinnacol Assurance, the state of Colorado's chartered and tax exempt workman's comp insurance entity, attempted again to put forward a privatization proposal. After years of scandals over lax management and lavish spending, as well as investigations of Pinnacol's investigative practices against injured workers, Pinnacol desires less accountability--plain and simple. But the proposal they put forward was so bad that the business policyholders of Pinnacol, in unusual agreement with progressive legislators, could not support it even after Gov. Hickenlooper tried to salvage it. After so many years of tax exempt preferential treatment as a state entity, every taxpayer is a stakeholder in Pinnacol Assurance.

Draw 1. Education in Colorado There was much celebration of the state's budget this year, which passed with closer to unanimous bipartisan support than any budget in recent memory. Legislators on both sides of the aisle claimed credit in particular for "increasing funding" for public education in this year's budget. But this was only a half-truth: it's true we didn't cut any more from K-12 education this year, but we also made little or no progress in remediating the hundreds of millions cut from our schools since the economic downturn began. While everyone is pleased that the proverbial bleeding has been stopped, we're still a long way away from properly funding our schools. 2. Jobseekers in Colorado From small producers of baked goods and handicrafts to the biggest players in the global aerospace industry, legislation passed in Colorado that will create new jobs. Led by the Colorado Senate, several important bills already signed into law, such as the Local Foods, Local Jobs Act, will make Colorado more competitive and prosperous. Unfortunately, extremists in the Colorado House worked to thwart numerous innovative jobs bills for political purposes--even bills that had Republican cosponsors, like the Colorado Job Support Act (Senate Bill 139). 3. Voters Some of the worst proposals from the right wing to limit voting rights were defeated this year, such as proof-of-citizenship and "Voter ID" bills that would have disenfranchised lawful voters without solving any problem that has even been demonstrated to exist. Unfortunately, though, a major controversy over the status of hundreds of thousands of "inactive-failed to vote" voters was left unresolved, and Secretary of State Scott Gessler has continued his partisan campaign to loosen disclosure requirements and suppress low-income and minority voters.

"ALEC stacks the deck for special interests against Colorado families," says former Colorado representative

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
CONTACT: Joanne Kron, Executive Director at 303-991-1900

DENVER: As major corporations and elected officials continue to sever ties with the embattled American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a former Colorado State Senate President and a former chairman of the House Education Committee denounced the "corrosive" role ALEC has played in numerous pieces of legislation introduced in the Colorado legislature.

"ALEC's influence has grown over the years," said former Colorado Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald. "The 'model legislation' that they peddle is anti-consumer, and does not attempt to balance the needs of the community with the profits of the corporate giants that fund ALEC. While these bills represent one point of view, they are hardly a model for good governance."

"As President of the Colorado Senate, I witnessed the destructive influence of ALEC in our state," said Fitz-Gerald. "This year, it included ALEC's 'model legislation' to strip Colorado citizens of voting rights, [1] [2] and a bill to institute needless and discriminatory drug testing of applicants for public assistance. [3] [4] Last year, ALEC helped the far right export Arizona's reviled anti-immigrant legislation to our state. [5] [6] And yet another recent ALEC bill, House Bill 11-1106, would have allowed corporate wrongdoers and their underwriters to unfairly profit from the insurance policies of personal injury victims." [7]

ALEC has been facilitating meetings between corporate interests and legislators, as well as drafting legislation on behalf of special interest groups for decades.  Their work became a nationwide scandal after their role in pushing legislation similar to the "Kill at Will" law at the heart of the controversy over the killing of Florida African-American teenager Trayvon Martin became public. In recent weeks, numerous major corporations such as Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, and Proctor & Gamble have announced they will no longer fund ALEC's activities.

Persecuting Immigrants for Political Gain. In 2012, Rep. Amy Stephens, facing a tough primary against another conservative, introduced an ALEC bill that would clog Colorado's already crowded jails with thousands of people who have not been convicted of any crime. It shifts the burden of federal immigration enforcement onto local police and sheriffs, stretching limited resources beyond capacity.

Attacking Worker's Rights By Telling Them to Work for Less. "Right to work" legislation creates a very difficult environment for workers negotiating for better conditions. It prohibits unions and private sector employers alike from setting up fully union represented workplaces. Studies have shown that in states where "right to work" laws are passed, wages and benefits decrease for all workers. [8]

Rolling Back Colorado's New Energy Economy. Colorado's voter-approved renewable energy standards led the nation in the shift toward clean energy technology when they were enacted a few years ago. According to Bloomberg News, the energy industry is now working with ALEC and state legislatures to attack renewable energy standards.  Bloomberg News notes that state level "incentives to develop solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternate energy sources have had bipartisan support." [9]

"I saw firsthand the corrosive role of ALEC in the Colorado House from my post on the Education Committee," said former Colorado Rep. Michael Merrifield of Colorado Springs. "Bills to strip teachers of their rights and censor them based on right-wing political ideology had their origins with this secretive group. [10] For too long, ALEC and its corporate sponsors have been able to do their work 'under the radar' and without scrutiny of their motives.  The losers have been the people of Colorado who are victimized by ALEC's out-of-touch agenda."

"Now that the truth is coming out about ALEC and their friends who do their bidding in our state legislature," said former Rep. Merrifield, "many of my former colleagues should be questioning whether they should be affiliated with an organization that's hurting Coloradans."

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 30, 2012
CONTACT: Joanne Kron, executive director at 303-991-1900

DENVER: After a scathing fact-check report by The Washington Post today repudiated nearly every claim made in a new Americans for Prosperity television ad airing in Colorado, ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization, called on media outlets in the state to immediately stop running the ad.

"Blatantly false political ads have no place in Colorado politics," said Joanne Kron, executive director of ProgressNow Colorado. "But every election year, it seems there is always a dishonest politician or attack group willing to brazenly lie to the people of Colorado for political gain. Media outlets in our state need to send a strong message that this kind of dirty politics won't be tolerated in Colorado."

Americans for Prosperity's newest ad claims that several renewable energy investments paid for by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act resulted in Americans "sending their own jobs to foreign countries." The facts, as reported by The Washington Post, show that these funds did indeed invest in American companies, and funded development and manufacturing performed in the United States whenever it was feasible to do so. In each case cited, The Washington Post reveals how the true facts have been distorted, omitted, and even fabricated. [1]

"One can certainly raise questions about how stimulus funding was used and whether it was effective," wrote The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler. "But there is no excuse for these kinds of ads, which take facts out of context or simply invent them."

"In 2010, a Denver television station pulled an ad off the air that made similarly false claims about a congressional candidate," said ProgressNow's Kron. [2] "Now that Americans for Prosperity's latest multimillion-dollar campaign against President Obama has been shown to be a pack of lies, it's time to prove again that Coloradans are smarter than they think."

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The special interest-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is reeling from weeks of intense criticism of the unethical influence it has long enjoyed in state legislatures across the nation.

ALEC has been in existence since the 1970s, but only recently has the extent of their unethical influence in state legislatures around the nation been exposed. ALEC promoted radical gun legislation in Florida now at the heart of the controversy over the killing of an African-American teenager, Trayvon Martin, in many state legislatures. This is a major reason why major corporations including Coca Cola, PepsiCo, McDonald's, and Proctor & Gamble have announced that they are ending their sponsorships of ALEC.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "The organization, with a staff of 30 and a $5.5 million yearly budget, teams lawmakers up with corporate interests to push decidedly pro-business bills through state legislatures. Any lawmaker who is a member of the group can simply log on to its Web site and find hundreds of bills to copy. They can shop for ideas on how to curb class-action lawsuits, help the telecommunications industry or toughen the criminal justice system." [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/8/2005]

Here in Colorado, ongoing research has uncovered dozens of bills with origins in ALEC's so-called "model legislation." In the past few years, ALEC has sponsored bills to irresponsibly weaken Colorado's sensible gun laws, attack the rights of consumers, and limit access to voting. Even after ALEC announced that it will scale back some of the most radical parts of their agenda, they are expected to continue pushing legislation undermining the rights of individual Americans, and stacking the deck against accountability for corporate special interests.

Read the full report: ALEC in Colorado here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
CONTACT: Joanne Kron, Executive Director at 303-991-1900

BOULDER: As surrogates for Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney launched hypocritical attacks on President Barack Obama on the occasion of Obama's speech at the University of Colorado at Boulder today, ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization, called on Romney to tell the truth about his own terrible record on higher education.

"According to the nonpartisan Boston Foundation, in fiscal year 2005, near the end of Mitt Romney's time in office, Massachusetts ranked near the very bottom, 47th in state funding for public higher education," said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Joanne Kron. "Under Gov. Mitt Romney, Massachusetts actually decreased its per capita taxpayer funding for public higher education by 28% between the 2000 and 2005 fiscal years." [1]

During the same time period, the average tuition for the public University of Massachusetts system skyrocketed from under $4,700 to approximately $8,700. [2]

"Romney claims to be a supporter of education, when his record shows he cut tens of millions of dollars from his state's higher education budget, especially when times were tough in 2003-2005," said Kron. "It's laughable for him to campaign as a supporter of education when his record shows that on education, like everything else, Mitt Romney only cares about the highest bidder. While the Ivy League raked in money, Romney let public higher education starve and asked students to make up the difference."

"CU-Boulder students will be paying attention to where candidates stand on higher education issues this election," said Steve Fenberg, executive director of New Era Colorado. "Slashing public support for higher education while jacking up tuition is nothing to be proud of. Romney's education record won't appeal to students."

"Education funding," said Kron, "is just the latest issue on which Romney's hypocrisy knows no bounds."

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