William Forrester Owens (born October 22, 1950) is a lawyer, writer and former American politician who served as Colorado's 40th Governor from 1999 to 2007. Owens was re-elected in 2002 by the largest majority in Colorado's history, having made transportation, education, and taxes cut the focus of his governor.
Video Bill Owens (Colorado politician)
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Owens was born in Fort Worth, Texas, where he graduated from Paschal High School. While a second-grade student in high school, Owens was appointed Page in the US House of Representatives by Members of Congress (and later, Chairman of the Board) Jim Wright. Owens was assigned by the House Keeper from the House to the secret chamber of the Republic, where he worked for a famous Republican who served in the then Parliament as George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, and Bob Dole.
He studied at Stephen F. Austin State University where he served as vice president and president of the student body. While at Stephen F. Austin State University, Owens serves as Student Coordinator for George Bush at George H.W. Bush's failed campaign for the US Senate. During this campaign Owens first met President George W. Bush in the future. Owens holds a master's degree in Public Affairs from the University of Texas, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, where he gets a full two-year scholarship.
After graduation, Owens accepted a position at Washington D.C. Touche Ross & amp; Co. (now Deloitte). He moved to Colorado in 1977 after receiving a position at Gates Corporation. He later served as Executive Director of the Colorado Petroleum Association and as Executive Vice President of the Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association.
early political career
Owens served as a member of the Colorado Representative Council from 1982 to 1988, and as State Senator from 1988 to 1994, representing Aurora and Arapahoe County.
While in the Legislature, Owens is active in tax reform, privatization and school-choice initiatives, sponsoring the nation's third charter law school. He serves as Chairman of the State Committee and State Senate, Veterans and Military Affairs and as Chair of the National Congressional Legislative Energy Committee (NCSL), as well as the NCSL Executive Committee.
Owens was elected to the state office as Colorado State Treasurer in 1994, where he was responsible for managing $ 5 billion in state investment funds. He has been in charge of the $ 25 billion Colorado pension fund, the Colorado Employers' Retirement Association (PERA).
Maps Bill Owens (Colorado politician)
Leadership
Owens was elected governor of the 40th Colorado governor in 1998, when he defeated Democrat Gail Schoettler with 8,300 votes (less than 1 percent of votes cast). When he was inaugurated on 12 January 1999, Owens became the first Republican Governor in Colorado in 24 years. The platform is three-pronged: cutting taxes, improving Colorado's aging infrastructure, and continuing school accountability reform.
Withholding tax
Upon entering the office, Owens worked with Republican-controlled legislatures themselves to push through the largest tax help package in the country's history, a $ 1 billion interest-rate cut for sales tax, personal income, and capital gains. Owens also championed, and ultimately won, the abolition of state marriage. In 2006, Owens' administration estimated that the entire tax cut during his term had saved Coloradans $ 3.6 billion.
TRANS and T-REX
In November 1999, Owens brought his funding funding initiative to the ballot. Called TRANS, the $ 1.7 billion bond initiative accelerates future federal transportation dollars on 28 road projects across the state. The keystone project is "Expansions of TRansportation" dubbed T-REX.
T-REX combines new road funding from TRANS to expand and expand Interstate 25 through Denver with a new $ 460 million light rail line to connect Denver city center with Denver Tech Center. Through an innovative design-build concept that greatly reduces construction time, T-REX finishes in less than five years, and comes under budget.
Educational reform
Owens based his educational reform on the expansion and empowerment of the established Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP), which had been created during the predecessor's reign of Democrat Roy Romer. Owens added an "accountability report" to the test, which provided parents with 'school report cards' to allow them to better assess the performance of Colorado's public schools. He also expanded the Colorado charter school program (which he sponsored as State Legislator in the 1990s) as well as other school choice initiatives.
Second term
Owens won re-election in the 2002 governor's race by defeating Democratic nominee, Boulder businessman Rollie Heath, 64% -32% - the greatest majority in Colorado history. Shortly before the election, Owens was proclaimed by National Review as "America's Best Governor".
In the summer of 2002, when Fire Hayman and the Fire Coal Fire ravaged much of West Colorado, Owens made perhaps the first major faux-fitting press of his tenure. Responding to a reporter's question after an aerial tour of a fire ("What looks like there?"), Owens says "It seems like all Colorado is burning today". Many inhabitants of the western slopes blame Owens for driving away tourists with a pressed version of the quote ("All Colorado is on fire").
In November 2002, Colorado voters rejected Owens' water storage initiative, Referendum A. Referendum failed to win an area in the state, as opponents successfully disguised themselves as "blank checks". Owens then joked, "it takes a very skilful Governor to lose a water referendum in the face of a 300-year drought." While the initiative is supported by most Colorado newspapers and business groups, it is opposed by environmental communities and many in Colorado's Western Slope are afraid of leading to the Front Range using more West Slope water.
Leading into 2004 primary, Owens caused some controversy in the Republican Party by announcing support for running Bob Schaffer to replace US Senator Ben Campbell's penalty but then support Pete Coors when Coors later announced an inclusion two days later.
Democrat Bill Ritter was elected in November 2006 to replace Owens-limited terms.
Referendum C
In 2005, Owens faced what former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm called "the time test." Conflicting budgetary measures in the Bill of Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR, which limits government spending) and voters support Amendment 23 (which mandates an increase in education funding) combined with a national recession to leave the Colorado budget 17 percent below 2001 levels. "- as Owens termed it - at TABOR prevents the budget from rebounding after the recession reverses.
Owens angered some conservatives by working with Republican legislators and moderate Democrats to craft and support what is known as Referendum C - essentially a 5-year deadline from TABOR's spending restrictions. National conservative leaders such as Grover Norquist and Dick Armey openly criticize Owens' actions and support. Referendum C passed with 52% of the vote in November 2005.
Although supported by every major newspaper in the state as well as the Chamber of Commerce countries, it remains controversial. Owens served as Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Association of Governors of the Republic, and was elected by his colleagues as Chairman of the Western Governors' Association.
He debates public policy privately including well-publicized debates with Democratic Chairman Howard Dean on the Patriot Act before the ACLU National Convention in San Francisco; with Dr. Larry Summers at the Aspen Institute; with former Illinois Gov. George Ryan about the death penalty at Michigan State University; with ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero on the Patriot Act at Northwestern State University; and with Judge Adrian Hardiman, former Irish Supreme Court Chief on the death penalty at University College Dublin, Ireland.
Owens is a regular and panelist participant at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, appearing in 2005 in a panel debating US foreign policy with Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd.
After politics
Owens has built a successful post-political career in the private sector. He is Senior Director of the international law firm of Greenberg Traurig, LLP where he works on public policy and regulatory issues. He is on a number of public boards including Key Energy (NYSE: KEG); Cloud Peak Energy (NYSE); Bill Barrett Corporation (NYSE: BBG), Credit Bank of Moscow (MOEX: CBOM) and Federal Signal (NYSE: FSS).
Owens joined the University of Denver Institute for Public Policy Studies in January 2007 as a senior fellow.
Owens was an early supporter of President Mitt Romney's 2008 campaign. After Romney left the race, Owens worked actively for John McCain's campaign. He backed Romney again for the 2012 Republican nomination and served as Co-Chair of Romney Colorado's campaign.
Family life
Owens and his wife Frances married in January 1975 and divorced in 2010. They have three children, Monica (born 1983), Mark (born 1986), and Brett (born 1991).
References
External links
- Owens' videos and transcripts discuss President Bush's policies
- Appearance in C-SPAN
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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