Governor Hickenlooper was on Brett Saunders radio show on KBCO (97.3 FM) yesterday and lo and behold he was actually asked about his position on Prop 103, the $3 Billion tax hike that could kill up to 120,000 Colorado jobs. How he did respond? He bobbed and weaved without actually giving an answer. For the non-politician politician that Hick claims to be, he sure did sound like a typical pol avoiding responsibility during the interview.

You can hear the audio clip here:

At the urging of our good friend Bill Menezes, Saunders asked Hickenlooper where he stood on the tax hike and this is what he had to say:

Governor Hickenlooper: You know we haven't taken a formal position. I will say that when I was campaigning that a number of people asked me: was I going to go out and support raising taxes despite how difficult the economy is? And I said I wasn't. Certainly not in the first year. So I'm not supporting it. I haven't come out against it.[Peak emphasis]

You know, let's see what the people of Colorado say. What I'm really interested in is how do we cut waste, how do we get more efficiencies in all areas of government before we decide that we need more money here or more money there. That being said, obviously we made cuts to education in the last two years that are the largest cuts I believe in the history of the state without question. So there is certainly a strong argument that there are additional resources necessary just to get close to where we used to be.

While we appreciate someone in the media finally attempting to get Hick on the record on Prop 103, we're disappointed Saunders let Hick get away with this non-answer answer.

Ballots are going to be mailed to voters in barely more than a month. Voters are making up their minds and it's time for the state's CEO to weigh in one way or the other. I'm not supporting it, but I'm not opposing it, is NOT an answer. 

We know the Governor told George Will that he doesn’t have to join these fights because Colorado is such a “purple” state.

[Hickenlooper] says, “We are such a purple state” — Colorado is about one-third Republican, one-third Democrat and one-third unaffiliated — “we can avoid the big fights.”

But Hick hasn’t avoided openly opposing the mandatory paid sick leave initiative in Denver, claiming it would kill jobs. The Denver Post’s Tim Hoover reports:

“You could not pick a worse initiative at the present time,” Hickenlooper said, adding that the requirement would create new red tape for businesses and the city during a period of economic fragility. “If anything, it’s going to cost jobs.”

Prop 103 will costs even more jobs.

While it’s nice to see Hickenlooper making smart calls on issues facing Denver, he is no longer Mayor of Denver. He is Governor.

Prop 103 is on the statewide ballot. There is no option to vote present on the ballot.

It’s support or oppose.

So what’s it gonna be, Governor?