From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Bill Owens (Colorado politician)
Bill Owens (Colorado politician)
Bill Owens tory,[1] after making transportation, education, and tax
cuts the focus of his governorship.[2]
Early life
Bill Owens was born in Ft. Worth, Texas, where he grad-
uated from Paschal High School. While a sophomore in
high school, Owens was appointed a Page in the U.S.
House of Representatives by Congressman (and later,
Speaker of the House) Jim Wright. Owens was assigned
by the Doorkeeper of the House to the Republican cloak-
room, where he worked for notable Republicans who
were serving in the House then such as George H.W.
Bush, Gerald Ford and Bob Dole.
He attended 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
served as a coordinator of the Students for George Bush
Owens in 2006 in George H.W. Bush’s unsuccessful campaign for the U.S.
40th Governor of Colorado
Senate. It was during this campaign that Owens would
first meet future President George W. Bush.
In office Owens earned a Master’s degree in Public Affairs
January 12, 1999 – January 9, 2007
from the University of Texas, Lyndon B. Johnson School
Lieutenant Joe Rogers (1999-2003) of Public Affairs, where he was awarded a full two-year
Jane E. Norton (2003-2007) fellowship.
Following his graduate work, Owens accepted a posi-
Preceded by Roy Romer
tion in the Washington D.C. office of Touche Ross & Co.
Succeeded Bill Ritter (now Deloitte). He moved to Colorado in 1977 after ac-
by cepting a position with the Gates Corporation. He later
Personal details served as Executive Director of the Colorado Petroleum
Association and as Executive Vice President of the Rocky
Born October 22, 1950 (1950-10-22)
Mountain Oil and Gas Association.
Fort Worth, Texas
Political Republican Early political career
party
Bill Owens served as a member of the Colorado House of
Spouse(s) Frances Owens (1975–present) (filed for Representatives from 1982 until 1988, and as a State Se-
divorce) nator from 1988 to 1994, representing Aurora and Arapa-
Residence Aurora, Colorado hoe County.
While in the Legislature, Owens was active in tax re-
Alma mater Stephen F. Austin University, University of
form, privatization and school choice initiatives, spon-
Texas
soring the nation’s third charter school law. He served as
Profession Consultant Chair of both the House and Senate State, Veterans and
Religion Roman Catholic Military Affairs Committees and as Chair of the National
Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Energy Commit-
William F. "Bill" Owens (born October 22, 1950) is an tee, as well as on NCSL’s Executive Committee.
American politician and a member of the Republican Par- Owens was elected to statewide office as Colorado
ty. He served as the 40th Governor of Colorado from 1999 State Treasurer in 1994, where he was responsible for
to 2007, being restricted by term limits. Owens was re- managing the state’s $5 billion in investment funds.
elected in 2002 by the largest majority in Colorado his- Owens also served during this time on the board of
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Bill Owens (Colorado politician)
Colorado’s $25 billion pension fund, the Colorado Public proclaimed by National Review as "America’s Best Gover-
Employees Retirement Association (PERA). nor".[3]
In the summer of 2002, when the Hayman Fire and
Governorship Coal Seam Fire ravaged much of Western Colorado,
Owens made perhaps the first major press faux-pas of
Treasurer Owens was elected as the 40th Governor of his tenure. Responding to a reporter’s question following
Colorado in the 1998 governor’s race, when he defeated an aerial tour of the fires (“What does it look like up
Democratic opponent Gail Schoettler by only 8,300 votes there?”), Owens said “It looks as if all of Colorado is burn-
(less than one percent of ballots cast). When he was in- ing today”.[4] Many western slope residents blamed
augurated on January 12, 1999, Owens became Colorado’s Owens for driving away tourists with the press’s truncat-
first Republican governor in 24 years. His platform was ed version of the quote (“All of Colorado is burning”). [5]
three pronged: cut taxes, repair Colorado’s aging infra- In November 2002, Colorado voters rejected Owens’
structure, and continue school accountability reforms.[2] water storage initiative, Referendum A. The referendum
failed to win a single county in the state, as opponents
Tax cuts successfully savaged the measure as a “blank check”.[2]
Upon entering office, Owens worked with a legislature Owens would later joke, “it takes a particularly adept
controlled by his own Republican party to push through Governor to lose a water referendum in the face of a
the largest tax relief package in state history, amounting 300-year drought.” While the initiative was supported by
to $1 billion in rate cuts to the sales, personal-income, most Colorado newspapers and business groups, it was
and capital-gains taxes. Owens also championed, and opposed by the environmental community and many on
eventually won, the elimination of the state’s marriage Colorado’s Western Slope who feared it would lead to the
penalty. By 2006, the Owens administration estimated Front Range using more Western Slope water.
the cuts had saved Coloradans $3.6 billion.[2] Leading up to the 2004 primary, Owens caused some
controversy in the Republican Party by announcing sup-
TRANS and T-REX port for Bob Schaffer’s run to replace retiring U.S. Sena-
tor Ben Campbell, but then endorsing Pete Coors when
In November 1999, Owens brought his transportation
Coors later announced his entry two days later.
funding initiative to the ballot. Called TRANS, the
Democrat Bill Ritter was elected to replace the term-
$1.7 billion bonding initiative accelerated future federal
limited Owens in November 2006.
transportation dollars on 28 projects across the state. The
keystone project was the "TRansportation EXpansion"
dubbed T-REX.
Referendum C
T-REX combined road funding from TRANS with In 2005, Owens faced what former Colorado Governor
$460 million-worth of new light rail lines to greatly ex- Dick Lamm termed “the test of his time.”[2] Conflicting
pand a 19-mile stretch of Interstate 25 through the south budget measures in Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights
Denver Metro Area. Through an innovative design-build (TABOR, which caps government spending) and the voter
concept that greatly reduced construction times, T-REX endorsed Amendment 23 (which mandates increases in
was finished in less than five years, and came in under education funding) combined with a nationwide reces-
budget.[2] sion to leave Colorado’s budget 17 percent below 2001
levels. A “glitch” – as Owens termed it – in TABOR pre-
Education reform vented the budget from rebounding once the recession
reversed.
Bill Owens based his education reforms on expanding
Owens angered some conservatives by working with
and empowering the already-established Colorado Stu-
moderate Republican and Democratic legislators to craft
dent Assessment Program (CSAP), which had been cre-
and endorse what became known as Referendum C – es-
ated during the administration of Democratic predeces-
sentially a 5-year timeout from TABOR’s spending re-
sor Roy Romer. Owens added “accountability reports” to
strictions. National conservative leaders such as Grover
the tests, which provided parents with a ’school report
Norquist and Dick Armey publicly criticized the measure
card’ to allow them to better assess the performance of
and Owens’ support thereof. Referendum C passed with
Colorado’s public schools.[2]
52% of the vote in November 2005.[2] While it was en-
dorsed by every major newspaper in the state as well as
Second term the state Chamber of Commerce, it was nevertheless con-
Owens won reelection in the 2002 governor’s race by troversial.
defeating the Democratic candidate, Boulder business- Owens served as Vice Chair and Chair of the Repub-
man Rollie Heath, 64%–32% – the greatest majority in lican Governors Association, and was elected by his col-
Colorado history. Shortly before the election, Owens was leagues as Chair of the Western Governors Association.
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Bill Owens (Colorado politician)
Owens was a frequent participant in the national pol- election in Northern New York, former Governor Owens
icy debate, appearing on the Today Show, Good Morning endorsed his opponent, Doug Hoffman.[8]
America, CBS Morning News, Bill O’Reilly, Hannity &
Colmes, Hardball, the Wall Street Journal Report and Lou
Dobbs.
Personal
Owens also debated public policy in person including Owens and his wife Frances married in January 1975. In
well publicized debates with Democratic Chair Howard January 2008, he and Frances announced they would di-
Dean on the Patriot Act before the ACLU National Con- vorce.[9] They have three children, Monica (born in
vention in San Francisco; with Dr. Larry Summers at the 1983), Mark (born in 1986), and Brett (born in 1991).[2]
Aspen Institute; with former Illinois Governor George
Ryan on the death penalty at Michigan State University;
with ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero on the
References
Patriot Act at Northwestern State University; and with [1] "Bill Owens". Deloitte. 2007-02-15.
Justice Adrian Hardiman, the former Chief Justice of the http://deloitte.net/dtt/article/
Irish Supreme Court on the death penalty at the Univer- 0,1002,cid%253D146094,00.html. Retrieved
sity College in Dublin, Ireland. 2008-01-11.
Owens was a regular participant and panelist at the [2] ^ "Owens tenure coming to an end". The Denver
World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, appearing Post. 2006-12-10. http://www.denverpost.com/
in 2005 on a panel debating U.S. foreign policy with Sen. ci_4813328. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
Joe Biden and Sen. Chris Dodd. [3] "America’s Best Governor: For Republicans, a
Rocky Mountain high – Bill Owens". National
Review. 2002-02-02. Archived from the original on
Soviet Union/Russia 2007-11-10. http://web.archive.org/web/
Owens has been a student of the Soviet Union and Russia 20071110082400/http://www.findarticles.com/p/
since the 1980s. He was a group leader for People to Peo- articles/mi_m1282/is_16_54/ai_90570238.
ple International, leading groups to the Soviet Union and Retrieved 2008-01-11.
Russia in the 1980s and 1990’s, briefing the participants [4] "Fears May Be Outpacing Reality in Colorado
on Russian politics, history, and economics. He has spo- Fires". New York Times. 2002-06-16.
ken on U.S. foreign policy at Moscow State University, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/
Russia New University (Moscow), Kazan State University fullpage.html?res=9E06E5D6103CF935A25755C0A9649C8B63.
in Tatarstan, and the Kazakh-British Technical Universi- Retrieved 2008-01-11.
ty in Almaty, Kazakhstan. [5] "The backcountry business". Summit Daily News.
He addressed the Kazakh Senate at Astana, Kaza- 2003-08-06. http://www.summitdaily.com/article/
khstan, in 2003 and was the keynote speaker at the RAND 20030806/RECREATION08/308060003. Retrieved
US/Russia Business Leaders Forum in Moscow in 2004. 2008-01-11.
[6] "Bill Owens appointed to Keating Capital board".
Denver Post. 2009-04-17.
After politics http://www.denverpost.com/
Owens is a Managing Director at Front Range Resources, ci_12160166?source=rss.
a Denver-based land and water development firm. He [7] "Romney’s state team includes Benson, Owens".
is on a number of public boards including Key Energy Rocky Mountain News. 2008-01-05.
(NYSE:KEG); Cloud Peak Energy (NYSE); Keating Capital, http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/
Inc.;[6] and FESCO, a Russian holding company listed on jan/05/romneys-state-team-includes-benson-
the Moscow exchange which is Russia’s second largest owens/. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
railroad. Owens is also on a number of private boards in- [8] http://www.9news.com/news/watercooler/
cluding Great Western Oil and Gas and Vision Logistics, article.aspx?storyid=126259&catid=337
and advises two private equity funds. [9] Crummy, Karen (2008-01-16). "Former Gov. Owens,
Owens joined the University of Denver’s Institute for wife divorcing". Denver Post.
Public Policy Studies in January 2007 as a senior fellow. http://www.denverpost.com/
Owens was an early supporter of Mitt Romney’s 2008 ci_7989287?source=rss. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
Presidential campaign.[7] After Romney dropped out of
the race, Owens worked actively for John McCain’s cam-
paign. He has endorsed Romney again for the 2012
External links
Republican nomination. • George Will: Colorado Governor shows us how to run
After several media outlets confused him with anoth- a state
er Bill Owens who was running in a high-profile special
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Bill Owens (Colorado politician)
Political offices
Preceded by Treasurer of Colorado Succeeded by
Gail Schoettler 1995 – 1999 Mike Coffman
Preceded by Governor of Colorado Succeeded by
Roy Romer 1999 – 2007 Bill Ritter
• Video and transcript of Owens discussing President Alternative names
Bush’s policies
Short description
• America’s Best Governor: For Republicans, a Rocky
Mountain high – Bill Owens Date of birth 1950-10-22
• A liberal group lists Owens “One of America’s Worst Place of birth Fort Worth, Texas
Governors” Date of death
Persondata Place of death
Name Owens, Bill
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Owens_(Colorado_politician)&oldid=464604443"
Categories:
• 1950 births
• Living people
• Governors of Colorado
• State treasurers of Colorado
• Colorado State Senators
• Members of the Colorado House of Representatives
• American schoolteachers
• People from Fort Worth, Texas
• University of Texas at Austin alumni
• Republican Party state governors of the United States
• Colorado Republicans
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