Dave is a native Coloradan who never thought that he would run for public office. He started his career as an educator, teaching math, science, and technology at Heath Junior High in Greeley for 24 years. He then went on to teach at CU Denver for another decade, and worked in the private tech sector for about 4 years.
Most people don’t consider financial literacy to be a part of economic justice, but In order to ensure economic justice, it’s imperative that all Coloradans have access to credible financial education when they need it. This ensures that all Coloradans can have an equal chance to save, invest, and give back to our economy.
That’s why, as State Treasurer, I’ve put an emphasis on programs that help Coloradans gain financial literacy. For example, Moneywiser helps K-12 teachers gain fiscal knowledge for their personal lives and also as a teaching tool for their students. This long-term investment in future generations will help to close the gap between those who have institutional fiscal knowledge and those who do not. Similarly, the Office of the Treasurer is involved in Colorado Jumpstart which teaches children how to manage money successfully.
In addition, the Colorado Secure Savings retirement program has a major emphasis on financial education. This is because it’s important to save, but it’s also important to be smart with your savings.
As State Treasurer I have been and will be committed to ensuring that all Coloradans have the tools and resources that they need to make fiscally responsible decisions. When one of us wins, we all win.
I worked as a middle school math, science, and technology teacher for 24 years and I saw firsthand the problems facing students and teachers across the state. I know our schools are underfunded, teachers are overworked, and classrooms are over capacity. The COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified the problems that our public schools are facing.
When the financial crisis hit, people and businesses across the state sought support and relief. Often that relief came in the form of requests for property tax deferrals. While these requests were certainly understandable, the 178 school districts serving our K-12 public school students rely on property tax as an important source of revenue, as do fire protection districts, library districts, water districts, and many others. Deferring property taxes may help individuals and businesses, but it can have a debilitating ripple effect on the funding of these districts. I worked closely with the Governor’s office, legislative leaders, school district boards and administrators, local taxing districts, and county treasurers to pass HB20-1421 to provide relief without putting the funding sustainability of our local taxing districts in jeopardy.
Furthermore, the Treasury continues to operate the K-12 Interest-Free Loan Program as well as work with the K-12 Capital Construction Assistance Board to provide funds through debt issuance for the BEST (Building Excellent Schools Today) program. Check out this video to see how the BEST program benefited Hayden, Colorado.
Education continues to be a top priority for the people of Colorado, which means it’s a priority for me. I’ll get us out of the fiscal knot that we’re in to make sure every child in Colorado has a great education.
Our State’s employee pension plan is the single biggest challenge facing the State Treasurer. Almost 600,000 Coloradans depend on a neglected and underfunded pension plan. First responders, teachers, and state employees across the state were promised and depend on this benefit plan after retirement. I’ve worked hard over the past two years to improve PERA’s sustainability, including a 17.4% return on PERA’s portfolio in 2020 and a 20.3% in 2019. I’m committed to protecting PERA’s defined benefit plan and finding the sustainable funding pathway our state’s retirees deserve.
All Coloradans deserve a dignified and sustainable retirement. Unfortunately, almost 1 million business-sector employees in Colorado do not have access to retirement savings at work. I was happy to work with key legislators and leadership in both chambers during the 2020 session to pass SB20-200 to establish the Colorado Secure Savings program. This bill, when fully implemented by the Treasury, will enable employees to have that opportunity to build wealth without unduly burdening businesses.
As your State Treasurer, I’m committed to continuing to fight to ensure that all Coloradans have the means to retire in dignity.
Coloradans deserve to know where their money is invested. We need to keep Colorado’s investments and public dollars right here, in Colorado, where they can benefit our economy.
I’m dedicated to listening to you to ensure that your priorities are being represented in the state budget. That’s why I joined Governor Polis and legislative leaders on the Build Back Stronger listening tour to better understand how to allocate $3.8 billion at the state level that came to Colorado through the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act. This effort continues as I work with the Governor and the Colorado Legislature to put an allocation plan in place based on what we heard on the listening tour.
I’m devoted to the people of Colorado and their needs and will always be.
As a member of the Joint Budget Committee, I have managed our state’s $30 billion budget for the past four years and am ready to manage the $7 billion in the Treasurer’s office. I was also chosen to be the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee where I worked to fund hundreds of bills that reflect our progressive values. In my seven years in the legislature, I passed over 120 bills, most with bipartisan support. As the only elected Democrat in Weld County, I gained experience running three challenging campaigns where dark money groups like the Koch Brothers and the big gun industry flooded hundreds of thousands of dollars into the race to beat me.
As a State Representative, my colleagues and I took on the NRA by successfully limiting the size of magazines and expanding background checks. PERA currently invests over a million dollars in the gun industry. As State Treasurer, I will stand up to the NRA and strongly encourage PERA to divest from these dangerous companies. Our retired teachers and public servants should not rely on the success of the gun industry in order to receive their full retirement benefits.
Unions make the middle class and our state’s economy stronger and I will continue to include them in my decisions and fight alongside them. I am proud to be the only union endorsed candidate in the race and to have the endorsements of the Colorado Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers-Colorado, the Colorado AFL-CIO, and several other local unions.
It will be my most important job as Treasurer to keep your tax dollars safe. Part of this effort includes taking our money out of banks like Wells Fargo that don’t play by the rules. I am in favor of starting a task force to evaluate public banking in our state and have vowed to do so within my first month in office. Several states are already pursuing public banking and I believe Colorado should consider investing our money in ourselves instead of large corporations who do not give us good returns on our investments and put our tax dollars at risk. Bernard Douthit
As a State Representative, I championed gun safety by voting to limit the size of magazines and improve background checks. I worked to improve the services seniors and people with disabilities receive. I fought for access to in-state tuition and drivers licenses for immigrants. I opposed attempts to restrict women’s reproductive rights and worked to improve workplace safety and pay equity. I fought for the LGBTQ community, restrictions on oil and gas, increased renewable energy, education funding and universal healthcare. As your next Treasurer, I’ll continue to fight for our progressive values.
I worked as a middle school math, science, and technology teacher for 24 years in the Greeley public schools. I see the devastating effects the lack of funding is having on our public schools: Class sizes are way too big, teachers are over worked and underpaid, and at-risk students are going without the services and resources they need. It is unacceptable that Colorado is the 14th wealthiest state in the nation with the hottest economy, and 42nd in the nation when it comes to public education spending. That’s why I am running for Treasurer. I will fight to get public schools the funding they deserve by fixing TABOR, which has strangled our state’s budget for far too long. I am actively supporting Initiative 93, a proposed ballot measure that would raise taxes on millionaires and wealthy corporations and actually fund our schools.
I am the only candidate in the race to have signed the Clean Campaign Pledge. I have a history of winning campaigns on hard work, dedicated volunteers, and standing for what I believe in. One of those values is running a clean and honest campaign. I signed the Colorado Democratic Party’s Clean Campaign Pledge early in my campaign because I wanted voters to focus on the issues that matter most, not petty fights between members of our own party. You can read the pledge and find out which candidates have signed it here.
For the past four years I’ve served on the Joint Budget Committee, a select, bipartisan group of legislators trusted to write, balance, and pass the State’s $30 billion budget. I am more than ready to manage the $6 billion of investments and public dollars entrusted to the State Treasury. I know how to keep Colorado’s budget balanced while improving life for all Coloradans.
Hard-working Coloradans and working families are the backbone of our state’s economy. I am proud to be the only candidate in this race with a strong track record of fighting for all Coloradans, not just the top 1%.
Coloradans deserve to know where their money is invested. We need to keep Colorado’s investments and public dollars right here, in Colorado, where they can benefit our economy. I’ll prioritize investing in Colorado businesses and firms, not risky Wall Street banks that don’t play by the rules.
I’ll use my limited role as State Treasurer to stick up for states rights. Washington politics have no business in Colorado. I’ll work with Treasurer’s across the nation to get ahead of the curve on issues like marijuana banking.
Dave has worked to make sure taxpayer dollars are invested safely, transparently, and in a way that benefits working Coloradans – not wealthy hedge fund managers. His actions ensured Colorado maintains a strong credit rating and that we have the resources to fund critical programs like our schools and road and bridge repairs.
The Treasurer serves as Colorado’s banker, ensuring every dollar that comes in is accounted for and is used for its designated purpose. In this role, we operate similar to a household balancing its budget. This process becomes more and more complex as there are many state departments and agencies that all disburse funds and the Treasury tracks all of those expenditures. The Treasury must run efficiently and effectively to manage cash flow, so that Colorado will be able to cover its obligations such as school funding, road improvements, paying our public employees, and so much more.
As the Treasury receives taxpayer dollars throughout the year, any funds that are not needed immediately are invested in long-term, stable investments that reduce the tax burden on working families. Dave has worked to make sure taxpayer dollars are invested safely, transparently, and in a way that benefits working Coloradans – not wealthy hedge fund managers.
Over the past four years, despite economic turbulence, Colorado has beat our investment benchmarks. Dave’s actions have ensured Colorado maintains a strong credit rating and has the resources to fund critical programs like our schools and road and bridge repairs.
As State Treasurer, Dave identified funding that was used to make $2.4 billion in infrastructure improvements, and he set-up a new, $250 million small business loan program to help Colorado grow and recover into a strong economy.
Small business is the backbone of Colorado’s economy. In fact, we have a larger small business sector than most states. Because of that, It is imperative that we do everything in our power to support small businesses and create a healthy economic environment in Colorado.
That is why as State Treasurer, Dave has prioritized the effective rollout of the CLIMBER Small Business Loan Program. CLIMBER provides $250 million in loans for small businesses to recover from the pandemic, lower costs, and stay competitive in the current economy. Dave will continue to oversee the CLIMBER Small Business Loan Program and make sure all small businesses receive the assistance they need.
Everybody deserves a sustainable and dignified retirement. The key to long term economic prosperity is the ability of all Coloradans to save and prepare for a retirement.. Colorado, much like the rest of the country, is facing a retirement savings crisis.
That is why, as State Treasurer, Dave is standing up the Colorado SecureSavings program, which will help one million Coloradans save and prepare for retirement - while saving taxpayers $18 billion in safety net services over the next 30 years. This program is scheduled to launch in January 2023. As Treasurer, Dave will continue to ensure Colorado SecureSavings’ success.
Dave helped improve the financial strength of the PERA retirement fund by $20 billion, from $40 billion up to $60 billion, which thousands of first responders and teachers rely on for their retirement security.
Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association (Colorado PERA), our State’s employee pension plan, is one of Dave’s top priorities as Treasurer. Over 600,000 Coloradans depend on Colorado PERA, including first responders, teachers, and state employees.. I’ve worked hard over the past three and a half years to improve PERA’s sustainability, including a 16.1% percent return on PERA’s portfolio in 2021, 17.4% return in 2020 and a 20.3% in 2019. I’m committed to protecting PERA’s defined benefit plan.
All Coloradans deserve a dignified and sustainable retirement. This includes both our public and private sector workers. PERA supports our public sector workers. I am excited that the Colorado SecureSavings program will help almost 1 million business-sector employees in Colorado prepare for a sustainable retirement also. As your State Treasurer, Dave is committed to continuing to fight to ensure that all Coloradans have the means to retire with dignity.
In my seven years in the legislature, I passed over 120 bills, most with bipartisan support. For the past seven years I have worked tirelessly to find solutions that everyone can agree on to Colorado’s most pressing issues.