ENDORSEMENTS

• David Balmer, State Representative and Assistant Minority Leader
• Sallie Clark, El Paso County Commissioner 
• Mary Ellen Epps, Former State Senator 
• Jeri Howells, Mayor of Fountain
• Margaret Radford, Colorado Springs City Council Member
• Jerry Ralston, Harrison Education Association President
• Bob Russel, Former 4th Judicial District Attorney 
• Colorado Association of Commerce and Industryʼs
  
• Colorado Association of Realtors
• Colorado Medical Society
  
• The Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce
  
• Housing & Building Association of Colorado Springs
• National Federation of Independent Business Save America's Free Enterprise Trust
  
• Pikes Peak Association of Realtors
  
• Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition
  

• Make individual health care premiums tax deductible. People pay too much and need a break from the high cost of premiums.
• Allow doctors providing Medicaid services to claim a portion of the un-reimbursed costs as charitable donations. This way, doctors have incentive to take care of you. All money spent would go directly for your care, and it will help keep doctors from leaving our community.
• Allow licensed nurses and practitioners to do some services only doctors are licensed to do today. You need to get the help you deserve more quickly. This would also help save lives in rural communities where the doctor shortage is endangering lives.

• Give businesses and families incentives to adopt alternative energy sources.
• Oppose higher taxes on gas and energy.
• Expand domestic oil and natural gas exploration.
• Develop affordable, renewable energy sources.

• Encourage businesses to stay with incentives based on local hiring and reduced travel distances. If businesses have an incentive to hire local employees and you do not have to travel as far to work, we all win with more employment and less demand for gas.
• Streamline the paperwork and give incentives for the creation of new businesses. Business start-ups today are bombarded with fees and paperwork, making it difficult to get going. Our fathers and mothers never had as many barriers as we have today.
• Tourism is a major industry for Colorado, and Colorado Springs has many of the State's attractions, but we aren't seeing the visitors. A tourism plan is desperately needed to reenergize this industry.
• Work with School District 2 on their great plan for the 21st Century Classroom. This plan invests in our children's successes and improves talent in the community.
• Work with Pikes Peak Community College, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and with other higher education institutions to develop curriculums that will bring employers to our community.

• Challenge state mandates that do not include the necessary funding. For example, new 4th Judicial District judges and staff were mandated by the state, but we must pay for these locally. The state should pay, not our community.
• Challenge how funds are allocated to El Paso County for Public Safety and Public Health. Denver, with fewer domestic violence cases, every year receives millions more tax dollars for associated services than El Paso County. Our County has the highest rates of domestic violence and suicide in the state, and has the least funding per case.
• Enable state grants for public safety programs and law enforcement.

OTHER ISSUES

2008 Election Calendar