Yesterday was Colorado Senate President and DLCC board member Peter Groff’s last day in the Colorado Senate. With the end of legislative session, Sen. Groff will be resigning his seat to accept a high-level appointment in President Obama’s Department of Education.

Before he left, he urged his fellow senators to pass a bill repealing the death penalty in Colorado. That impassioned plea -– on an emotional issue with no national consensus -– should remind all of us why we put so much effort into legislative elections; why Sen. Groff was so respected by Democrats and Republicans across the state; and why all of us at the DLCC were so proud to have him as a board member:

And here was the challenge: "We will say we did what's right because that's what we're supposed to do. This is our opportunity, yet again, to actually be the moral voice in this state, to actually rise above the politics of the moment, to rise to that one moment where we say, 'You know what, if this costs us the majority, so be it. If this costs us our seats, our titles, our gavels, so be it, because this is the right thing to do.' "

He conceded that it was easy for someone like him, from a safe seat, to make this vote. But he said this was not about saving your, uh, seat, but about "one of those moments when a leader has to rise above politics, when morality has to rise above what is safe and convenient."

It was a fitting sendoff for an inspirational legislator. The bill in question failed by a single vote –- a much closer margin than expected –- after passing the State House, also by a single vote.

Sen. Groff was clearly the right choice for a presidential appointment, and we wish him and his family well in their move to Washington.

Yesterday, the New Hampshire House voted to abolish the death penalty. Last week, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation to do the same. Lawmakers in Maryland are currently weighing a proposal to scale back the punishment dramatically. Similar legislation is being considered in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Montana.

Opponents have sought to end state-sponsored executions for decades, calling for a more ethical justice system. But in many cases, supporters of these bills are citing a different rationale altogether -- capital punishment, they say, is simply too expensive.

Efforts to repeal the death penalty are part of a broader trend in which states are trying to cut the costs of being tough on crime. Virginia and at least four other states, for example, are considering releasing nonviolent offenders early to reduce costs.

The economic realities have forced even longtime supporters of the death penalty, like Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, to rethink their positions.

Across the country, the recession and state budget gaps are forcing policy makers to take a hard look at many kinds of spending.

A report recently released by the Pew Center on the States showed that spending for prisons and the corrections system has outpaced budget growth in education, transportation, and public assistance. Over the past two decades, only spending on Medicare rose at a quicker rate.

The study found that 7.3 million Americans -- roughly one in every 31 citizens -- is in prison, on parole, or probation, and in 2008, funding the prison system costs states $47 billion.

No group prisoners add more to this financial strain than those on death row. Their trials take longer, they file more appeals, and that in turn requires more lawyers and experts witness.