Ballot initiatives: what's on and what's still to come
In 2018, 13 ballot measures made it all the way to November, but eight of them went down to defeat, including two that would raise taxes for education and transportation. The November 2020 ballot is unlikely to be nearly as chock-full, and the ask on taxes is much less.
Seven have already been approved, including three from the General Assembly. Here's the lineup:
Senate Concurrent Resolution 001 seeks voter repeal of the Gallagher Amendment. Gallagher, adopted by voters in 1982, requires 45% of the state's property tax base be assessed on homes and 55% on commercial properties. But with rising home values over the years, the state has had to ratchet down the assessment rate for homes to maintain that ratio. That's hurt rural communities that rely more on residential property taxes than commercial for schools, and forced the state into a situation where it now pays 65% of the cost of public education, with local property taxes covering the rest. When Gallagher was adopted, that ratio was exactly the opposite.
That measure will require voter approval of 50% plus one, because it was initially added to the state constitution when 50% approval was the requirement.
House Bill 1427 will ask voters to decide whether to raise taxes on tobacco and nicotine products, as well as electronic cigarettes, vaping devices and nicotine liquids. The money will pay for K-12 schools and early childhood education, health care and housing.
House Concurrent Resolution 001 eliminates a minimum timeline for nonprofit organizations to receive a bingo-raffle license and allows for outside workers to operate the games. This is a constitutional amendment that will require voter approval of 55%.
The measures already certified for the ballot through the petition process:
An effort to repeal 2019 legislation adding Colorado to the list of states approving a National Popular Vote was the first to qualify for the 2020 ballot a year ago. As this seeks a statutory change, it will require voter approval of 50% plus one. The effort on Senate Bill 19-042 is the first time since 1932 that citizens have attempted to overturn legislation adopted by the General Assembly.
Initiative No. 76, backed by former Republican candidate George Athanasopoulos and Colorado Citizen Voters, run by former Republican Rep. Joe Stengel, asks voters to approve an amendment to the state Constitution requiring all voters to be U.S. citizens. Colorado already requires voters to be U.S. citizens, but the ballot measure would change the state constitutional language from "EVERY CITIZEN can vote" language to "ONLY A CITIZEN can vote" in Colorado elections. The ballot measure is part of a national effort that critics say is intended to gin up anti-immigrant sentiment. Three other states are asking for approval of that language this fall: Missouri, Florida and Alabama.
Initiative No. 107 seeks to allow the reintroduction of gray wolves, to be managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Gray wolves, including a pack, have been sighted in Colorado in Jackson and Moffat counties in the past year.
Despite a rocky path, the seventh effort in 14 years to ban abortions in Colorado also is on the ballot. Initiative No. 120 seeks to ban abortions when the fetal gestational age reaches 22 weeks. There is an exception for when the mother's life is in danger, but no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. The ballot measure was initially rejected for failing to turn in enough signatures, but after a cure period, organizers turned in enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Four more ballot measures are awaiting certification from the Secretary of State on their petition signatures.
Backers of Initiative No. 283 which would set up a paid family and medical leave program of up to 12 weeks per year, turned in their signatures Friday.
Last week, proponents of Initiative No. 257 turned in their signatures. The measure would allow the three communities that have legalized casino betting to eliminate the $100 maximum bet on a game. Backers include former state Senate President Bill Cadman. Voters in those three communities — Blackhawk, Central City and Cripple Creek — will also have to approve those changes.
Initiative No. 295, backed by Colorado Rising Action, targets state enterprises, a state-run business allowed under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. The ballot measure asks that any enterprise created after Jan. 1, 2021, that could generate $100 million or more in five years through fees be sent to the ballot for voter approval. This is a statutory measure that will need voter approval at 50% plus one.
If at first, or second, you don't succeed, try again through the ballot box: Republican state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling has tried for the last two years to win legislative approval for a reduction in the state income tax rate, from 4.63% to 4.5%. But in a Democratic-controlled General Assembly, and without the support of Gov. Jared Polis, who has campaigned on a similar reduction, that idea has failed to win support. So Initiative No. 306, which also has the support of Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute, is also awaiting signature verification from the Secretary of State.
An additional 11 initiatives have petitions due Monday, but proponents are not expected to turn in petitions.
Among those that won't make the ballot: a measure (No. 305) to lengthen the statute of limitations on ethics complaints never actually sought petition signatures and instead focused an advertising campaign targeting Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Hickenlooper. Initiative No. 271 would have realigned Colorado's income tax rates so that higher wage earners paid more and lower-income earners paid less. It was backed by the Colorado Fiscal Institute but fell victim to difficulties in gathering petition signatures due to the pandemic, according to the institute's Carol Hedges. Initiative No. 292, which also would have raised taxes on tobacco and vaping products, was pulled in favor of the measure submitted by the General Assembly. Two similar measures backed by the Independence Institute — initiatives 293 and 315 — also were withdrawn.
Four others, tied to the oil and gas industry — initiatives 284, 304, 311 and 312 — have been withdrawn. The first two were pulled by Protect Colorado after Gov. Jared Polis said he would oppose any ballot measures — pro or con — targeting oil and gas to give Senate Bill 19-181 time to reach full implementation.
Protect Colorado spokeswoman Laurie Cipriano said Monday that they had collected more than 185,000 signatures for their ballot measures. "We appreciate and respect the Coloradans who signed our petitions and we will continue to engage them to protect Colorado’s energy industry and provide residents with an environmentally sound and cost-effective source of energy. Our agreement with Governor Polis provides legislative and regulatory certainty for this vital Colorado industry."
Protect Colorado vowed to continue working with Polis, the legislature and key stakeholders "to ensure SB181 is implemented smoothly.”
The latter two ballot measures were withdrawn in May. "It's not the right year for an oil-and-gas ballot war," said proponent David Davia, vice president of the Colorado Association of Mechanical & Plumbing Contractors.
Efforts to put ballot initiative No. 174 — which revived environmental attempts to enact bigger setback limits from oil and gas drilling sites — also went by the wayside after the state Supreme Court ruled petition signatures could not be gathered online.
The last measure with petitions due Monday is Initiative No. 200, which seeks to expunge criminal records. Stephen Ball with The Opportunity Act told Colorado Politics they turned in signatures Monday afternoon but fell well short of the requirements. Petitions must have 124,632 valid signatures, and the rule of thumb is to turn in at least 150% of that number.
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