Of the multiple initiatives that will appear on the November ballot in Colorado, three stand out to me as being particularly important. They are Amendment 71, Raise the Bar for approval of constitutional amendments; Amendment 69, ColoradoCare; and Initiative 145, Medical Aid in Dying legislation.
I support Amendment 71 because it would create a critical distinction between initiatives to alter the Colorado Constitution and those to enact laws. The constitution should provide the framework for governance, not details.
Because it is no more difficult to enact a constitutional amendment than to enact a law, most initiatives now seek to embed changes in the constitution, where it would take another statewide referendum to alter or repeal them.
As a result, Colorado’s Constitution has accumulated 150 amendments since 1876, whereas the federal Constitution has just 27 since 1787, including the first 10 amendments in the Bill of Rights.
The “Raise the Bar” amendment proposes a higher standard to place future constitutional amendments on the ballot, 2 percent of registered voters in each state senate district, guaranteeing broad geographical support.
It also would require a 55 percent super-majority of voters for passage in the general election. It would neither alter the initiative process for statutes nor apply to repealing constitutional provisions.
I oppose ColoradoCare primarily because this detailed 12-page prescription does not belong in our fundamental governance document.
I support single-payer health care in principle, but enactment will require complex legislation and repeated adjustments to get it right.
Furthermore, serious doubts exist about the fiscal sustainability of ColoradoCare as proposed, which also points to legislative rather than constitutional implementation.
Finally, I support the Medical Aid in Dying Act. This law would create a carefully constrained process available only to able-minded individuals suffering from a terminal illness and having less than six months to live.
It would grant them the freedom to choose the time and nature of their death, rather than prolonging a difficult and painful dying process.
I urge my fellow citizens to study carefully these and all the other initiatives that will appear on the November ballot.
Richard E. White
Durango
