On Nov. 8, Colorado citizens will have the opportunity to decide whether they support the “Raise the Bar” initiative, Amendment 71. The U.S. Constitution has been amended only 27 times. In contrast, the Colorado Constitution has been amended over 150 times.
Colorado is one of the easiest states to change the constitution through the citizen process. Creating constitutional amendments should not be used to create policy that special interest groups are promoting.
Currently, the signatures required are in the 98,000 range. If you compare this to the number of registered voters (over 3.5 million) it is very small. Under the current system, one could get the required number by standing in front of a King Soopers, Walmart or Safeway in Denver or Boulder.
A well-funded ad program could get the necessary signatures and successfully pass a constitutional amendment that would not always be advantageous to rural Colorado. During my six years in the Legislature, I have heard of rumblings of an initiative to change the prior appropriations doctrine for our water to a public trust. Western Colorado has 85 percent of the water and the Front Range has 85 percent of the people. Would you want a bureaucrat to decide that our water would be more beneficial to provide growth to the metro area and sacrifice the needs of rural Colorado?
In addition to the water concerns, amendments also can be passed that conflict with other amendments. Amendment 23 (education funding), Gallager (valuation of commercial property tax) and Tabor are somewhat conflicting currently. The sheer population numbers of the I-25 corridor can force their will on the rest of the state.
Amendment 71 is the greatest protection rural Colorado could ever hope for. Amendment 71 will require that petitioners will have to go to the reaches of all four corners of the state to get signatures. Each state senate district will have to provide a number equal to 2 percent of their registered voters. Senate District 6 has a little over 110,000 registered voters, or 2,200 signatures. I do not consider this insurmountable for the eight-county region. What it does do is guarantee that rural Colorado does have a voice and we can ensure that issues and policies harmful to our values and rural way of life will not be forced upon us without recourse in stopping it.
In addition to the 2 percent signature requirement from each of the 35 state senate districts, it will also require that 55 percent of the voters give their approval to further amend the Colorado Constitution. Amendment 71 will not change the initative process for statutory laws in Colorado; that will only require a simple majority of 50 percent plus one vote.
Amendment 71 is not intended to stop the citizen process for constitutional amendment, but it will assure that it lets all of Colorado have their voice heard and not be dominated by well-funded special interests that may not represent the values of all of Colorado.
Don Coram represents House District 58, which includes Cortez, in Colorado’s General Assembly. Contact Rep. Coram by phone at (303) 866-2955 or by e-mail at don.coram.house@state.co.us.
Every freedom-loving citizen of Colorado should vote “no” on Amendment 71.
It is an attack on our democratic rights. It will make changing Colorado’s constitution so difficult that only powerful corporations will have the capacity to bring amendments before the voters. The people of Colorado will have less political power, not more. This is yet another way to rig the system against the citizens.
Amendment 71 proposes that 2 percent of registered voters from each of the 35 state senate districts must sign on to proposed amendments. This is meant to help pass this amendment by exploiting old animosities between rural and urban communities, but the real impact will be to prevent citizen groups statewide from enacting amendments. It is less representative, not more; less democratic, not more.
Powerful interests, including high-ranking office holders from both parties, intend to raise the bar and play gatekeeper to what the public gets to consider. The gatekeeping functions of this are the essence of the amendment. Even beyond the gate, a supermajority of 55 percent would be required.
The Colorado State Constitution is a rare treasure. At a time when everyday people have almost no say in national affairs, Amendment 71 wants to make Colorado more like the federal government, where, according to President Jimmy Carter, “unlimited political bribery” is business as usual. Like the disastrous Supreme Court decision, “Citizens United,” that claims corporations are people and money is free speech, Amendment 71 will replace the voices of everyday people with the money of billionaires and corporations.
According to the secretary of state, backers of 71 have raised $2,698,813, while the opposition has raised zero dollars. The largest contributors to the campaign in favor of 71 are Protecting Colorado’s Environment, Economy and Energy Independence, an oil and gas PAC; Colorado Concern, a pro-business lobby; and Colorado Association of Realtors. Vital for Colorado, an oil and gas lobby, is coordinating much of the campaign. These powerful corporate interests, based in the Denver Metro area, would have us believe they have rural interests at heart.
The existing constitution allows the people of Colorado to exercise actual democracy. We are leaders and we have led well. Time and again the people have proven wiser than the political machines.
While the big interests funding 71 hide behind a fabricated issue that the constitution is too long and messy, the people of Colorado consistently address the real issues of our time: universal health care, the war on drugs by legalizing marijuana; climate change; clean water; and wages, to name a few.
The big money and the high-ranking elected officials that are behind Amendment 71 like to invoke the U.S. Constitution, but they forget to mention the three most important words in that hallowed document: “We the People.”
Vote “No” on 71 to stop big money from taking control of the amendment process and to preserve a constitution that grows in accordance with the wisdom of “We the People.” Get money out of politics and the people back in.
Richard Moser is a historian and author. He is retired and taught most recently at Fort Lewis College. He resides in Mancos. Reach him at rchrdmoser@yahoo.com.
