There are three ballot measures that have received more than a little attention: Amendment 60, Amendment 61, and Proposition 101. They are what Grover Norquist was praying for when he said that government should be so small that it could be drowned in a bathtub. The question is do you really want a dead government?
There is an old saying, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.” These ballot initiatives look great on the surface to the average consumer. Taxes on real estate go down. Who doesn’t want to pay less in taxes? But the accounting formula for taxes has two sides: revenue and expenses. Colorado has a requirement that its budget be balanced. These three amendments would reduce revenue to cities, counties, and the state. In order to balance the budget, then, services provided by local and state government must also decline.
Advocates for the initiatives say that nobody needs to worry about schools because the amendments require the state to backfill any lost local revenue. Put another way, if property taxes go down locally, the state will be required to make up the difference. Looks great on the surface, but what the non-partisan arm of the state government says will happen is 99% of Colorado’s budget will go toward filling that gap.
That means that other state programs will lose all but a tiny fraction of their existing budgets. Is that the Colorado you want to live in? Do you want a state with no money to repair roads, or help with the end-of-life expenses of the elderly, or no highway patrol to get traffic on the interstate moving after a multi-car pile-up, or no rig inspections to make sure that our water is protected, or no hunting because there is nobody to issue hunting and fishing licenses?
Business does not want to live in a state like that. That’s why Coloradans for Responsible Reform has raised over $5-million from citizens and businesses to defeat these three initiatives. Just a few names to give you a flavor of how diverse the opposition is: Colorado Association of Home builders ($15,000), Colorado Education Association ($450,000), Denver Metro Building Owners and Managers Association ($2,500), GH Phipps Construction Companies ($10,000), M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. ($75,000), National Education Association ($400,000), The Colorado Bankers Association ($100,000), Xcel Energy ($50,000), Colorado Bar Association ($75,000), Liberty Media Corporation ($100,000), The Colorado Health Foundation ($175,000), Colorado Ski Country USA, Inc. ($20,000), Service Employees International Union ($100,000), Johnson Controls ($75,000), Labor Management Committee ($75,000), Colorado Hospital Association ($55,000), Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. ($100,000),Visit Denver the Convention and Visitors Bureau ($25,000),Colorado Association of Realtors ($150,000.) I pulled that list from the two most recent campaign finance reports, there are more reports filed, and this is not a complete list—just some highlights.
“The right answer is to kill these three (ballot measures) and engage in meaningful talk about how we make government more efficient. These three measures are the closest thing to anarchy our state has ever seen.” Reeves Brown, Executive Director of Club 20, as quoted by the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
Homework:
Grand Junction Budget Woes
The Truth About 60, 61, and 101
Campaign Finance Report for Coloradans for Responsible Reform
There is an old saying, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.” These ballot initiatives look great on the surface to the average consumer. Taxes on real estate go down. Who doesn’t want to pay less in taxes? But the accounting formula for taxes has two sides: revenue and expenses. Colorado has a requirement that its budget be balanced. These three amendments would reduce revenue to cities, counties, and the state. In order to balance the budget, then, services provided by local and state government must also decline.
Advocates for the initiatives say that nobody needs to worry about schools because the amendments require the state to backfill any lost local revenue. Put another way, if property taxes go down locally, the state will be required to make up the difference. Looks great on the surface, but what the non-partisan arm of the state government says will happen is 99% of Colorado’s budget will go toward filling that gap.
That means that other state programs will lose all but a tiny fraction of their existing budgets. Is that the Colorado you want to live in? Do you want a state with no money to repair roads, or help with the end-of-life expenses of the elderly, or no highway patrol to get traffic on the interstate moving after a multi-car pile-up, or no rig inspections to make sure that our water is protected, or no hunting because there is nobody to issue hunting and fishing licenses?
Business does not want to live in a state like that. That’s why Coloradans for Responsible Reform has raised over $5-million from citizens and businesses to defeat these three initiatives. Just a few names to give you a flavor of how diverse the opposition is: Colorado Association of Home builders ($15,000), Colorado Education Association ($450,000), Denver Metro Building Owners and Managers Association ($2,500), GH Phipps Construction Companies ($10,000), M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. ($75,000), National Education Association ($400,000), The Colorado Bankers Association ($100,000), Xcel Energy ($50,000), Colorado Bar Association ($75,000), Liberty Media Corporation ($100,000), The Colorado Health Foundation ($175,000), Colorado Ski Country USA, Inc. ($20,000), Service Employees International Union ($100,000), Johnson Controls ($75,000), Labor Management Committee ($75,000), Colorado Hospital Association ($55,000), Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. ($100,000),Visit Denver the Convention and Visitors Bureau ($25,000),Colorado Association of Realtors ($150,000.) I pulled that list from the two most recent campaign finance reports, there are more reports filed, and this is not a complete list—just some highlights.
“The right answer is to kill these three (ballot measures) and engage in meaningful talk about how we make government more efficient. These three measures are the closest thing to anarchy our state has ever seen.” Reeves Brown, Executive Director of Club 20, as quoted by the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
Homework:
Grand Junction Budget Woes
The Truth About 60, 61, and 101
Campaign Finance Report for Coloradans for Responsible Reform
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