Colorado
It is not every ballot initiative that has its own hip-hop song. But then, how many times are voters asked to approve formation of a commission to study visitors from outer space? Jeff Peckman, director of the extraterrestrial affairs commission ballot initiative, will launch a campaign to educate voters about his proposal this evening at 7 P.M. at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. Peckman collected signatures to have the measure placed on Denver’s Aug. 10 ballot.
A proposed initiative for the 2010 ballot to define a person at the moment of conception failed to turn in enough signatures, Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher announced Wednesday. Buescher said the petitions, which were turned into his office Feb. 12, fell well short of the 76,047 needed to make the November ballot.
On Friday, Personhood Colorado turned into the Secretary of State 79,817 signatures in support of its initiative– not even 4,000 more than the 76,047 needed to land its proposed anti-abortion “personhood” proposal on the ballot in November. Thousands of signatures are routinely thrown out in the process of validating initiative petitions. The group’s amendment seeks to grant fertilized human eggs the full spectrum of rights enjoyed by U.S. citizens.
Ballot initiatives for the November election including a sales tax increase for county emergency medical services and dispatch center were discussed during a multi-agency work session Tuesday. Participants included elected officials and personnel from Chaffee County, Salida, and Poncha Springs. Buena Vista representatives were absent because of a town meeting. County commissioner Tim Glenn said the county subsidizes emergency services program and dispatch center from $250,000 to $1.5 million per year.
A Colorado Springs Republican introduced the first of what is expected to be a full menu of proposals this year to expand liquor sales in Colorado. House Bill 1186, sponsored by Rep. Larry Liston, would let convenience stores of less than 5,000 square feet sell beer with an alcohol content of more than the currently allowed 3.2 percent maximum, just as liquor stores can do. The bill does not allow sales of wine or spirits at the stores and does not touch on whether grocery stores can sell full-strength beer or wine.
A celebration of the 25,000 beneficial uses of marijuana ”” proposed for a local ballfield ”” was snuffed out by the Nederland Board of Trustees last week. But a vote on decriminalizing marijuana for all 1,400 residents of Nederland might be coming in April, sealing the Boulder County mountain town’s reputation as a go-with-the-flow haven for iconoclasts. “We’ve got a long-standing history of a kind of counterculture kind of town,” said Town Trustee Marci Wheelock. “A lot of people can move here, and they can do what they want, and your neighbors aren’t into each other’s business.”
Congressional Democrats are working to salvage their health-care overhaul. If they pull it off, Jon Caldara stands ready to derail them. Mr. Caldara, a veteran Republican organizer, hopes that the GOP victory in the Massachusetts Senate race on Tuesday will kill the overhaul before it ever reaches President Barack Obama’s desk. But should Democrats manage to get a bill through, Mr. Caldara intends to mobilize state voters to block it””at least within the confines of Colorado. “We want this state to be an ObamaCare-free zone,” Mr. Caldara said.
Leadville may follow in the footsteps of Breckenridge come November by decriminalizing marijuana through a ballot initiative. A group of Leadville residents asked its government to decriminalize marijuana use at a city meeting Wednesday ”” the measure will now go to a vote of the people. According to Leadville city clerk Joe Swyers, approximately 20 people came to Wednesday’s meeting to comment on the marijuana issue. He noted that almost half the speakers were for decriminalization.
Passage of the three measures that have been approved for the Nov. 2 ballot in Colorado could cost the city of Grand Junction more than 10 percent of its budget next year, according to preliminary estimates from the city’s financial services department. The city’s 2010 budget totals $134 million. Amendment 60, Amendment 61 and Proposition 101 would limit local and state governments’ ability to withhold property tax surpluses or go into debt and would decrease certain taxes and eliminate others on select items.
Late last year we noted that an initiative out in Denver, Colorado will be on the ballot this year to creat a UFO Commission to educate people about the possibility of extra-terrestrials. This initiative has gotten some press and the man behind the initiative is now calling on President Obama to “tear down the wall of UFO secrecy.”
What do you think should be done about this issue?
UFO activist Jeff Peckman recently released an open letter to President Obama asking for the wall of UFO secrecy to be torn down. The following article was released by ZNN on January 3, 2010: January 3, 2010 Toronto Ontario Canada – (ZNN) It may be a coincidence that Denver Colorado UFO advocate Jeff Peckman and U.S. President Barack Obama shared the David Letterman Late Night Show stage in 2008 - exactly three months apart to the day – Peckman on June 10 and Obama as the Senator from Illinois – on September 10, 2008.
Here’s an interesting article from The Colorado Independent about three tax initiatives that will go to the voters for approval next year. The initiatives have caused quite a debate in Colorado and are now becoming a big part of the race for governor.
If a ballroom at the Sheraton Steamboat Resort were the U.S. Senate floor, America would have health care reform by now. Local Democrats and ReÂÂpublicans found widespread agreement on numerous ideas WedÂnesday evening during a three-hour event about ballot reform and public policy hosted by Colorado’s Future. The statewide group is working to change how Colorado amends its laws and constitution and ”” coincidentally ”” hopes to place an initiative to tighten the ballot process on the Colorado ballot next fall.
Two statewide initiatives that will reduce property taxes and slash fees on motor vehicles and cell phones have been certified and will be placed on the 2010 ballot. Amendment 60, which would roll back property taxes, received 139,960 signatures, Secretary of State’s Office spokesman Rich Coolidge said Monday. After statistically sampling 5 percent of the signatures, the department concluded the backers had a projected 105, 334 valid signatures, which is far more than the 76, 047 needed to get on the ballot.
Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher on Friday set backers of a proposed initiative had gathered enough signatures to place it on the November 2010 ballot. The proposal ”” dubbed State and Local Debt Limitations ”” has been certified as Amendment 61. The measure would restrict state and local governments from taking on debt without voter approval.