Colorado
If you weren’t able to make it to Denver for our big event a couple weeks ago make sure you check out videos of the event on our YouTube channel. The keynote speakers and panelists were great. We just posted the full version of our panel discussion. Where else can you see John Fund and Joe Trippi at the same event…agreeing on something? Check it out.
Last week, Citizens in Charge Foundation co-hosted a transpartisan panel in Denver, CO to discuss the various attacks on Colorado’s initiative process.
After the panel was done we chatted briefly with Mr. Trippi on why he thought initiative & referendum rights are so important for citizens in holding their government accountable.
Nearly 19 years after voters adopted the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, and one year after a TABOR time-out expired, a group of 34 bipartisan plaintiffs have filed suit in U.S. District Court in Denver to throw out the tax limitation amendment as unconstitutional. Republicans who support TABOR reacted strongly, saying that if the lawsuit were successful, it would not only put an end to TABOR but to any citizen-initiated ballot initiative.
Details are being finalized on a proposed Denver ballot initiative that would require private businesses to provide paid sick time to their employees. Campaign for a Healthy Denver, a coalition of groups such as 9to5 National Association of Working Women and the Colorado Progressive Coalition, seeks to have Denver employees accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Proponents met with Denver City Council staff and the city attorney’s office May 20, and the campaign is working on the final wording for the November ballot and sample language for the petitions.
Don’t forget! Tonight from 5-7 PM MT Citizens in Charge Foundation will co-host an event at the University Club in Denver, Colorado to discuss the many attacks on Colorado’s citizen initiative process.
Guest speakers include John Fund of the Wall Street Journal and Democratic Party consultant Joe Trippi as well as a transpartisan panel of experts on citizen rights.
If you’re in Denver today make sure you stop by. If you have not RSVP’d please do so. See you there!
State Senator Kevin Lundberg will join our panel of other initiative rights experts this Thursday, May 26th in Denver.
The event, co-hosted by Citizens in Charge Foundation, Independence Institute and the Humane Society of the United States, has a great transpartisan and experienced panel lined up to talk about the attacks on Colorado’s citizen initiative process.
Independence Institute president Jon Caldera who was originally slated to be part of the panel discussion will now give a short welcome speech and introduce keynote speakers John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, and Democratic Party consultant Joe Trippi.
We are happy to announce that longtime Democratic Party consultant Joe Trippi will be one of the keynote speakers, along with John Fund of The Wall Street Journal, at next week’s event in Denver, CO.
Additionally, election and campaign finance law expert Shayne Madsen has been added to the panel discussion lineup. Madsen brings years of experience working in election law to our already outstanding group of panelists.
If you are planning to attend but have not RSVP’d yet please do so. Information on the event is posted on the flyer below. Hope to see you there!
(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Citizens in Charge Foundation, a national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, presented Thad Tecza, a senior instructor emeritus in political science at the University of Colorado, with the May 2011 John Lilburne Award for his efforts during this year’s legislative session to protect Colorado’s initiative process.
“Professor Tecza has been a huge asset to the citizen initiative rights movement in Colorado,” said Citizens in Charge Foundation President Paul Jacob. “His work in speaking out against legislative attacks on the process and helping to mobilize people at the grassroots helped defeat SCR-1, a major negative change proposed by legislators.”
A citizens group fighting photo red lights in Aurora has expressed interest in a proposed California law that would hold government accountable before installing the speed traps. Citizens for Responsible Aurora Government has taken note of the popular California bill, which would require municipalities in California to prove a safety need for the cameras before proceeding with installing them. Concerns have been raised that such photo red light cameras are installed not to protect the public, but instead to raise revenue.
If you’re in Colorado May 26th, head over to the University Club in Denver to check out a great transpartisan discussion on recent attempts by Colorado politicians to destroy the state initiative process. Come find out what’s going on and how you can help stop it.
For a PDF of the event flyer click here.
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Legislators have killed a ballot initiative to make it harder to amend the Colorado Constitution. Supporters might try to put it on the ballot through a citizens’ campaign, said Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, a co-sponsor of the measure. Both chambers of the Legislature passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 1 in February, but with a trivial difference that kept it hung up for 75 days. Legislators of both parties complain that voters amend the constitution too much.
UPDATE: The Durango Herald reports today that SCR 1 failed to make it out of the legislature before the end of the session. So the good news for the time being is that politicians have not succeeded in making it more difficult for Colorado citizens to amend their state constitution. There is still the possibility that supporters of SCR 1 will try and get the measure on the ballot through the petition process, however.
Months after lawmakers from both parties joined hands in support of a bill that would ask voters to make it harder to amend the Colorado Constitution, the proposal is on life support heading into the last day of the session. Senate Concurrent Resolution 1 has been sitting in the Senate since March 11, when the House passed it with amendments. The Senate still must either concur with the House amendments or seek a conference today. But Senate President Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, said the measure, which has passed both chambers once already, faces difficult prospects.