Opponents say initiative backers need to come clean on campaign cash
A committee fighting three ballot initiatives that will greatly affect how local and state governments operate filed a complaint Monday with the Secretary of State’s Office alleging that the initiative backers have not disclosed who financed the massive signature-gathering process.
“You don’t get three initiatives on the ballot without spending thousands of dollars – or winking and nodding while someone else does it for you,” said Mark Grueskin, an attorney for Protect Colorado’s Communities, a coalition of business and government interests that opposes the trio of initiatives.
The three initiatives — Amendment 60, Amendment 61 and Proposition 101 -– received well in excess of the 76,000 required signatures to get on the ballot and were certified by the Secretary of State’s Office in December.
Amendment 60 would roll back some property taxes and limit on future property tax increases. Amendment 61 would drastically limit the borrowing ability of local and state government. Proposition 101, among other things, would reduce the state income tax and reduce fees and taxes on motor vehicles and cell phones and other telecommunication devices and systems.
Opponents allege Colorado Springs’ anti-tax advocate Douglas Bruce is one of the backers of the initiatives, but he has said he knows nothing about them. Freda Poundstone, who authored a famous amendment in the 1970s that kept the city and county of Denver from annexing land in nearby counties without a vote, is listed on papers connected with Proposition 101.
“These measures would certainly put an end to any hope that Colorado had of recovering the jobs we lost in the economic downturn,” said Tyler Chafee, the registered agent for Protect Colorado’s Communities, which is fighting the proposals. “I think the people of Colorado deserve to know who is really behind such a radical set of disastrous fiscal policies.”
The passports of detained American Muslims were displayed Monday by police officials in Sargodha, Pakistan. Photo by The Associated Press