The Colorado Independent
Despite the Legislature’s failure to pass a bill this year to increase the percentage of votes needed to pass a voter initiated constitutional amendment, grassroots advocates recently voiced their opposition to the move they see as part of a trend by legislators to limit the power of the people.
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.
As Colorado wrestles with an already lean state budget growing leaner by the day ”” one that has forced Gov. Bill Ritter to propose repeated controversial cuts to state services this year ”” a trio of budget busting anti-tax initiatives is speeding its way to the 2010 ballot. The dramatic nature of the initiatives, which plainly seek to shrink state government, and their timing, coming as they do amid an historic budget crisis, has sparked high media interest and political buzz.
Colorado State Rep. Joel Judd, D-Denver, has come out in opposition to Denver Ballot Initiative 300, the so-called impound initiative. He criticized the proposed law as overreaching and unnecessary. “If Initiative 300 becomes law, police officers would be forced to impound the vehicle of anyone driving without their license or registration, even in the case of a driver forgetting their wallet or purse at home.”
Denver attorney and state Republican insider Scott Gessler appears to be building his campaign for secretary of state on opposition to ballot-initiative reform.