When the group turned in its signatures last month, it the low number of signatures seemed doomed to fail to pass the random sample check all petition drives undergo. It seemed clear, in other words, that the 2010 right to life “personhood” proposal was as unpopular as the 2008 version, which although it made it to the ballot, was swamped in defeat, with more than 70 percent of Colorado voters rejecting the measure.

The group’s amendment seeks to grant fertilized human eggs the full spectrum of rights enjoyed by U.S. citizens.

Personhood Colorado this year turned in 79,648 signatures, not even 4,000 more than the 76,047 needed to land the initiative on the ballot. Thousands of signatures are routinely thrown out in the process of validating initiative petitions.

Gualberto Garcia Jones, Director of Personhood Colorado, told the Colorado Independent last month that he felt “great” about turning in the signatures.

“It’s been a six month effort. We have worked with nearly no funds and we are really spread thin as we are helping all the other states [on their personhood initiatives].”

Jones said he had worked only with volunteers to gather the signatures and that this would be the first initiative ever to make it onto the Colorado ballot without the help of paid signature gatherers. All signs suggest now that the initiative will not appear on the ballot.

Often ballot initiatives are pushed by right and left groups in election years partly to simply get voters into the voting booths. In 2008, conservatives believed the personhood initiative would bring social conservatives out to help defeat Obama and put GOP candidates in office. Many Democrats believe the lightning rod initiative did the opposite, working in concert with the deep Obama grassroots movement to bringing out Democrats determined to defeat the measure.

The Secretary of State’s office randomly checked 4,000 of the 79,648 submitted signatures. Nearly 1000 of the 4000 signature-sample were rejected. That figure is used to project how many roughly of the total signatures would be invalid. Roughly 60,000 of the roughly 76,000 signatures required would be valid. Personhood Colorado has until March 18 to collect the rest.

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Scott McInnis

Reporting on the conference at his transportation blog, Inside Lane, Kevin Flynn wrote that McInnis agreed that the math just doesn’t “add up.”

“Proposition 101 and Amendments 60 and 61 “don’t add up,” McInnis said, according to Flynn. McInnis understands voter frustration with the cost of government, he said, but “as a leader, I gotta say, do the math. It doesn’t add up on these amendments. These are not good amendments.”

Hickenlooper’s opposition was more evocative, according to Flynn:

“All three of those ultimately will result in us being unable to build anything,” Hickenlooper said. “From your point of view, it would be impossible for government to build anything. You’re condemning us to be a second-tier country.”

The ballot initiatives would slash billions in revenue to the state.

Ritter told the Colorado Independent in December that they were “dangerous,” that whole sections of public service– whether schools or roads or medical care– would simply have to fall away. He called on politicians to unite in opposing the initiatives, calling on McInnis in particular to take a stand.

In November, around the time that signatures supporting the initiatives were submitted to the Secretary of State to land them on November ballot, McInnis campaign spokesman Josh Green told the Colorado Independent that the former Congressman had not yet fully reviewed the initiatives and so had yet to decide whether he would support or oppose them.

“[McInnis] really hasn’t looked at those initiatives closely yet, so we can’t comment at this time,” he said.

McInnis has struggled with some embarrassment to shore up support among the anti-tax Tea Party members of the right. Flynn’s report from the Contractor’s association this month appears to be the first public statement McInnis has made on the subject.

Fiscal analysts say it’s difficult to overstate the effects the initiatives would have on Colorado public services.

Carol Hedges, senior analyst at the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, told the Colorado Independent that the proposals would be “devastating.”

One of the initiatives alone, she said, the one sponsored by Kersey resident Jeff Gross and famous Colorado anti-tax figure Freda Poundstone, would see “close to $1.3 billion in revenue reductions.

“That translates directly to $1.3 billion in cuts. That’s the point that matters. Colorado already ranks 48th in state taxation. It ranks 46th in state and local taxation.” Coloradans don’t pay a lot of taxes as it is, she said, so this initiative by itself would force us to rethink the role of government in the state.

The initiatives’ proponents also face a coming court battle.

A group opposing the initiatives, Protect Colorado’s Communities, brought a lawsuit in the fall alleging that the initiative proponents violated state disclosure laws by failing to report financial supporters of the petition-gathering process. That complaint gained additional support in January when the Colorado Springs Gazette uncovered that Doug Bruce, the father of the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, had seemed to surreptitiously provided support for professional petition circulators. By the time the Gazette story ran, however, it was virtually an open secret that Bruce was a main force behind the initiatives.

—
Hat tip to Colorado Pols for highlighting Kevin Flynn’s reporting.

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If voters approve Allen’s ballot measure — after it passes through various hurdles to make the ballot — it could be written to override Amendment 43, the 2006 constitutional measure that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, Bartels reports.

Allen told Bartels it’s only fair that gay couples “should have the same rights he and his girlfriend of seven years, Crystal Russell, would enjoy if they got married.”

A second lawsuit against a newly enacted “clean government” measure alleging seven constitutional and Colorado law violations has been filed by public employees and trade organizations representing Colorado educators and first responders.

Amendment 54, which went into effect Dec. 31, prohibits both unions and sole-source government contractors and their families from giving to political campaigns.

A complaint filed Wednesday in Denver District Court asserts the same First and 14th Amendment infringements as noted in a separate legal challenge filed by a plaintiff class of Children’s Hospital, the University of Denver and three prominent individuals who serve on charitable boards.

The teachers and firefighters further argue that the amendment has significant consequences, though backers largely intended to use it as a vehicle to squelch labor contributions to political campaigns that benefit Democrats.

As members of collective bargaining units within governmental bodies, public employees and their families would be barred from making political contributions — in effect prohibiting guaranteed free speech and equal protection rights, the suit contends.

The everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach also questions the amendment’s single-issue requirement and a host of technical concerns about definitions and state interpretations for applying the law to some groups but not others.

It’s deja vu all over again of the 18-month legal battle to enact the contentious Amendment 31 gift ban.

The plaintiffs include:

• Kerrie Dallman, a social studies teacher from Pomona High School currently serving a three-year term as president of the Jefferson County Education Association. In her capacity as president, she is prohibited from making political contributions under Amendment 54.

• Laurence Botnick, an assistant professor of social work at Metro State College. He is a taxpayer, concerned that the state’s enforcement of Amendment 54 will violate the Colorado and U.S. Constitutions.

• School District 14 Classroom Teachers Association Political Action Committee, a registered political committee that made contributions to local board of education candidates in 2005 but is prevented by Amendment 54 from making contributions in the 2009 election.

• School District 14 Classroom Teachers Association, a labor organization that made ballot issue contributions in 2006 but is prevented by Amendment 54 from doing so at any time in the future.

• Aurora Fire Fighters Protective Association, a labor organization that, because of Amendment 54, is foregoing its plans to form a political committee to make contributions in municipal races.

• Douglas County Federation, a labor organization that represents teachers and classified employees in the Douglas County School District and is being required to immediately agree to put Amendment 54′s provisions in its collective bargaining agreement, even though that will mean it can no longer make contributions in local ballot issue campaigns.

As we noted throughout the election season, Amendment 54 was touted as a “clean government” measure by its backers. But its aims were far less transparent. While voters narrowly passed Amendment 54 in November by a 51-49 margin under the guise of making public officials more accountable, the measure’s political committee refused to disclose its own funding sources.

City and County of Denver building (Photo/fusionpanda, Flickr)

As we noted throughout the election season, Amendment 54 was touted as a “clean government” measure by its backers. But its aims were far less transparent. The amendment, which went into effect Dec. 31, prohibits both unions and sole-source government contractors from giving to political campaigns. The unspoken goal is to snuff out labor’s largely pro-Democratic contributions.

Except that pesky U.S. Constitution — namely the First and Fourteenth Amendments — prevents citizens’ political voices from being squelched.

Voters narrowly passed Amendment 54 in November by a 51-49 margin after a series of contentious attack ads and counter arguments about the secretive group backing the measure that would not disclose it funders.

The lawsuit challenging the amendment on a constitutional basis is not unexpected.

According to a statement released by the plaintiffs:

The lawsuit’s primary concerns are that Amendment 54 unfairly restricts campaign and political contributions and that it creates a burden on Colorado’s nonprofit community by making it more difficult to attract and retain top quality board members.

Many non-profits provide services at least partially funded by the state or local governments. Amendment 54 includes the funding for those services as ‘sole source government contracts.’ The amendment extends beyond officers and board members of non-profits that receive government funds; it also prohibits the members of officers’ and board members’ extended families from making campaign contributions.

The plaintiffs include:

• Dan Ritchie, former chancellor of the University of Denver. As chairman and chief executive officer of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA), Mr. Ritchie is precluded from contributing to political campaigns because the DCPA has a sole source government contract with the City of Denver.

• Pat Hamill, president and chief executive officer of Oakwood Homes. Since his company has sole source contracts with local subdivisions, Hamill is subject to the restrictions of Amendment 54. And as a board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Denver and the University of Denver, he is precluded from future contributions to campaigns of candidates for elected office or political parties.

• Charlie Brown, Denver City councilman. Brown serves as a Board member of Visit Denver (formerly known as the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau), which has a sole source contract as the City of Denver’s official marketing agency. As a result of Amendment 54, Brown cannot even contribute to his own reelection campaign.

• The Children’s Hospital, recognized as one of the best children’s hospitals in the country. The Children’s Hospital provides specialty services for children through state Medicaid contracts that are not provided by any other health care provider in Colorado, such as heart transplants and cancer treatments. A violation of Amendment 54 would prohibit The Children’s Hospital from providing such services to children for the next three years. Members have contemplated resignation from the Board.

• The University of Denver, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit higher education institution, is a sole source contract holder with the City and County of Denver, the state of Colorado and various other governmental entities. Amendment 54’s severe First Amendment restrictions make it more difficult for DU to attract and retain community leaders to serve on its Board of Trustees and in its senior administration.

“Amendment 54 could have catastrophic repercussions for children throughout Colorado,” said Jim Shmerling, president and CEO of The Children’s Hospital. “There is no one else in the state that can provide many of the services we offer, and it would be devastating if that care was jeopardized for children on Medicaid.”

The suit requests Gov. Bill Ritter and the executive director of the Department of Personnel and Administration from implementing or enforcing Amendment 54.

Organizers of Personhood USA plan to mount campaigns to put the same amendment before voters wherever citizens can initiate petitions. Even though Colorado voters rejected Amendment 48 by a 3-1 margin, Personhood USA founder Cal Zastrow told LifeNews.com, “we will continue to advocate for the pre-born regardless of polls or winning or losing elections.”

The Colorado ballot measure failed to garner support from some traditionally anti-abortion groups and staunchly anti-abortion candidates. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, the initiative failed 1,598,069 to 584,085 votes, or 73 percent to 27 percent.

Keith Mason, a spokesman and petition coordinator for Coloradans for Equal Rights — the group that pushed Amendment 48 in Colorado — told LifeNews.com the new group plans to put the measure on state ballots “over and over again” until they succeed. “If we fail to get enough votes to affirm personhood, we will use it as a baseline and try again, educating while we do, and keep trying until we succeed,” he said.

The group launched a Web site, PersonhoodUSA.com, with links seeking “Personhood Advocates” in 16 states — Nebraska, Ohio, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Missouri, Michigan, Arizona, California, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arkansas, Florida and Oklahoma — along with detailed timelines for placing amendments on ballots. “Together,” the site proclaims, “we will glorify Jesus and then stop the dehumanizing of and destruction of preborn people.”

Here’s the video greeting visitors to the site:

PUSA Promo (Web) from Endfallow on Vimeo

“Personhood has changed the abortion debate. Now we are asking, ‘When does human life begin?’ The opposition can not and will not answer this question, but we can. And when we answer that question, we win,” Mason told LifeNews.com.

According to an article in the Rocky Mountain News today, Clean Government Colorado, the political committee supporting Amendment 54, raised the hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last few weeks, all of it coming from a nonprofit called Colorado At Its Best.

Amendment 54 is a so-called “clean government” initiative that would snuff out political contributions given by certain labor unions, as well as the immediate family members of union officials.

As was reported by The Colorado Independent previously, Colorado At Its Best, the nonprofit bankrolling the campaign, is not required under law to release the names of its contributors, meaning that the “clean” campaign has been funded primarily from donors who are anonymous.

The nonprofit is also connected to Dennis Pohill, a fellow at the conservative Independence Institute think tank, who has refused to disclose who is funding the campaign upon request.

Colorado At Its Best has now given more than $2 million to Clean Government Colorado.