Bill Ritter

Ritter Vetoes Signature Gathering Bill

Joe Mathews — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:53:00 -0400

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has been a strong critic of direct democracy. But he vetoed a bill that would have stepped up regulation of paid signature gatherers, arguing that it was unconstitutional because it would have treated paid gatherers different than volunteers.

Weekend, er, Colorado Round Up

Joe Mathews — Sun, 11 May 2008 13:32:00 -0400

Get used to it. Most of the country's blockbuster democracy news is coming from the Centennial State. A bit of news from California and elsewhere appears at the bottom of this post.

COLORADO PEACE: It appears that there's been a cooling on one front of the all-out initiative war in Colorado. The trial lawyers and the sponsor of an initiative to limit contigency fees are putting their swords away. The contigency fee initiative -- and 9 counter initiatives filed by the lawyers -- have been dropped. Hat tip: Point of Law. according to the Point of Law legal blog.

DENVER ET COMMISSION GETS A HEARING: Its sponsor says there's evidence that aliens -- and he doesn't mean Mexicans, Mr. Tancredo -- are already among us. At the hearing, concern is expressed about the commission's cost -- $75,000 -- and how easy it is to qualify the measure (only 3,900 signatures) and of course, about what late night comics might say. Learn more about the Extra campaign as its new web site.

MILLER WORKERS DON'T LIKE INITIATIVE BACKED BY A COORS. The union at Miller Brewing, which is about to form a joint venture with Coors, are nervous about the Colorado right-to-work measure, which is not backed by the company Coors but is being pushed by a member of the Coors family.

COLORADO SUMMARY: This Rocky Mountain News story provides a nice political overview of how the Colorado governor and top legislators are formulating strategy for the various ballot initiatives that state's voters will face in the fall. Gov. Ritter, a Democrat, is pushing an initiative to end a property tax break for oil and gas companies; the initiative would spread the additional tax revenues among a poll-tested array of popular programs -- education, environment, clean energy.

COLORADO TITLE: Colorado boasts one direct democracy invention all its own--a title board. That is, a body that exists to give titles to ballot measures. The board has just approved two of the seven union-backed initiatives that are being pitched as a counter to the business-backed right-to-work initiative in that state. One of the initiatives would require private employers to provide annual cost of living increases to all employees.

And other odds and ends from that tiny political universe that is not Colorado.

REDISTRICTING IS HARD: In California, it was tough sledding to get signatures. In Arizona, backers of a redistricting initiative have quit, unable to get the signatures.

MISSOURI GAMING: An initiative backed by casinos in Missouri appears headed for the ballot. The measure would lift the Show Me State's so-called "loss limit," which tries to protect gamblers by limiting them to purchasing $500 of chips in a two-hour period. But Missouri gaming interests say they need to lose the limit to compete with new casinos in Kansas.

HEADLINE OF THE WEEK: This very good story on Democratic tax proposals in California is worth reading also.

IS GANG INITIATIVE TARGETING MINORITIES? Andy Furillo of the Sacramento Bee examines criticism of an anti-gang initiative in California.

VALLEJO REVENUES: Dan Weintraub, on his Bee blog, shows that revenues in bankrupt Vallejo have been on their way up.

Thursday Round Up: Oregon, Arizona and Colorado

Joe Mathews — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:19:00 -0400

OREGON GAMING MEASURE DROPPED: Backers of an initiative to establish Oregon's first non-tribal private casino say they've decided not to go forward. They could revive the proposals, but want to see how proposals for two tribal casinos fare first.

IMMIGRATION COPS: The Arizona legislator who wants to allow police officers to enforce immigration laws is pursuing dual tracks -- a ballot initiative and legislation at the same time. The initiative is back-up, he explains.

COLORADO GOV RAIN ON SPEAKER's INITIATIVE: Gov. Bill RItter, a Democrat, questions the political strategy behind an effort by the Democratic House speaker in his state to qualify a measure lifting some of the state's spending limits. Ritter has been trying to reduce the number of measures on the November ballot.

ONE CENT SALES TAX TO FUND TRANSPORTATION: Arizonans, including Gov. Janet Napolitano, have launched an initiative to pay for $42 billion in transporation spending with a one-cent sales tax. The full plan for how they would spend the money is due next month.

RIGHT TO WORK TAB: It cost more than $300,000 to qualify the "right-to-work" initiative in Colorado for the ballot, according to the Denver Post.

'PERSONHOOD' OPPONENT: Here's an interesting profile of the former Boulder mayor and current Planned Parenthood official who is leading the campaign against Colorado's "personhood" initiative, an anti-abortion measure that would seek to protect the unborn by giving them all the rights of human beings.

NOT COMING TO KANSAS CITY: The mayor there wants a ballot measure to establish light rail on the November ballot, but he's not getting much support.

TAKE IT TO THE PEOPLE, JR: Members of the Dallas city council are seeking a public referendum on whether the city should own a hotel development outright.