Fiscal Suicide For Colorado On November Ballot

This truly ranks up to the top for the most bizarre ballot measure come this November.

A measure on the Colorado ballot for November would ban all borrowing by the state and severely restrict it at the municipal level, making Colorado the only state whose agencies would be unable to issue debt, municipal experts say.

Nor would state agencies be able to turn to banks, since the proposal prohibits raising money that way, too.

The measure—an amendment to the state constitution requiring a simple majority to pass—was backed by 36% of voters surveyed in August by a Colorado pollster, even though both Republicans and Democrats have called it fiscal suicide. And while that is well short of a majority, the mere prospect of passage has set off a rush to raise funds among municipalities anxious to fill their coffers before their borrowing costs could jump.

The origin of the ballot measure, known as Amendment 61, has remained murky, with no group or individual stepping forward yet to claim authorship.  (Why would anyone want to claim to be the parent of this  awful idea!)  The proposal, however, is being supported by a group called Colorado Tax Reforms. (Want to place bets on Tea Party backing?  After all this sounds like their ‘logic’ at work.)