Colorado Ballot Measures Could Sink State Finances

With the angst that has gripped the electorate it is impossible to say how ballot measures, such as the three in Colorado dealing with budget matters, will fare next week.  One can only hope for the sake of fiscal sanity the measures are defeated.  The thing that gives me hope is that the Tea Party movement seems splintered on these measures.  On October 1st,  I labeled Amendment 61 “fiscal suicide.” .   I stand by my statement.  Come Election Night these ballot measures will be on my radar.

The debate over ballot measures has also proved divisive. Amendment 60 would cut property taxes. Amendment 61 would bar state borrowing, including bond issues, and put strict limits on municipal debt. Proposition 101 would slash income taxes and fees.

State analysts say the three measures would save a typical family about $2,000 a year. The budget would take a $1.4 billion hit the first year alone and revenue would continue to plunge over a decade-long phase-in.

The ballot measures mirror tea-party goals. So Natalie Menten, who runs the proponents’ campaign, expected lots of help from the movement.

She didn’t get it.

A large majority of Colorado’s elected officials, both Republicans and Democrats, have urged voters to reject the measures as too extreme. The opposition raised millions from businesses and unions for ads warning that the measures would kill jobs and strip funding from schools, roads and prisons.

In the face of such forceful opposition, many tea-party activists stepped aside to focus on other priorities, such as state legislative races.

“It does disappoint me,” Ms. Menten said. “It tells me they want to go out to the capitol and hold up a sign” but not take real action.

A Denver Post/9News poll released Monday showed none of the ballot measures with more than 21% support, though as many as one in four voters remained undecided. The ranks of the unsure included many tea-party voters, who say they back the restrictions on government in principle—but aren’t sure they are willing to live with them in practice.

“My gut tells me to vote yes” on all three, said Connie Bierkan, an activist in Evergreen. “But I might waver.”