Colorado

The above ad is running in Colorado. It attacks the well-known Amendment 47 (the Right to Work measure) and two other ballot initiatives supported by business and opposed by labor. Denver's ABC station does a fact-check of the ad here.

The ad is interesting for students of direct democracy because it criticizes the measures not for their content but for how signatures were gathered. For those who know the blockbuster democracy business, the most interesting part is the claim that people with criminal records  helped gather signatures. No kidding!

Opponents of a Colorado ballot initiative to raise oil and gas taxes to fund college scholarships are accusing a state body, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, of using public funds to support the measure. The commission denies it.

Denver Post columnist Al Lewis, looking at a right-to-work initiative on the November ballot in Colorado, asks where the victims are of union abuses. It's an interesting question, given the low rates of unionization in the private sector in his state and nationwide. But let me be the first to predict that Lewis will be deluged from complaints from public sector workers -- particularly teachers -- angry about being forced to give part of their paycheck to powerful organizations who practice politics they don't agree with.

That's what the Denver Post fears will happen if Colorado voters adopt the so-called "personhood" ballot initiative that would give the legal rights of a human being to any fertilized egg.

The union opponents of the November ballot initiative to make Colorado a "right to work' state went to court today to try to throw the initiative. The court case alleges "massive" signature fraud, with so many duplicates and false signatures that the measure could not have properly qualified for the ballot. Such suits are common and usually get thrown out. But the political climate in Colorado is so hostile to direct democracy and signature gathering now that if I were a backer of the "right to work" measure, I'd be worried.

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.

National unions have put more than $1 million into Colorado, mostly to fight the right-to-work initiative that recently qualified for the ballot. SEIU, the nation's largest union, has donated more than $600, and things are just getting started. This Denver Post story predicts that the right-to-work initiative will cost more than $25 million, and the ballot will have more than a half-dozen measures. Look for Colorado, not Ohio, to be the biggest swing state this fall, as presidential contenders battle over it, and the forces of business and labor from across the country attempt to bloody each other with initiatives here.

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.

As their session came to a close Tuesday, Colorado state lawmakers passed a sensible reform to the initiative process. They raised the standards to qualify an initiative that would change the state constitution, but lowered the standard to qualify an initiative that changes a mere statute. There had been no separate standard before, and that meant that the Colorado constitution had a lot of new amendments. Why bother with changing the law when, for the same money and effort, you can change the state constitution?

This legislation is important because it recognizes the value of lowering signature standards. In most cases, reform consists of raising signature standards -- which merely adds cost and limits the process to rich individuals and interest groups.

The "right-to-work" ballot initiative in Colorado has qualified for the ballot.