The Road To Nov. 8
Ballots Will Be Loaded
By Cara DeGette
Editor, GPHN
On Election Day, Nov. 8, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton will have spent 576 days campaigning for President of the United States. In a two-minute video released back in April, 2015, Clinton announced her intention to desire to be a champion for “everyday Americans.”
It will be 511 days since her rival, Republican Donald Trump, kicked off his own presidential bid, with a combative speech in which he called immigrants from Mexico criminals and rapists.
While much of the focus has remained on the presidential race, this year Coloradans will also weigh in on many other candidates and ballot measures – including the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Michael Bennet and challenger Darryl Glenn, as well as numerous legislative races.
Nine statewide initiatives and amendments to the constitution are on the ballot, which will be mailed to voters throughout Colorado beginning Oct. 17. The questions range from whether to create a statewide universal healthcare system to raising the minimum wage to making the state constitution harder to amend.
Denver Metro voters will also weigh in on a proposal to continue the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, which funds hundreds of arts nonprofits, and benefits top-tier organizations including the Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Zoo.
Also on the ballot this year are questions about whether multiple judges – including the Colorado Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, District and County – should be retained. In addition, voters will decide on representatives for the University of Colorado Board of Regents and Regional Transportation District.
The following is a brief roundup of the statewide ballot proposals. For full text, and the official arguments for and against each measure, check out the Blue Books that are mailed to every voter in Colorado, which is also available online at https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cga-legislativecouncil/ballotblue-book.
Amendment 69
Statewide Health Care System
Amendment 69 would establish ColoradoCare, a statewide system to finance health care services for Colorado residents. It would create new taxes on most sources of income, redirect existing state and federal health funding to pay for the services and administration of ColoradoCare. The system would be exempt from constitutional limits on revenue, and would require approval by Colorado residents for any future tax increases. Amendment 69 would establish that a board of trustees would oversee the operations of ColoradoCare and allow that board to terminate ColoradoCare if the waivers, exemptions, and agreements from the federal government are not sufficient for its fiscally sound operation.
Amendment 70
State Minimum Wage
Amendment 70 would increase the state minimum wage from $8.31 to $9.30 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2017, and then an additional 90 cents per year until it reaches $12 per hour on Jan. 2020. On Jan. 1, 2021, and thereafter, minimum wage would be adjusted each year based on cost-of-living increases.
Amendment 71
Requirements for Constitutional Amendments
Amendment 71 would make amending the state Constitution harder in Colorado. It would require that a certain number of signatures be gathered from each state senate district to place constitutional initiatives on future ballots. It would also increase the percentage of votes required to adopt a constitutional amendment, except for proposals that only repeal part of the state constitution.
Amendment 72
Increase Cigarette and Tobacco Taxes
Amendment 72 would increase the state tax on a pack of cigarettes from 84 cents to $2.59. It would also increase the state tax on other tobacco products, from 40 percent to 62 percent of the price. The money raised from the tax would be used for medical research, tobacco-use prevention, doctors and clinics in rural or low-income areas, veterans’ services, and other health-related programs.
Proposition 106
Access to Medical Aid-in-Dying Medication
The Medical Aid In Dying proposition would allow a terminally ill individual with a prognosis of six months or less to live, to request and self-administer medical aid-in-dying medication in order to voluntarily end his or her life. The proposition would authorize physicians to prescribe medical aid-in-dying medication to a terminally ill individual under certain conditions. This measure would also create criminal penalties for tampering with a person’s request for medical aid-in-dying medication or knowingly coercing a person with a terminal illness to request the medication.
Proposition 107
Presidential Primary Elections
Proposition 107 would establish a presidential primary election in Colorado that allows participation by unaffiliated voters.
Proposition 108
Unaffiliated Voter Participation in Primary Elections
Proposition 108 would change the primary election process in Colorado to allow unaffiliated voters to vote in a nonpresidential primary election of a single political party. The measure would also allow political parties to opt out of holding a primary election and instead choose to nominate candidates by assembly or convention.
Amendment T
No Exception to Involuntary Servitude Prohibition
This measure would remove language from the Colorado Constitution that currently allows slavery and involuntary servitude to be used as punishment for the conviction of a crime. Similar to the U.S. Constitution, under Article II, Section 26 of the Colorado Constitution, slavery and involuntary servitude are already prohibited, except as punishment for the conviction of a crime. Amendment T removes this exception.
Amendment U
Exempt Certain Possessory Interests from Property Taxes
This measure would amend the Colorado Constitution to do the following:
• Beginning with tax year 2018, eliminate property taxes for individuals or businesses that use government-owned property for a private benefit worth $6,000 or less in market value; and
• Beginning with tax year 2019, and every two years thereafter, adjust the $6,000 exemption threshold to account for inflation.