Colorado ballot initiative news
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| Legislators threaten to make ballot deals illegal
State Rep. Amy Stephens (R-Monument) and Sen. Mike Kopp (R-Littleton) are planning to sponsor a proposal, according to Rep. Stephens, to make it a felony for sponsors of ballot measures to remove their initiatives if it could be proved they did so after receiving money from their opponents.[1]
If the proposal becomes law, sponsors could be tried for extortion or face charges for accepting or soliciting bribes.[1]
The proposal was inspired by the withdrawal of four union-sponsored ballot measures just hours before the Oct. 2, 2008, deadline for doing so. The union measures were pulled from the ballot in exchange for business leaders agreeing to work against three other ballot measures that the unions consider anti-union—and to contribute more than $3 million to the campaigns opposing the measures.[1]
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| Measure to abolish $5 bet limit defeated in Senate committee
A proposed constitutional amendment from Sen. Ron Tupa (D-Boulder) that would have eliminated the $5 bet limit at Colorado casinos was rejected by lawmakers on April 29, 2008. However, a citizen initiative to raise the bet limit to $100 was filed this month, which could appear on the ballot in November if enough signatures are collected.[2]
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| New ballot battle arising in Colorado
The Colorado Trial Lawyers Association is the latest group using the Colorado initiative process to strike back at its enemies. The group filed nine ballot measures on April 23, 2008, apparently a response to a ballot measure filed in March that would limit attorney's contingency fees in civil court judgments.[3]
The nine initiatives (Initiatives 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, and 112) target doctors, real estate brokers, corporate executives, and homebuilders.
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| Affirmative Action proponents file lawsuit
On April 23, 2008, opponents of the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative filed a lawsuit challenging the signatures filed. The suit challenges the validity of 68,948 names, claiming there are duplicate signatures, some collected by non-residents, and others that don't match names on Colorado's voter list.[4]
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| Colorado bill to add residency restriction, no-lying pledge, and paid-circulator reporting
House Bill 1406, which would restrict campaigns that hire petitioners to hiring only Colorado residents, passed the state House on April 28, 2008. It now goes to the Senate for approval.[5] The bill would also require initiative campaign organizations to report how much they paid to petition circulators, as well as requiring campaign organizers to pledge that all petitioners have been instructed not to lie or mislead signers.[6]
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