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Amendment 49

What is Amendment 49?

Ethical Standards in Colorado

1. If you’re on the go… Watch the popular, 2-minute sock puppet explanation of 49
2. If you want to learn more… Watch the 3-part “What is Amendment 49″ video series
3. If you want to read it in print… Read the Independence Institute report “Amendment 49 and Government Payroll Reform”

  • Amendment 49, or “Ethical Standards,” will stop Colorado’s governments from being the bagman for political special interests. It will prohibit governments from bundling money from public employees’ paychecks and delivering the funds to special interests, like unions. These special interests use the money to lobby the same politicians who just delivered the cash to them.
  • Quite simply, it is unethical for government to be the banker, accountant, and collection agent for political special interests. Government should be using our tax dollars, and our civil servants’ time, to provide crucial public services, not to funnel money to political organizations.
  • Amendment 49 will reinstate an Executive Order by former Governor Bill Owens and expands this policy to all other governments. Governor Bill Ritter reversed the Owens policy quickly after becoming governor. Through another Executive Order, Ritter also has brought collective bargaining to state employees. Without Amendment 49, thousands more government employees will have their union dues collected, accounted and delivered at taxpayer expense.
  • Ethical Standards isn’t just about public unions. All sorts of political groups use the people’s payroll systems to funnel their cash to their lobbyists and election campaigns.
  • Ethical Standards isn’t new. A dozen counties, representing over half the state’s population, have already put this language on their books (including Jefferson, Arapahoe, Douglas, Weld, Larimer, El Paso and Mesa). Amendment 49 would follow their lead and clean up the patchwork of laws to provide consistently simple and ethical payroll standards for Colorado governments.
  • Here’s how Ethical Standards works. Under Amendment 49 no other payroll deductions will be allowed from government workers’ paychecks except:
    • Tax withholdings
    • Deductions required by federal law (Social Security and Medicare)
    • Judicial liens and garnishments, including child support and domestic support
    • Individual and group health benefits and other insurance
    • Pension or retirement plans, or other investment or savings programs
    • Charitable deductions
  • In this era of online banking, automatic bank transfers and electronic credit card services, there is no reason why political contributions and organization dues should go through the people’s payroll system at taxpayer expense.
  • Amendment 49 affects all Colorado governments (but not private employers), such as state government agencies, including higher education; county, city, and town governments; public school districts and special government districts.
  • Amendment 49 has already been enthusiastically endorsed by Bill Owens, Hank Brown, the Rocky Mountain News, Colorado Springs Gazette, Pueblo Chieftain, NFIB, Colorado Health Care Association, Colorado Home Builders Association, American Builders and Contractors, Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, and more.