A couple key excerpts:

The foes of 49 haven’t taken a clean shot at it yet. They’ve run no ads attacking the measure on its own. Instead, they’ve lumped the three ballot issues together. Since each is different, the campaign against 49 has been especially misleading.

Ads opposing 49 claim it would muzzle government workers and endanger public safety. One ad from the labor-backed group Protect Colorado’s Future says 49 (and the other measures) would “silence the voices of firefighters, police officers, teachers and nurses” and “end up making what [they] do harder.”

In what way? The amendment doesn’t say unions can’t collect dues. It just says government can’t collect dues for them.

And:

A third ad makes the bizarre claim that the three measures would “silence small business,” when 49 has nothing to do with small business. The same ad states, correctly, that Amendment 49 would not apply to “multinational corporations,” including drug companies and defense contractors. Of course it wouldn’t, since the amendment would end free union dues collection by governments.

The implication of that ad is that 49 would give businesses an unfair advantage in lobbying the government; public-employee unions would face a new burden that would not apply to corporations. In fact, ending the practice of free dues collection would simply level the playing field among unions, business organizations and any other group that tries to influence public policy.

The moral of the story? Get the facts for yourself. Don’t be fooled by the multi-million dollar ad campaign paid for by (mostly union) lobbyists against ethical standards in government.

YES on Amendment 49 (stops government employers from collecting union dues with payroll deduction).

Other newspapers that have endorsed Amendment 49 include:

• Wall Street Journal
• Denver Post
• Rocky Mountain News
• Boulder Daily Camera
• Pueblo Chieftain
• Grand Junction Sentinel
• Longmont Times-Call
• Loveland Reporter-Herald
• Salida Mountain Mail
• Jefferson County Mile High Newspapers

Amendment 49 prevents state and local governments from bundling money from public employees’ paychecks and delivering the funds to special interests, like unions. The NCLA believes taxpayer dollars and civil servants’ time should not be used providing collection and bookkeeping services for these groups.

Additionally, the NCLA believes it is unethical for governments to collect money from their employees’ paychecks for special interests that spend their funds lobbying the same governments’ elected officials.

Former Gov. Owens signed an executive order accomplishing exactly what Amendment 49 sets out to do early in his tenure. The order was overturned, however, when Gov. Ritter took office.

Twelve counties throughout the state, representing over half of the population of Colorado, already have similar rules on their books.

…Amendment 49 will hold Colorado governments to higher ethical standards and remove a nonessential task from governments that should have never been implemented in the first place.

NCLA is one of numerous business and civic organizations across Colorado that have publicly endorsed Amendment 49. Just a few of them are:

• Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
• Colorado Health Care Association
• Colorado Farm Bureau
• Colorado Contractors Association
• Colorado Home Builders Association
• National Federation of Independent Business
• Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce

Nor can we watch Amendment 49 attacked as the scheme of “multinational corporations” working to “silence small business and working Coloradans.” Not true. The homegrown 49 would not hurt a union’s ability to negotiate for its members. The measure promotes straightforward “good government” by preventing governments from collecting dues for unions that use the funds to elect or lobby the public officials who hire them and set their salaries.

We support 49. Today’s technology makes it simple for unions to collect dues from members on their own, and they should do so to avoid the potential conflict of interest.

The Denver Post already has endorsed Amendment 49 because it “will stop the blatant conflict of interest that now allows politicians to collect dues that are used to elect and re-elect those very same politicians.”

Other newspapers endorsing 49 include the Wall Street Journal, Rocky Mountain News, Boulder Daily Camera, Pueblo Chieftain, Grand Junction Sentinel, and more.

Earlier this week in an interview on 850 KOA’s Mike Rosen Show, Senator Brown expounded on the endorsements and what the initiative does. Here is a brief but important clip:

Amendment 49: Prohibits government from deducting union dues from state employee’s paychecks. This is also known as Paycheck Protection. I will vote YES. Government shouldn’t be the bank for any special interest.

Of course, Amendment 49 applies to state and local governments, and the limitation affects not only union dues but also other transfers to politically-active special interest groups. But the same simple, broad ethical principle applies.

Our state and local governments should be focused on the jobs we pay them to do, whether it’s keeping our neighborhoods safe, educating our children or fixing our roads. We shouldn’t expect our governments to provide banking services for unions or any other membership organization or political group.

Besides being a nonessential service, the practice carries serious ethical problems. Currently, unions and other political groups collect contributions from government employees right through our taxpayer-funded payroll systems. Many of these groups use the money to lobby, and even give campaign contributions to, the same politicians who signed their bundled payroll checks.

Amendment 49 puts a stop to the free-flowing transfer of funds between government systems, lobbying groups and politicians. Both the Rocky and The Denver Post are right to call it a “good-government” measure.

Read the whole thing here.

Amendment 49 would prohibit automatic payroll deductions for such things as politically active groups including labor and professional associations. These entities often are politically active contributing to candidates and political campaigns, lobbying officials and raising conflict of interest questions.

Some government entities already limit that which can be deducted from paychecks. Approval of 49 would bring a measure of uniformity in that it would apply to all public employers including state, county, municipal, school district and special district governments.

Employees who wish to have payments sent for dues can always go through their banks for automatic withdrawals.

Passage of 49 helps avoid conflict questions and gives employees choices in their paycheck deductions.

The list of endorsements for Colorado Amendment 49 continues to grow.

Should taxpayers be forced to subsidize the collection of political contributions and payments to lobbyists?

All of us would defend a citizen’s right to lobby government or donate to a campaign. But forcing taxpayers to subsidize someone else’s collection and payment of lobbying funds is an entirely different question. Amendment 49 establishes “Ethical Standards for Public Payroll System.”

Both the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News call it a simple good government reform. I agree!

Government shouldn’t be the bagman for special interests. Amendment 49 stops government from bundling and funneling money to special interests and their lobbyists through our payroll system.

Go here to read the entire column.

The entire episode is available on the main page of the Independence Institute website, but can also be watched in three parts on YouTube.

Part one:

Part two:

Part three: