Amendment 49

Read the press release here.

Sandra Hagen Solin, writing as the issues manager for the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance (NCLA), explains in today’s Fort Collins Coloradoan why her organization backs Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative:

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 [...]

Former state treasurer Mark Hillman explains the simple logic that underlies the Ethical Standards initiative:

Amendment 49 (”ethical standards”) prohibits state and local governments from intercepting a worker’s paycheck to collect dues or contributions for unions, lobbyists or any other special interest. It simply requires all interest groups to ask supporters directly for their contribution, [...]

From today’s Delta County Independent:

Dear Editor:
A lot of us may be looking around and scratching our heads when our ballots arrived. There’s all these ballot amendments and referenda to decide. Some have received more attention than others. One you may not have heard of, but need to know about, is Amendment 49.
Amendment 49 is called [...]

A letter from former Governor Bill Owens supporting Amendment 49 was published in today’s Grand Junction Sentinel. After explaining how the initiative promotes government ethics and efficiency, Owens concludes:

This payroll reform is already working. Some county governments in Colorado, along with a handful of municipalities, have implemented this idea. But with an ethical loophole this [...]

From a press release sent out to explain a deal Amendment 49 proponent Jon Caldara issued today in a letter to Gov. Bill Ritter:

DENVER–Amendment 49’s leading proponent has formally offered to remove the initiative from the ballot if Colorado’s governor will work to stop the unionization of state government.
Jon Caldara today submitted a letter to [...]

As co-host of the Estes Park weekly radio show “Barroom Politics,” Jon Nicholas sat down last week on air with the Independence Institute’s Jon Caldara to discuss Amendment 49 on November’s Colorado statewide ballot. In an Estes Park Trail column published today, Nicholas shared his candid assessment:

I plan to vote yes, as I want to [...]

The first two letters to the editor in support of Amendment 49 have appeared in Colorado newspapers this week:
Colorado Springs Gazette, August 20
With a full ballot this year, there are quite a few proposals that are going to sharply divide people based on party affiliation or worldview. But Amendment 49 isn’t one of them.
This common-sense [...]