Amendment 49

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, [...]

October 22, 2008
Complaint: Amendment 49 Opponents Break Law
Issue Committees Illegally Transferred Campaign Resources
ENGLEWOOD, CO – Supporters of a good-government initiative on this November’s ballot say a citizen’s complaint against amendment opponents highlights the need for reform.
Today, Colorado Springs resident and former school board candidate Reginald Perry filed a formal complaint against the issue committee Protect [...]

Another letter to the editor in support of Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative, appeared today, this time in the Rocky Mountain News:

A level political playing field is the American way. As such, Amendment 49 quite simply seems like the American thing to do.
No group deserves a leg up by getting special perks from government, [...]

Following the lead of eight major Colorado newspapers, some of the state’s smaller newspapers now are voicing their support of Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative. This morning it’s the Mountain Mail in Salida:

Amendment 49 would prohibit automatic payroll deductions for such things as politically active groups including labor and professional associations. These entities often [...]

Former U.S. Senator Hank Brown, who previously endorsed Amendment 49, explained his support in greater detail in a Sunday op-ed for the Denver Post:

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 [...]

Denver Metro Chamber endorses Amendment 49
Despite Political Blackmail Attempt, Support for Ethical Standards Strong Among Colorado’s Business Community
ENGLEWOOD, CO – Amid an orchestrated attempt to blackmail business leaders into funding opposition to measures on this fall’s statewide ballot, a leading voice in Colorado’s business community instead has endorsed a proposal to clean up government payroll [...]

The primary benefit of Amendment 49 is clean government: State and local government can no longer collect and bundle money for political special interest groups and lobbyists. But as this opinion article in Sunday’s Pueblo Chieftain points out, it also can protect some government employees from forced dues arrangements:

The deadline for this year is Saturday, [...]

From a piece in today’s Rocky Mountain News by longtime political columnist (and now retired) Peter Blake:

No doubt passage of [Amendment] No. 49 would make it more difficult for unions to collect dues. But Caldara said that in the age of automatic bank transfers, union members can easily arrange to have dues deducted if they [...]

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 [...]