Amendment 49

Illegal Anti-49 Electioneering Yields New Complaint
Well-Heeled Issue Committee’s Attacks Overstep Legal Bounds
ENGLEWOOD, CO – A leading proponent of a good-government initiative on this November’s ballot has filed a complaint against a group registered to oppose a different amendment.
Jon Caldara today submitted a formal complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State against the issue committee Coloradans [...]

Sheriffs Shoot Down Lies Against Amendment 49
“Deception” called “insulting”; Officers still get their body armor
DENVER – Six elected sheriffs from major Front Range counties today publicly refuted the deception in the campaign against Amendment 49.
Five of the six counties represented by the sheriffs have enacted an Ethical Standards policy very similar to what Amendment [...]

The Colorado Springs Gazette yesterday reaffirmed its support for Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative:
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

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 [...]

Like you, the editors of the Denver Post are sick of the incessant political advertising, especially the deceptive commercials run by opponents of Amendment 49:

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 [...]

From today’s lead editorial in the Boulder Daily Camera:

Amendment 49, we are told, would make it impossible for hard-working Coloradans to do their jobs in areas like firefighting and nursing.
We don’t buy it.
The Camera supports a “yes” vote on 49….

With the Daily Camera’s support, add another major Colorado newspaper to the list of endorsements of [...]

The editors of Colorado’s largest daily newspaper have joined the growing list of supporters behind Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative. From today’s lead editorial in the Denver Post:

Amendment 49 has been lumped together with two other ballot measures being targeted by unions, and lots of money is being spent to convince voters its something [...]

From today’s lead editorial in the Rocky Mountain News:

We don’t know at what point Amendment 49 got thrown into the mix - or why it should even be there, since it appears to us to be a benign good-government measure.
As you may have guessed, we support Amendment 49 - just as we previously supported various [...]

From an editorial in today’s Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on the Ethical Standards Initiative:

Employees could still belong to professional organizations or unions, but would have to pay dues some other way.
Despite the scare tactics from the union-backed mailer, that’s not something that endangers public safety.
“The government shouldn’t be bookkeeper, accountant and collection agency” for these [...]

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, [...]