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Voters will have to contend with a big ballot in November
John Fryar | LovelandFYI.com | 8/20/2006

DENVER — Voters will be asked to settle more state ballot questions this fall than Coloradans have encountered since before the U.S. entered World War I.

The general election is to decide the fates of 15 measures that amend either the Colorado Constitution or state laws, including seven items the Legislature referred to voters and eight initiatives that qualified for the ballot after successful petition drives.

The initiative-and-referendum section of the state ballot hasn’t been that long since 1914, when there were eight initiatives and eight referendums, according to an election ballot history compiled by the Legislature’s staff.

Voters rejected 11 of the 16 items on that ballot 92 years ago, turning down measures such as a proposal to allow women to serve on juries.

Among the five measures that Colorado’s voters did approve in 1914 was one that permitted probation in criminal cases in which the defendants were minors and first offenders and another that prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages.

While Colorado no longer has a blanket prohibition against alcohol, it again will be at least a peripheral issue in one of this year’s ballot-issue campaigns.

Marijuana is a safer substance than alcohol, argue backers of a measure proposing to decriminalize adults’ possession of small amounts of marijuana.

There are no state tax hikes on this year’s ballot, although a number of municipalities, counties and school districts are submitting their own tax proposals to local voters.

In Larimer County, voters likely will be asked to raise taxes for the county jail; Thompson School District voters will decide whether to increase taxes to operate new schools; and Berthoud voters will choose whether taxes will be increased for two services — law enforcement and the library.

Coloradans are being asked to pass a partial property-tax exemption on homes owned by military veterans with permanent service-related disabilities.

This year’s Colorado voters also will consider prohibiting businesses from claiming income-tax deductions on any wages they pay to illegal immigrants.

Questions On State General Election Ballot

• Referendum E: Creates a partial property-tax exemption for the homes of veterans having 100 percent permanent, service-related disabilities.

• Referendum F: Removes many deadlines for protesting petitions for the recall of elected state officials and would let the Legislature set deadlines in state law.

• Referendum G: Removes obsolete constitutional provisions, including now-expired dates and gender-specific references.

• Referendum H: Eliminates certain income-tax deductions for businesses that pay wages to illegal workers.

• Referendum I: Allows same-sex couples to enter into “domestic partnerships” and extends legal rights, responsibilities and protections to partners in those relationships.

• Referendum J: Requires public school districts to spend at least 65 percent of their operating budgets on “services that directly affect student achievement.”

• Referendum K: Requires the state attorney general to sue the U.S. government to demand enforcement of federal immigration laws.

• Amendment 38: Expands the ability for people to petition for elections on proposed changes to state and local laws.

• Amendment 39: Requires public school districts to spend at least 65 percent of their operating budgets on “classroom instruction.”

• Amendment 40: Limits Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals judges to terms totaling 10 years.

• Amendment 41: Bans cash donations and certain nonmonetary gifts to public officials and public employees.

• Amendment 42: Sets the state’s minimum wage at $6.85 per hour. Would adjust the rate each year for inflation.

• Amendment 43: Specifies that “only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.”

• .Amendment 44: Legalizes possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana by anyone age 21 or older.

• Amendment 45: Gives constitutional backing to any laws that would extend rights and protections to same-sex couples in domestic partnerships.

PS: All bolding was mine.