The battle over what many call Colorado’s most important ballot question in more than a decade has begun to rage unusually early, with both sides unloading advertising, manpower and campaign money.
Come November, voters will be asked to let the state government keep about $3.1 billion in constitutionally mandated taxpayer refunds over the next five years.
With the ballot question still five months away, the campaigning might seem premature. But it demonstrates the high stakes that both sides have pinned on influencing the direction of the state budget and Colorado’s unique tax cap.
“Each side has its own objective to get out of the starting gate earlier than usual,” said opponent and former Colorado Senate President John Andrews, a Republican.
The ballot proposals were passed by the legislature to help restore more than $1 billion in budget cuts and avoid millions of dollars more.
A bipartisan coalition of politicians, business leaders and nonprofit officials supporting the plan has painted the question as nothing less than a choice between a modern, competitive state and a crumbling backwater. And they have already raised more than $350,000 to get out that message.
Opponents, including fiscally conservative Republican politicians and taxpayers’ rights groups, call it a blatant money grab that will destroy the incentive for more efficient government.
On Monday, opponents expect to kick off their campaign, called “Vote No It’s Your Dough,” said campaign chairman Jon Caldara.
Although the opposition campaign has not started raising money, Caldara’s Independence Institute this weekend is airing a $30,000 radio spot suggesting Referendum C is not necessary.
Referendum C targets $3.1 billion that would be refunded otherwise under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. A second ballot question, Referendum D, asks voters to authorize about $2.1 billion in bonds that largely will be used to finance road improvements.
“We’ve had to endure all this cheerleading (for the referendums) … during the legislative session. And so we want to clinch as quickly as we can what we believe is a lot of doubt in the public mind about the cost benefit here,” Andrews said.
The opposition campaign’s finance committee includes such well-heeled Republicans as beer scion Jeff Coors, businessman Ralph Nagel and former U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong, Caldara said.
Rick Reiter, campaign director for “Vote Yes on C & D”, said supporters are volunteering to walk precincts to educate voters and turn them out on Election Day. That is standard for a candidate campaign but unusual for a ballot question. But Reiter said it’s not surprising that people are amped to start promoting the ballot questions.
Over the past four years, Colorado has cut millions of dollars for services to children and youths, said Barbara O’Brien, president of the Colorado Children’s Campaign.
For example, lawmakers cut $4 million from programs to reduce juvenile crime and $3 million from programs designed to help children with developmental disabilities, she said.
“We have determined that fixing the state budget crisis is the No. 1 children’s issue facing the state,” she said.
To that end, the campaign has pledged to train people across the state to help spread its message of “moving Colorado forward.”
Money will be a big force in communicating that message, and Reiter’s camp has started collecting. In addition to $250,000 donated by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce in April, four organizations gave $105,000 in the past month, according to financial reports.
Kaiser-Hill Co. gave $25,000, the Colorado Bar Association gave $50,000, the Colorado Municipal Bond Dealers Association gave $10,000, and the National Association of Industrial & Office Properties gave $20,000.
Lawyers, bond dealers and engineers stand to profit from the passage of C and D, Caldara said.
“They don’t concern themselves with good public policy. They’re just making a good investment. They put in a few hundred thousand dollars, and they will reap millions of dollars,” he said.
But representatives of the bar association, Kaiser-Hill and the bond dealers said the ballot questions are crucial to funding critical state needs.
“I clearly don’t think it’s a pay-to-play issue,” said Robert Schultz, president of the bond dealers’ association. “This act does help the industry, but it’s really an industry that benefits the state.”
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-820-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.