Denver – The GOP’s top lawmaker in the state House filed a complaint today accusing a Democratic legislator of violating state law by campaigning on state time for ballot proposals aimed at fixing the budget.
Rep. Joe Stengel of Littleton said Rep. Buffie McFadyen of Pueblo used an official, taxpayer-funded trip to southern Colorado in August to promote two ballot issues aimed at relaxing the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
State Democratic Party spokeswoman Tara Trujillo denied McFadyen broke the law.
Trujillo said McFadyen’s comments were made during a routine trip by the Capital Development Committee to review the needs for state buildings and other infrastructure.
During that visit, McFadyen said she planned to vote in favor of the TABOR changes because they would help pay for building repairs, Trujillo said.
The measures on the November first ballot would allow the state to keep $3.1 billion that otherwise would be refunded to taxpayers under TABOR, a constitutional amendment. The money would go to transportation, school maintenance and other projects.
Some Republicans have assailed the measures as tax increases, but Gov. Bill Owens and other Republicans support them as a way to ease the constraints TABOR to bail the state out of a budget crisis.
