Lawyers for the Independence Institute asked an administrative law judge on Wednesday to postpone a hearing about its involvement in the fight over Referendums C and D, a move that the measures’ proponents called a blatant attempt to evade the issue until after the Nov. 1 election.
Proponents have filed complaints against the think tank and the Vote No campaign committee headed by its president, Jon Caldara.
That committee, “Vote No; It’s Your Dough,” has disclosed its finances, as all groups advocating yes or no votes in Colorado elections are required to do.
But the Independence Institute has not disclosed any information, saying that its radio ads about the proposed suspension of tax refunds under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights have been educational, not advocacy.
Proponents disagree, accusing Caldara of hiding his political money to keep his donors and their motives from public view.
Gov. Bill Owens, in a debate with Caldara taped Wednesday at KBDI-Channel 12, challenged him to reveal who paid for the ads.
“We’ve been reporting who’s been contributing” to the Vote Yes campaign, Owens said. “The question is, who’s contributing to you, Jon? You have some anonymous donors that you are in fact protecting. Who are they?”
Caldara rebuffed Owens, saying, “We have every right to protect the privacy of our donors.”
In a hearing last week, the politics of this legal challenge were laid bare for an administrative law judge by Republican Sen. Shawn Mitchell, a lawyer who is representing “Vote No; It’s Your Dough.” He asked the judge to keep some information from public view.
“Some of this is just digging out information to use in a political campaign,” Mitchell said Wednesday when asked about that hearing. “Both the Independence Institute and the Vote No committee asked the judge to make note of the fact that if the plaintiffs can drag people’s names and motives through the press, they probably don’t care about much else that happens in this litigation.”
Proponent spokeswoman Katy Atkinson said she believes Mitchell and the lawyers for the Independence Institute are trying to hide what they call Caldara’s political fundraising.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody fight quite this hard to keep the names of their supporters secret,” she said.
But Caldara insists that his political fundraising is relegated to “Vote No; It’s Your Dough.”
Independence Institute donors should not be treated as if they are political donors, he said.
“There is a much, much bigger issue than this election here,” he said. “This is an issue about First Amendment rights. … This will be done right.”
In a new study released Wednesday, an economist associated with the Independence Institute said that Referendum C would result in resetting TABOR’s spending cap so high as to render the popular constitutional amendment moot.
Proponents disagreed and questioned the methodology of that study.
The Owens and Caldara debate will air on Channel 12 Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 16 at 1 p.m.
Staff writer Jim Hughes can be reached at 303-820-1244 or jhughes@denverpost.com.
