A nonprofit corporation paid about $200,000 for two Independence Institute radio ads on Referendums C and D this summer, the Golden think tank’s president testified Wednesday.
But the name of that group remains a mystery. And whether the institute violated state election law by running the ads without disclosing their financing might not be known until after the Nov. 1 election.
After lawyers arguing the case ran out of time Wednesday, Administrative Law Judge Michelle Norcross ordered them to file closing arguments by Oct. 19 – a delay exacerbated by the attorneys’ conflicting schedules.
Norcross then will have 15 days to make her ruling, meaning the complaint brought by proponents of the budget-policy referendums might not be settled until Nov. 3.
“We’re basically at the point now, your honor, where it almost doesn’t make any difference,” Vote Yes campaign attorney Mark Grueskin said.
Norcross said she understood the urgency and that she would try to beat her deadline.
The hearing’s only witness, Independence Institute president Jon Caldara, spent nearly all day on the stand. But Norcross refused to let Grueskin press him for details on the nonprofit’s name or location, saying it was irrelevant to her decision.
During the lunch break, Caldara accused Grueskin of trying to trip up his leadership of the Vote No campaign.
“Why else would he be spending so much time taking up my time?” Caldara asked. “This borders on harassment. He’s taken me out of a couple of days of crucial campaigning.”
Earlier Wednesday, a judge at Denver District Court refused an Independence Institute request to block the hearing. The think tank is challenging the constitutionality of some aspects of state campaign-finance laws, arguing they violate free-speech and other rights.
Even if Norcross rules the institute did nothing wrong in the referendum campaign, Caldara said, he will continue his constitutional challenge.
“This issue of free speech is critical to the citizens of Colorado and has incredible ramifications,” he said.
The law the referendums’ proponents accuse Caldara of breaking requires any group that spends $200 in a ballot campaign, and has that campaign as its major purpose, register as an “issue committee.” Those committees are required to file periodic financial disclosures.
Caldara has registered one such group – Vote No; It’s Your Dough” – but insists that the institute’s work on the proposal to suspend tax refunds under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is educational, not advocacy.
The Vote Yes campaign accuses Caldara of illegally hiding the backer of ads that lead listeners to a Vote No conclusion.
The ads describe the proposal as a massive tax increase.
“These are more effective than ads that say ‘Vote no,’ because they don’t say ‘Vote no,”‘ Grueskin said.
Staff writer Jim Hughes can be reached at 303-820-1244 or jhughes@denverpost.com.
