The issues for the fall ballot are piling up. With more than six months before Election Day, there’s no telling how big the ballot will get.
Aug. 7 is the deadline for submitting petitions to the secretary of state. Two proposed constitutional amendments are on the ballot so far – one to make easier to get measures on the ballot and another mandating levels of classroom spending. And, six initiatives are in the petition phase. They propose to: cut off services to illegal immigrants; limit condemnation of private property; strengthen labor rights; legalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana; limit housing growth; and prohibit gay marriage. Still pending before the legislature are 14 proposed referenda, including one that would give same-sex partners legal rights.
Little Owl runs
Democrat and ex-Marine Solomon Little Owl hopes to break the Republican lock on the Weld County Senate seat being vacated by veteran Sen. Dave Owen. Little Owl, 33, is a full-blooded Crow Indian from Montana who’s lived in Colorado for a decade and directs the Native American Student Services at the University of Northern Colorado. Little Owl will challenge the winner of the August primary between Republicans Scott Renfroe and state Rep. Dale Hall. The only Native American now serving in the legislature is Sen. Suzanne Williams, a registered member of the Comanche tribe of Oklahoma. Before Williams, there was Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who served from 1983-86 before going to Congress.
Indian children lag
Fresh from a national forum in Washington, D.C., Sen. Williams is turning her attention to Native American education issues in Colorado. “I want to make sure Native American children are being served, acknowledged and helped under the No Child Left Behind program,” Williams said. The latest numbers from the Colorado Children’s Campaign show Native American children in public schools lag other minorities in high school graduation rates. They outperform Hispanic and black children in fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math tests, but fall far below white students. Campaign policy director Alex Medler cautions that the number of natives in many Colorado school districts is low and so statistics may be misleading.
Booking TABOR
Who cares if it’s not read by the masses? Former state Rep. Brad Young has penned a book about TABOR, the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights passed by Colorado voters in 1992. Who better to explain the intricacies of ratchet effects, budget growth and tax and spending limits than the former chairman of the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee.
Young said one of the cover quotes on his upcoming book will be from David Osborne, author of the 1992 bestseller “Reinventing Government,” about best practices in government. Fulcrum Publishing will publish the tome, due out later this year, he said.
Traylor collects sigs
Despite her setback at the county assembly, Republican Sen. Kiki Traylor has decided to petition onto the August primary ballot. Traylor failed to win the required 10 percent of delegate votes at the assembly to get her name on the ballot. Afterwards, she said she would take some time to consider her next step, raising concerns among supporters that she’d gotten turned off to politics.
Traylor, a pediatrician, filled the seat vacated by Norma Anderson in January. In her first three months in the Senate, she witnessed the Deanna Hanna and Joe Stengel ethics fiascoes, enough to sour any statehouse newcomer. If her petition is successful, Traylor could face Mike Kopp and Justin Everett, another petitioner, in the August primary.
Julia C. Martinez (jmartinez@denverpost.com) is a member of The Denver Post editorial board.
