When state lawmakers failed to address the growing tension between energy companies and landowners, Plan B was already in the works: Ask the voters.
On issues ranging from immigration and gay marriage to money in politics, voters and advocacy groups are also hoping to put questions on the November ballot to settle conflicts that the Legislature didn’t.
Friday afternoon, the last day to join that process, more than 120 proposals had been filed at the state Capitol but not all of them will end up on the ballot.
John Gorman, a Glenwood Springs real estate agent, thinks voters will be receptive to his proposal to make sure oil and gas developers pay the “fair value” of damages they cause to surface property owners.
The industry did agree that it should pay some damages but Gorman said they were able to stop a stronger bill from passing.
“It’s one thing to lobby the Legislature, it may be another thing to lobby the people of Colorado,” said Gorman, who filed his three-line proposal about a month before the bill was killed following opposition from home builders, the real estate industry and environmentalists.
Petitions to ban gay marriage and bar most state services for illegal immigrants have already been filed but a legal challenge has kept backers of the immigration proposal from beginning to collect the approximately 100,000 signature they’ll need to be sure of making the ballot.
Eminent domain critics are collecting signatures for a constitutional amendment in case state lawmakers fail to pass a proposal that prevents the government from taking property to turn it over to developers.
Still waiting for reviews are proposals on emergency contraception and cash gifts to lawmakers.
“Almost anyone who’s lost at the Legislature … is now turning to the ballot in Colorado,” said Bob Loevy, a political science professor at Colorado College.
