A voter-approved measure intended to crack down on corrupting influences will make it illegal for professors to collect Nobel Prize money or the children of state employees to accept certain scholarships, the attorney general said Thursday.
Amendment 41 also will prohibit university employees from receiving gifts from relatives or friends on non-special occasions, such as a relative picking up the tab for a family vacation or a friend bringing an expensive bottle of wine to dinner.
Attorney General John Suthers, who analyzed the amendment at the request of University of Colorado president Hank Brown, said his review led to “some extremely unfortunate, yet unavoidable conclusions.”
“This is an absurd result,” he said.
The measure bans gifts of more than $50 to state officials, prevents lobbyists from buying a meal for an elected official and creates an ethics commission to investigate complaints.
It also imposes a two-year lobbying ban for outgoing state lawmakers.
Suthers’ office urged Brown to push lawmakers to send a “corrective measure” to the ballot, calling the new amendment “internally inconsistent” and “unclear.”
The consequences of the amendment, which passed overwhelmingly last month with 63 percent of the vote, were probably not intended by the voters or the people who wrote it, the attorney general’s office said.
“The ultimate goal of this measure – to achieve high ethical standards and transparency in government – is commendable, and I support it,” Suthers said. “Nonetheless, the specifics of the measure are very problematic.”
Seven state lawmakers who are term-limited or chose not to run for re-election resigned in the past month rather than get caught up in tough lobbying restrictions that could affect their current ability to do their jobs or hamstring future employment.
Lawyer Mike Feeley, a former minority leader of the Colorado Senate, said he and his law firm, Isaacson Rosenbaum P.C., are working with state Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver, to find a solution.
Common Cause, which drafted the amendment, said on its website that the measure was intended to prevent “personal financial gain through public office.”
But the attorney general’s office said that without clarification from the legislature, a court or the new ethics commission, “we must apply the language literally.”
That means university professors may not accept cash awards worth more than $50 from a person or corporation. The Nobel Foundation would count as a corporation, according to the attorney general’s interpretation.
The children of government employees may not accept scholarships based solely on high school performance under the new measure. They could accept scholarships that require specific future performance.
The amendment also would bar a university employee from receiving aid from entities such as the Make-a-Wish Foundation or the American Red Cross.
Brown said Suthers’ analysis exposes where the amendment is vague and points to a solution.
“The key here is to honor the intent of the voters and the folks who drafted the legislation,” he said.
The amendment was “never intended to be the exclusive source of direction” and requires legislation to clarify it, said Mark Grueskin, a Denver lawyer hired by Coloradans for Clean Government after the election to help draft legislation.
“I frankly think that the attorney general being so candid about the fact that his opinion produces absurd results has done the legislature and the public a favor,” Grueskin said. “No court would ever say that the people, in amending the constitution, intended to make absurd results.”
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
