An 18-year-old brain-cancer survivor being advised to turn down a $1,100 award for her volunteer efforts may become the unofficial poster child for the problematic Amendment 41.
The grandparents of Kaela Mattson, who was set to receive the 9Kids Who Care Award this weekend, say they have decided she should forgo the $900 scholarship and $200 cash award for fear of violating the law. The problem: Her grandfather, her legal guardian, works for the state.
It’s precisely the doomsday scenario opponents of the ethics ballot measure warned Coloradans about last year – that the proposal portrayed as a crackdown on lobbying spending on legislators would have much broader fallout.
Elected officials, government workers and their families are now barred from accepting anything valued at more than $50 from anyone other than relatives or personal friends. Elected officials and government workers aren’t allowed to accept anything at all from lobbyists.
“Everybody is saying no, absolutely she cannot accept the award,” said Donna Mattson, Kaela’s grandmother and legal guardian.
Jenny Rose Flanagan of Common Cause, which helped author the amendment, said she is not sure “it’s a necessary conclusion” that Kaela’s acceptance of the award would violate the law.
But she said she hopes lawmakers will clarify such issues this year. Legislative leaders, however, are hesitant to broach the issue for fear they will be perceived as tampering with voter intent.
“There are probably not 10 voters who intended in voting for 41 to prohibit Kaela Mattson from some recognition that she so richly earned,” said Eric Sodermann, a consultant to groups pushing for clarifying legislation. “The intent of the voters was clear and was about gifts and lobbying – not about volunteering with cancer survivors.”
Kaela was nominated by a relative after racking up 800 hours of volunteer work at The Children’s Hospital, where she underwent surgery for a brain tumor when she was 14.
Donna Mattson said the family was getting excited about Saturday’s awards luncheon when they got a call about a week ago from Colorado’s CollegeInvest, which handles the $900 scholarship.
“All of a sudden she said, ‘Have you heard of Amendment 41? … Does anyone in your household work for the state?’ I said, ‘My husband works for the Department of Revenue.’ She said, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m going to have get ahold of the legal department.”‘
Donna Mattson said CollegeInvest has agreed to put the scholarship on hold for six months.
Staff writer Jeri Clausing can be reached at 303-954-1555 or jclausing@denverpost.com.
