A leading state senator said Wednesday that proponents of a flawed constitutional amendment should stop pressuring the legislature and fix it themselves.
Democratic Senate President pro tem Peter Groff took aim at supporters of Amendment 41, which prevents most public officials and employees from receiving gifts worth more than $50.
The measure’s proponents should work on crafting a 2008 ballot measure to deal with the problems, which include a possible ban on children of government employees receiving some scholarships. It’s unconstitutional for lawmakers to change the measure, Groff said.
“I don’t know why Jared Polis, being a multimillionaire, doesn’t use his money to put a ballot initiative out there to fix this hot mess he created,” Groff said. “We told them this was going to happen, and they said, ‘Oh no, that’s not going to happen. You guys are just going to the extremes.”‘
Polis, one of the amendment’s leading proponents, said the language could have been clearer but lawmakers can legally pass a bill to fix the glitches.
“Legislators who are focusing on me and my role in the campaign are missing the boat. This is really about kids who might not get scholarships to go to college in the fall unless the legislature acts,” Polis said in a voice-mail message.
The Daniels Fund, a private foundation that gives college scholarships to low-income kids, is considering withholding awards to students whose parents are covered by the amendment.
“If we don’t get some clarification by our April selection deadline, then we will not provide scholarships to those students,” said Peter Droege, the fund’s spokesman.
Democratic state Rep. Rosemary Marshall of Denver said she will carry legislation to put the amendment’s provisions, such as the creation of an ethics commission, into state law. But, she said, it has not been decided whether the legislation will fix broader problems such as denied scholarships.
“I personally think this probably should be changed by the ballot,” she said. Lawmakers, she said, must be careful not to trample the intent of the voters.
Supporters released results of a poll of 400 voters that they said demonstrated that voters didn’t intend to limit scholarships when they passed Amendment 41. They intended to limit lobbyists’ influence on legislators.
Dawn Taylor Owens of Collegein Colorado.org, an online resource for students, said she received an informal opinion by the state attorney general Wednesday that said scholarships given by state programs like hers would not be affected by Amendment 41. That could mean two students recently awarded 9News Kids Who Care scholarships could accept them without worrying about their parents violating the amendment.
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at cfrates@denverpost.com or 303-954-1633.
