DENVER—Groups trying to amend the state constitution would have to gather at least 10 percent of their petition signatures in each of the state’s Congressional districts under a measure given initial backing by the Senate on Friday.
The requirement is part of a larger measure (Senate Concurrent Resolution 3) to ask voters to make it easier to pass statute changes at the ballot box but harder to pass constitutional amendments. Opponents range from Rep. Doug Bruce, R-Colorado Springs, who wrote the Taxpayers Bill of Rights amendment to environmental groups who helped pass an amendment boosting the use of renewable energy.
Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, said requiring signatures to be spread throughout the state would prevent the “tyranny of the majority of the Front Range” from imposing measures on the Eastern Plains. However, he said petition gatherers probably wouldn’t have to stray very far from the Interstate 25 corridor to gather enough signatures.
But Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, said it could allow one congressional district to block a measure from getting on the ballot if people in that single district opposed it. He said that wouldn’t be fair to voters elsewhere.
“I don’t think people on the Eastern Plains should be more powerful than the people in Boulder,” Tupa said.
The proposal comes from a committee convened by legislative leaders concerned that the constitution has grown too long. With amendments just as easy to pass as statute changes, activists usually pursue amendments because lawmakers can’t change them.
The measure would require that groups trying to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot collect 50 percent more signatures than those only proposing a statute change. Those statute changes couldn’t be touched by lawmakers for six years unless there is two-thirds support to do so. That usually requires bipartisan support.
The initial vote on the proposal was a voice vote and it still must pass another, recorded vote. It will need two-thirds support to stay alive.
