DENVER—Anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce says a complaint filed with the secretary of state’s office that ties him to three anti-tax measures is frivolous and meant to scare people into voting against the proposals.
The Denver Post reports the complaint filed Monday by a coalition opposed to Amendments 60, 61, and Proposition 101 accuses Bruce of illegally using Active Citizens Together to fund signature drives. The complaint filed by attorney Mark Grueskin of Coloradans for Responsible Reform alleges that Bruce wrote more than $100,000 of checks through the charity, reviewed completed petitions and kept them in his house.
Bruce said the statute of limitations has run out and the complaint is meant to keep his name in the news as the “boogeyman” to motivate voters to oppose the measures.
“Would you be more likely to oppose them if Douglas Bruce was involved?” Bruce asked Tuesday. “You could just as well say Charles Manson, Attilla the Hun.”
Colorado requires groups spending more than $200 to register as an issue committee and report contributions and expenditures, which ACT or any other group supporting the measures didn’t do. Groups such as ACT can advocate for legislation or ballot issues as long as it’s not a “substantial part” of the group’s activities.
Bruce sidestepped the allegations during an interview with The Associated Press.
“True or not, there is no basis for filing that suit,” Bruce said, referring to the complaint.
Secretary of State Bernie Beuscher said he’ll ask the Legislature to examine how the groups evaded their disclosure obligations.
Bruce wrote the 1992 Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights that limits government spending and taxing in Colorado.
The secretary of state’s office wanted Bruce to testify earlier this year in an administrative case looking into who financed the three ballot measures. Contempt charges against him were dropped, but he was compelled to answer question from the group.
“We now know, finally, where the money—or a significant portion of it—came from,” Grueskin told the Post. “And it went directly into the initiative efforts that were required to put these three measures on the ballot.”
The initiatives would limit the ability of local and state governments to borrow and spend money, which opponents say would cost 74,000 jobs.
A Colorado administrative court ruled in June that Bruce helped get the proposals on the ballot and that three other people involved should have disclosed their contributions. Those three people were fined $2,000 each for not reporting their contributions but Bruce wasn’t.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
