Colorado Dems "rules for thee but not for me" on ballot titles. The Center for Biological Diversity. And calling Western Slope Conservative Women.
Rules for thee but not for me ...
I have posted a quite a few things about the measures that the Assembly has referred to the ballot recently. Specifically, let's focus in on Prop HH, the coming property tax measure from Polis et. al. and the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment.
Critics of both referred measures claim that the Assembly plays by different rules when it comes to ballot titles and language for referred measures than you or I would as citizens if we do an initiative.
To see one of the hot spots, take a look at screenshot 1. This comes from the Ballot Title for the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment and I underlined the bit that causes the heartburn. If you look at the tone of the language, if you dug no deeper, it's clear what you're to do here.
In order to save children and puppies and orphans, in order to save our heroic firefighters you must vote to repeal Gallagher. Thankfully, your vote to do so will not cost you anything!
We all know differently now. Repealing Gallagher has started costing us plenty (and will continue to do so).
Now, look at screenshot 2. This is the ballot language for Prop HH, Polis' property tax scheme. Again, read the language. You'll see the same wording here (kittens, puppies, fire departments, schools). You'll also note some things that are patently incorrect.
This will not (REPEAT WILL NOT) reduce taxes. It will decrease the increase.
There is no Proposition HH cap. There is a TABOR cap on excess revenue. Spell it with me T-A-B-O-R.
Were you or I to try and title an initiative this way, we'd get our butts handed to us by the Title Board. Our elected representatives, however, are free to play games like this without any sort of check on their framing or propagandistic wording.
Jon Caldara (from the Independence Institute) and Hilleary Waters recently filed an initiative to try and require that referred measures go through the Title Board process so that their titles would be set to the same standards that you and I face with initiatives.
For more info on that, see the first link below (Secretary of State's Initiative Tracker) and scroll down until you find Initiative #24 under "Denied Title Setting".
As is hinted at above by the location of the Initiative on the Secretary of State's board denied a title for this initiative. In other words, the effort to hold lawmakers to the same standards of forthrightness and legality that you and I face got shut down.
If you'd like more information as to why, I included a link to the audio from that hearing second below. The cool thing about this audio file is that there are time stamps corresponding to the various initiatives so you needn't search and fast forward.
Go to the box on the left hand side and scroll down until you find Initiative #24 and click there. The audio file will skip to the right spot.
Fair is fair and the system should have the same rules for all on our ballot, not "rules for thee but not for me" when it comes to our elected officials.
I thank Mr. Caldara for trying and ask him to please consider trying again. I urge you to do your part as a citizen and read your ballot carefully (and to remind others that the language there can be misleading).
In fact, I would go so far as to say that, in the case of the Assembly lately, I believe it is intentionally so.
https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/
https://csos.granicus.com/player/clip/377?view_id=1&redirect=true&h=f0aff54d05746292d0c2c9a5899d391b
Related: Mr. Murrey’s Explainer on the lawsuits underway against Prop HH
Center For Biological Diversity (CBD) ...
If you have read this page long enough, and have taken note of posts on environmentalists suing re. oil and gas, pollution, and, most recently, feed lots, the name above will be a familiar one.
CBD has been at the center of a number of lawsuits and has developed a pattern of suing the government, saying "suing on a technicality" would not be accurate, on rule or part of a rule in order to meet what might otherwise be policy goals done through the legislature. It can also use these lawsuits as fundraising.
For example, there is a rule that says the Feds must respond to petitions under the Endangered Species Act within 90 days or they can be sued for damages.** CBD makes a cottage industry of this practice: flooding the Feds with petitions and then raking in settlements. It then uses those settlements to help fund its other activities.
Activities such as those I have posted about here in Colorado.
It is perfectly okay to hold views that I don't agree with. I do want to pass along a world that still functions and is clean and beautiful to my daughter and others. I also am a pragmatist and realize that I need to live in the here and now. As such, I may not agree with CBD, but they're welcome to their thoughts about the environment and wildlife, etc.
I also think that it's perfectly okay to advocate for and seek those things you believe in, that includes turning to the courts to seek redress or to fix a rule that's broken.
There is a critical difference here for what CBD is doing, however. They are using the courts as a weapon to try and institute policy that is far enough from the mainstream that it would be challenging at best to further their agenda by the normal means of societal persuasion and policy change.
--Instead of seeking legislative change about, say, feedlots and how they're managed/regulated, CBD goes to the courts to seek judgments to burden those operations beyond their current regulation. This happens without any specific complaint against any specific operator; i.e. no one is alleging a rule violation here, they just want stricter rules and want to go outside the normal process to do it.
--Like an ambulance-chasing lawyer who sues everyone from the CEO to the janitor to drum up funds for expert witnesses and etc, CBD works the rules and uses multiple lawsuits to take your tax dollars to help it fund its agenda.
Whatever your thoughts about oil and gas, feedlots, the environment, wildlife, I would hope we can agree that shady tactics like this do CBD no credit and do no credit to the things that they supposedly hold dear.
In the interest of fairness I wanted to offer you some resources if you want to read more. I wanted specifically to offer one that was complimentary to CBD and also to let their own website speak for itself. Below you'll find links to a group that doesn't like CBD, one that does, and the group's own site. I recommend reading them all in the interest of balance.
**This is pure rumor, I have seen no one actually claim this as their intent, but I can't help but wonder at efforts to add animals to the Endangered Species list or keep them there. Are these merely to add more arrows in the quiver of organizations like CBD?
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/center-for-biological-diversity/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwmtGjBhDhARIsAEqfDEcn7tRJzs6jvJhxTxGWooY6gnVIb0FPD1inqSF0jo7aUGH_uHQXRWUaAjSSEALw_wc
https://greatnonprofits.org/org/center-for-biological-diversity-inc?gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmtGjBhDhARIsAEqfDEc-f6dw4hlSA25FAWZCirm9woFkvbWk5ETnQTOukZyh8XKKuxUKQ54aAjJ4EALw_wcB
Attention Western Slope Conservative Women ...
If you live in or near the Grand Junction area and are a woman, the Colorado Women's Alliance is coming to your area on the 22nd and 23rd with a couple events you might be interested in.
They are paired and concern healthcare and also how you can (if you've a mind to) get involved in your community and/or public office.
I have posted things from this group in the past because they are doing good things at helping get conservative women involved and helping them speak up in this state (something we need in Colorado). I will continue to do so as I see them.
If this sounds like you, or if you know someone who does, give the links below a look.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-cost-of-colorado-healthcare-have-you-seen-any-savings-tickets-643980602317
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/colorado-women-grow-your-influence-join-us-in-grand-junction-on-623-tickets-645495854477