Amendment 54 -- Campaign Contributions from Certain Government Contractors

For any holder of a government contract valued at $100,000 or more which had fewer than 3 bidders, the officers, trustees, directors and major shareholders of the company or labor union and their extended families (e.g. grandparent, stepsister, niece, spouse’s child, domestic partner) would be prohibited from making any contributions to political parties or non-federal candidates for the duration of the contract and the subsequent two years. A database would be created and maintained at the state level to enforce these provisions. Financial contributors to ballot issues would be prohibited from entering into contracts related to the ballot issue. Any registered voter could file a complaint. Penalties include ineligibility to receive contracts for three years and removal of elected officeholders who received contributions. (Under current law, collective bargaining agreements are not considered no-bid agreements.)

Unwarranted CONSTITUTIONAL Change – ADDS Sections 2 and 15-17 to Article XXVIII and AMENDS Section 13 (regarding the date the change would take effect) in Article XXVIII

Recommendation: NO
The provision that applies to the extended families is enough to make this proposal worthy of outright rejection. The penalties are severe, and free-speech rights are curtailed because affected people are so limited in their ability to make campaign donations. If it were to pass, it would either suppress financial involvement in politics or it would bring extended families together because you would have to know what almost all your relatives are doing in order to make sure that you were not violating the constitution. (This amendment brings back the bad vibes engendered by Amendment 41 -- passed in 2006 -- which applied to giving “gifts” to any non-federal public employee or a member of his or her family and whose violations were solely complaint-driven.)


Website for Yes side (Clean Government Colorado)
http://www.cleangovernmentcolorado.com/

Website for No side (Protect Colorado’s Future)
No initiative-specific website found, but some info at website below.
http://www.protectcoloradosfuture.org/


Amendment 54 (Approved ballot title below)

Campaign Contributions from Certain Government Contractors

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning restrictions on campaign contributions, and, in connection therewith, prohibiting the holder of contracts totaling $100,000 or more, as indexed for inflation, awarded by state or local governments without competitive bidding ("sole source government contracts"), including certain collective bargaining agreements, from making a contribution for the benefit of a political party or candidate for elective office during the term of the contracts and for 2 years thereafter; disqualifying a person who makes a contribution in a ballot issue election from entering into a sole source government contract related to the ballot issue; and imposing liability and penalties on contract holders, certain of their owners, officers and directors, and government officials for violations of the amendment?

Yes ________________ No ________________


To see the full text of the proposed measure, click here, then click on “2008 State Ballot Information Booklet” at the top of the page.