No Campaign Finance Reports for Amendments 60, 61 and Prop 101 Lead to Fines, Then Waivers and Questions

Three initiatives made it onto the 2010 state ballot without their registered agents ever filing a campaign finance report, implausibly indicating that no money was raised or spent in support of the initiatives. The agents said they received advice from a Mr. X, later determined to be Douglas Bruce, father of the TABOR amendment.

The registered agents were Louis Schroeder, Jeff Gross, and Russell Haas of Amendments 60, 61 and Prop 101 respectively. Though each had a co-agent, Administrative Law Judge Robert Spencer determined in June of 2010 that these three men were the primary sponsors, fined each one $2000, and ordered them to submit the overdue campaign finance records. Still, it was more than a year before the first records were filed. Meanwhile the Secretary of State’s office sent repeated notices of ever-increasing fines for not submitting the records.

After racking up over $20,000 each in fines by the fall of 2011, the men finally submitted the finance records, and then requested and were granted waivers by the Secretary of State. In the end, the $20,000+ in fines was reduced to $50. Colorado Public Radio, as part of the State Integrity Investigation, recently questioned the decision to grant the waivers.

Legal Challenge to TABOR May Proceed

On July 30 US District Judge William Martinez ruled that a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of TABOR may proceed. Attorney General John Suthers, representing Governor Hickenlooper, unsuccessfully argued that the plaintiffs didn’t have legal standing to bring forward the lawsuit.

As reported here in May of last year, a bipartisan group of plaintiffs filed suit. The judge declared that the 13 plaintiffs who are current members of the Colorado General Assembly have standing to sue.

Judge Martinez did agree with AG Suthers that TABOR does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution.

David Skaggs, a former US congressman who represented the Boulder area, is one of the attorneys working pro bono for the plaintiffs. The trial will likely begin in early 2013.

A form of TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) was on the ballot in 1988 and 1990 before it passed 54% to 46% as Issue 1 in 1992.

FY2011 Casino Tax Rates Reinstated for FY2013

Each May the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission reviews the tax structure for casinos. In 2011 the commission approved a 5% tax cut. The following month they were asked to reconsider the tax cuts but refused. In July of 2011 Governor Hickenlooper replaced all 5 commissioners. (See this blog's July 2011 entry.)

This past May the 5 new commissioners reinstated the former tax rates for fiscal year 2013. The maximum tax rate is 20%, the rate as of July 1, 2008. According to Amendment 50 passed by the voters in 2008, the maximum rate cannot exceed the July 1, 2008 rate unless the state’s voters approve an increase.