Lawmakers: Bill's defeat leads to 'Blagojevich-ization' of Colorado politics

Face The State Staff Report

The House State Affairs Committee killed a bill Tuesday that would have made it illegal to remove a ballot initiative in exchange for compensation of any kind.

Stephens and BuckFTS Staff Photo

Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, sponsored the legislation in response to a 2008 pre-election deal between business leaders and unions that resulted in the removal of four anti-business initiatives from the statewide ballot in exchange for $3 million to the unions.

In exchange for withdrawing what opponents called four “Poison Pill Amendments,” union backers convinced the business community to fund a multi-million dollar fight against Amendments 47, 49, and 54, three initiatives that cumulatively sought to strengthen government transparency and threaten union power. The last-minute arrangement came after weeks of backroom negotiations between union backers, Gov. Bill Ritter, and Colorado Concern, an alliance of top business executives. Stephens previously likened the deal to extortion.

Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, testified in favor of the bill. He was a primary backer of Amendment 49 and told the committee that on the eve of the deadline to remove initiatives from the ballot, he was offered $800,000 to pull the initiative. “What an idiot I was not to take that $800,000,” Caldara said, sarcastically adding he now has incentive to put bad measures on the ballot in order to gain financial benefit. Committee member Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver, was notably disturbed by Caldara's story and suggested further investigation into his allegations.

But the bill also had its share of detractors. Democrat go-to attorney Mark Grueskin, who served as legal counsel for the unions during the 2008 election, testified in opposition. He argued the bill would violate free speech by banning a monetary exchange for removing a ballot measure. “Like it or not money is speech under both [the Colorado and U.S.] Constitutions,” he said.

Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, who also spoke before the committee, fired back at Grueskin. “The act of paying someone money might be an act of free speech, but it might also be an act of bribery," he testified.

The bill was ultimately killed on a 6 to 5 vote, with McCann being the only Democrat to vote in favor. Stephens was disappointed, but said she would continue to pursue the issue. "Now that we know those are the terms, we have a new Chicago-style politics," she said.

Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, was the bill's Senate sponsor and called its defeat the "Blagojevich-ization" of Colorado.