Face The State Staff Report
Amendment 59, a proposed ballot initiative marketed as a way to increase state education funding, is benefiting from a cash infusion coming from a coalition of organizations seeking to gut Colorado's Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
The initiative, championed by term-limited Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff, will specifically ask voters to forfeit their access to future tax refunds in years where tax revenue growth exceeds growth over 6% under TABOR provisions. The existing state constitutional amendment stipulates refunds must be returned to taxpayers subject to a current five-year timeout approved by voters in 2005 through Referendum C. Romanoff was one of the architects of Ref. C, which ended up generating far more revenue than was initially predicted.
Amendment 59 has received significant financial support from some obvious sources like the Colorado Education Association. The statewide teachers' union has donated $92,638.02 so far.
Meanwhile, the campaign has also received major donations from organizations that have no visible public connection or interest to education. The Colorado Health Foundation has made the campaign's largest donation, $200,000 in July. The Colorado Hospital Association chipped in $25,000, while the Colorado Medical Society and Colorado Community Health Network both gave $5,000, according to filings made with Colorado Secretary of State.
Aimee Rathburn, a non-profit fundraiser and community activist from Denver, says voters should beware of how Romanoff and State Treasurer Cary Kennedy are selling them SAFE.
"The only way they can get voters to open the state budget is to lie and say it's about education," Rathburn said. "It's not about education, it's about growing the state government and Cary Kennedy admitted it."
Rathburn pointed to an e-mail she received from Kennedy soliciting funds for SAFE. In the message the state Treasurer writes, "[SAFE] creates the single best opportunity to improve funding for education in Colorado and also relieve pressure on higher education, health care, transportation and other core services."
"Every family - every person - has had to cut back their spending because of high gas and food prices, why is it the state government gets to spend more?" Rathburn said.
According to CHF's Web site, it is a “nonprofit, tax-exempt organization devoted to improving health and health care in Colorado, Its contributions more than double those made so far by the CEA.
CHF spokesman Chris Power Bain was open about the foundation’s involvement with the campaign.
“We hope [the proposal] will untangle fiscal knots created by conflicting amendments like TABOR and Amendment 23,” said Bain. “Without it, cuts in priority spending for healthcare will be inevitable.”
Amendment 23, approved by voters in 2000, created the State Education Fund and mandated an increase in funding each fiscal year for K-12 education.
The new proposal would repeal 23, which was sold as an education fix-all and in practice gives power to the legislature to appropriate money from the State Education Fund. When Romanoff announced his decision to head the initiative campaign he said he was doing so, however, to bypass the legislature.
"I think to try to get it through the Legislature would be and exercise in futility," Romanoff said at a press conference unveiling the proposal in early May.
Amendment 59 also has received significant funds from some other very unlikely sources, such as the Colorado Bar Association.
CBA Deputy Executive Director Greg Martin says his group also had TABOR in its crosshairs when it donated $25,000 to the campaign in late August.
“This is one step to take away constraints on the legislature for making judicial funds available,” he said. “Our interest is to help clean up the TABOR mess.”
Also chipping in to see Amendment 59 make it into the state Constitution is the Newmont Mining Corporation and former oilman Thomas Congdon who gave $15,000 and $20,000, respectively. These donations came within weeks of Romanoff opining in favor of a cleaner evironment and the "new energy economy."
"If this is just about education, these donors don't have a dog in this fight," Rathburn added.