Amendment 54's Lucero: "Sad Day For Colorado"
Face The State Staff Report
Union bosses struck a deal with members of the business community Thursday, agreeing to pull four measures from the ballot in an act some liken to extortion.
Hamill, Knox, and IsenbergFTS Staff Photo
In exchange for withdrawing what opponents called four “Poison Pill Amendments,” union backers convinced the business community to fund a multimillion dollar fight against Amendments 47, 49, and 54, three initiatives that cumulatively 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.
The deadline to withdraw measures from the ballot was 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Hotelier Walter Isenberg and Pat Hamill, CEO and founder of Oakwood Homes, both board members at Colorado Concern, led the effort to raise the funds needed to satisfy the unions’ conditions for removing their measures from the ballot.
Also on hand for the announcement of the deal was statewide AFL-CIO chief Mike Cerbo, business heavyweights Dan Ritchie and Bill Coors, and lead negotiator for the deal, power lobbyist Ted Trimpa. Coors' great-nephew Jonathan Coors is backing the most targeted of the three initiatives, Amendment 47.
Curiously absent, however, was Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce President Joe Blake, who had distanced himself from the deal after increased public scrutiny in recent days.
The unions are expected to receive at least $3 million from the business community. Jess Knox, executive director for the union coalition Protect Colorado’s Future, was tight-lipped on just how much money he expected unions to receive from big business. When pressed about the exact amount, Knox simply said, “We’re going to do everything we can, using every tactic we can, to defeat these three initiatives.”
Hamill, who said it was “a historic and proud day for Colorado,” attributed the success of the deal to Ritter, saying, “None of this would have happened without [him]."
CU Regent Tom Lucero, the lead backer of Amendment 54 and a staunch opponent of the deal, agreed with Hamill on the second point.
“None of this would have happened if Ritter didn’t sign an executive order last year,” said Lucero. “I hold him ultimately responsible.”
Ritter signed the controversial executive order late last November granting a form of collective bargaining to Colorado government employees for the first time ever in the state’s history. At the time, the state’s two largest newspapers, The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News denounced the order. The Post even ran a rare front-page editorial against the move, indicting Ritter for sidestepping the legislature and comparing him to former Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa.
Lucero said the type of behavior he saw Thursday is exactly what he hopes to curb with Amendment 54.
“This is precisely what we’re trying to prevent with 54 - backroom deals,” Lucero added. “This deal took place behind closed doors to get initiatives on the ballot in order to extort money from the business community. It’s a sad day in Colorado when the governor, the business community and unions meet to buy people off."
Amendment 54, being sold as a measure to clean up government, would significantly limit how contractors with non-competitive, no-bid contracts with the government could contribute to campaigns.
Most of the rhetoric coming from the union backers and business leaders, however, was directed at Amendment 47.
Kelley Harp, communications director for A Better Colorado, the group promoting 47, said Thursday’s move was just part of an elaborate union scheme to beat his group's ballot proposal.
“Unions must have realized what we’ve know all along," Harp said. "The union’s measures were poorly crafted and represent a failed attempt at getting our initiative off the ballot.”
Amendment 47 would make Colorado a right-to-work state, prohibiting unions from forcing workers to join their ranks as a condition of employment.
In response to the deal, two Colorado GOP lawmakers announced that they will be sponsoring legislation making it illegal in future elections to remove a ballot proposal in exchange for money. Sen. Mike Kopp of Littleton and Rep. Amy Stephens of Monument both said they were disgusted by the deal and called it extortion.