Fall 2010

No to Amendments 60,61 and Proposition 101
By Ron Ludwig

Amendments 60, 61 and Proposition 101 have added to the polarization of Colorado’s political landscape.   While many people are in favor of a smaller—or limited—government, this goal should not be achieved by decimating the budgets for essential services such as education, fire and police protection and safety-net social services.

The Conflict Center’s Board of Directors is urging the defeat of all three measures. This legislation will negatively impact funding coming into many nonprofits including The Conflict Center, and will most likely eliminate funding  in the area of social and emotional educational services, such as the  classes taught in schools and communities by The Conflict Center.  More importantly, the Board recognizes that these measures will have a disproportionately negative impact on the low income populations we serve.

 

The Bell Policy Center states, “Amendments 60 and 61 and Prop 101 are deceptive measures that will blow a gaping $6.5 billion hole in state and local services, put tens of thousands of Coloradans out of work and make it much more expensive to build roads, schools and other public assets.” 

· Amendment 60- Colorado School Districts must cut property tax rates in half by 2020 requiring the state to compensate for decreases in local revenue out of the state General Fund. This amendment will drastically cut school funding and will likely result in the elimination of many programs designed to improve the quality of education our children receive, including TCC’s school-based social and emotional education services.

· Proposition 101- cuts state taxes from 4.63 percent to 3.5 percent over time, reduce vehicle registration fees and taxes, and will impede the ability to provide for public services and meet infrastructure needs.  This proposition could result in funding cuts to both state and local programs that serve at-risk populations such as The Conflict Center’s Emotional Intelligence and Critical Decision Making youth classes, which prevent initial or subsequent involvement in the juvenile justice system.

· Amendment 61 - would prohibit the state of Colorado from issuing debt of any kind and would make Colorado the only state without this authority.  Local governments would only be allowed to borrow items of value if approved by the voters. Amendment 61 will eliminate funding for not only physical infrastructure such as roads, dams and services, and could also possibly cut funding for educational services such as those provided by The Conflict Center, which serve to strengthen our community and improve overall quality of life in the Denver area and across Colorado.

The Conflict Center, like many other non-profits, works in partnership with city and state governments to provide services in their communities.  Amendments 60 and 61, and Proposition 101 will adversely affect non-profits state wide by simultaneously decreasing available funding for services and increasing community need for services.  This legislation places more of a burden on nonprofits to provide services in communities where a decreased tax base could result in the elimination of much needed civil services such as police protection, and produce extraordinarily high student-teacher ratios in classrooms. 

These measures cut school funding in half, forcing the termination of 8,000 classroom teachers and push students into classrooms that are already overwhelmed, with the severest impact at the K–3 levels.

According to Coloradoans For Responsible Reform, “A conservative estimate indicates the new deficit will cost Colorado more than 73,000 jobs, a majority being private sector jobs in transportation, health care and construction. These losses are in addition to the 110,000 jobs already lost in Colorado over the past eighteen months due to the recession.”

 

The cumulative and destructive nature of these three measures ensures that Colorado will surrender its competitive standing to attract large and small employers alike, resulting in economic stagnation.

 

To learn more about these legislative measures join the Colorado Civic Engagement Roundtable at one of their informative ballot forums.