IT IS TIME TO RAISE THE BAR
By David Skaggs
POSTED: 06/11/2016 07:45:45 PM MDT
IT IS TIME TO RAISE THE BAR After almost 140 years, Colorado’s constitution has been amended 150 times, runs to about 75,000 words (the U. S. Constitution as amended totals only 7,500 words) and is anything but succinct,” I recall studying “U.S. Government” in high school, many (57!) years ago. We spent some time on the U.S. Constitution and learned that in 1787 the Founders intended it to be a statement of fundamental principles and the basic architecture of a new national government. They left the details for Congress to consider and enact by statute. And, they made the Constitution very difficult to amend. And so, after nearly 230 years, the Constitution remains an admirably succinct document. It’s been amended only 27 times. When Colorado joined the Union in 1876, the state adopted a state constitution. It laid out the structure of Colorado’s government and also set the terms for its own amendment. Unlike the difficult steps needed to amend the U.S. Constitution (proposed by two-thirds vote of each house of Congress and ratified by threequarters of the states), our state charter can be changed with much less effort. Initially, proposed amendments were to be referred to the people only by the General Assembly (two-thirds of each house). Then, in 1910, the state constitution was changed to permit an amendment to be brought to a vote of the people by petition (initiative). It takes the signatures of five percent of the votes cast in the last election for secretary of state to place an amendment on the ballot. Final adoption requires a simple majority at a general election. The constitution provides the exact same process for initiating a change in statutory law.
That’s right, the same five percent, whether you want to change statute or the constitution. If you are going to the trouble of petitioning to change the law, of course you might as well amend the constitution and have your idea protected in the constitution, where unlike statutory law, the legislature can’t amend or repeal it. After almost 140 years, Colorado’s constitution has been amended 150 times, runs to about 75,000 words (the U. S. Constitution as amended totals only 7,500 words) and is anything but succinct. It includes such nonfundamental items as prohibiting leg-hold trapping of wildlife. The Colorado Constitution is among the easiest to amend of any of the 50 states. Special interests are always eager to take advantage of that fact to advance their, well, special interests. With enough money and often simplistic and misleading ballot titles, they can achieve what would rarely survive the more deliberate scrutiny of the General Assembly. Why is that? While the legislature may often be criticized, it does ensure that proposed changes in law are subjected to tough review and succeed only if a majority of elected representatives, reflecting the state’s diverse interests, agree. Compromise and their collective wisdom are useful and constructive. By comparison, constitutional changes that appear on the ballot by petition, often complicated ones, do not have to pass through any similar vetting process that examines intended - and unintended! - consequences. And, a ballot proposal can be drafted cleverly to appeal to individual voter self-interest, with no obligation for any of us (unlike our elected
representatives) to look at broader implications before casting a vote. With all this in mind, I am happy to support a proposal - itself necessarily a constitutional amendment - to “Raise the Bar, Protect Our Constitution.” The effort to get this proposal on the fall ballot is the result of a yearlong listening tour led by Colorado civic leaders called Building a Better a Colorado. They propose a simple solution. Petitions to change our constitution would have to gather signatures from each of the 35 state senate districts (but only two percent of the last election vote count), instead of just from population centers along the Front Range. All of Colorado deserves a say on how we amend our constitution, not just those in Denver. Then a ballot initiative would have to receive the approval of 55 percent of Colorado voters, instead of just half of them. This hardly makes it impossible to amend our constitution, it simply raises the bar. It assures that any proposed amendment has garnered some initial support statewide and will be enacted only if a larger majority of voters agree. (Importantly, existing provisions of the state constitution could be amended or repealed under the lower requirements in place when they were enacted.) You’ll be seeing petitions around town to put this well-crafted proposal before the voters in November. Please consider signing on. David Skaggs is a former congressman from Colorado’s 2nd District. He lives in Niwot.
“Our Constitution exists to UNITE us and PROTECT us … it is not for special interest clutter.” – Mayor Wellington Webb
PAID FOR BY RAISE THE BAR – PROTECT OUR CONSTITUTION
POSTED: 06/11/2016 07:45:45 PM MDT
IT IS TIME TO RAISE THE BAR After almost 140 years, Colorado’s constitution has been amended 150 times, runs to about 75,000 words (the U. S. Constitution as amended totals only 7,500 words) and is anything but succinct,” I recall studying “U.S. Government” in high school, many (57!) years ago. We spent some time on the U.S. Constitution and learned that in 1787 the Founders intended it to be a statement of fundamental principles and the basic architecture of a new national government. They left the details for Congress to consider and enact by statute. And, they made the Constitution very difficult to amend. And so, after nearly 230 years, the Constitution remains an admirably succinct document. It’s been amended only 27 times. When Colorado joined the Union in 1876, the state adopted a state constitution. It laid out the structure of Colorado’s government and also set the terms for its own amendment. Unlike the difficult steps needed to amend the U.S. Constitution (proposed by two-thirds vote of each house of Congress and ratified by threequarters of the states), our state charter can be changed with much less effort. Initially, proposed amendments were to be referred to the people only by the General Assembly (two-thirds of each house). Then, in 1910, the state constitution was changed to permit an amendment to be brought to a vote of the people by petition (initiative). It takes the signatures of five percent of the votes cast in the last election for secretary of state to place an amendment on the ballot. Final adoption requires a simple majority at a general election. The constitution provides the exact same process for initiating a change in statutory law.
That’s right, the same five percent, whether you want to change statute or the constitution. If you are going to the trouble of petitioning to change the law, of course you might as well amend the constitution and have your idea protected in the constitution, where unlike statutory law, the legislature can’t amend or repeal it. After almost 140 years, Colorado’s constitution has been amended 150 times, runs to about 75,000 words (the U. S. Constitution as amended totals only 7,500 words) and is anything but succinct. It includes such nonfundamental items as prohibiting leg-hold trapping of wildlife. The Colorado Constitution is among the easiest to amend of any of the 50 states. Special interests are always eager to take advantage of that fact to advance their, well, special interests. With enough money and often simplistic and misleading ballot titles, they can achieve what would rarely survive the more deliberate scrutiny of the General Assembly. Why is that? While the legislature may often be criticized, it does ensure that proposed changes in law are subjected to tough review and succeed only if a majority of elected representatives, reflecting the state’s diverse interests, agree. Compromise and their collective wisdom are useful and constructive. By comparison, constitutional changes that appear on the ballot by petition, often complicated ones, do not have to pass through any similar vetting process that examines intended - and unintended! - consequences. And, a ballot proposal can be drafted cleverly to appeal to individual voter self-interest, with no obligation for any of us (unlike our elected
representatives) to look at broader implications before casting a vote. With all this in mind, I am happy to support a proposal - itself necessarily a constitutional amendment - to “Raise the Bar, Protect Our Constitution.” The effort to get this proposal on the fall ballot is the result of a yearlong listening tour led by Colorado civic leaders called Building a Better a Colorado. They propose a simple solution. Petitions to change our constitution would have to gather signatures from each of the 35 state senate districts (but only two percent of the last election vote count), instead of just from population centers along the Front Range. All of Colorado deserves a say on how we amend our constitution, not just those in Denver. Then a ballot initiative would have to receive the approval of 55 percent of Colorado voters, instead of just half of them. This hardly makes it impossible to amend our constitution, it simply raises the bar. It assures that any proposed amendment has garnered some initial support statewide and will be enacted only if a larger majority of voters agree. (Importantly, existing provisions of the state constitution could be amended or repealed under the lower requirements in place when they were enacted.) You’ll be seeing petitions around town to put this well-crafted proposal before the voters in November. Please consider signing on. David Skaggs is a former congressman from Colorado’s 2nd District. He lives in Niwot.
“Our Constitution exists to UNITE us and PROTECT us … it is not for special interest clutter.” – Mayor Wellington Webb
PAID FOR BY RAISE THE BAR – PROTECT OUR CONSTITUTION
