Posted on 11/02/2005 6:05:50 AM PST by RockyMtnMan
DENVER - Referendum C won in the court of public opinion Tuesday as Colorado voters approved the measure to allow the state to keep $3.7 billion that otherwise would have been returned to taxpayers.
The election was marked by a healthy turnout and marred by ballot shortages at many El Paso County precincts. After precincts ran out of ballots, the county’s results were delayed before being added to state totals, adding to the suspense early in the night.
The measure appeared to be winning by about a 53-47 percent margin statewide. El Paso County voters were rejecting Referendum C by about the same margin.
The outcome of a companion measure, Referendum D, remained too close to call. The measure would allow the state to issue $2 billion in bonds for highway projects, school building repairs and pensions funds.
Republican Gov. Bill Owens, who bucked many in his own party by backing Referendum C, said, “I think this is a victory for fiscal responsibility. Once again, Colorado voters have shown they are the ones in charge, and they voted for the future of Colorado.”
Referendum C mandates a five-year timeout from constitutional spending limits imposed by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, a 1992 measure authored by El Paso County Commissioner Douglas Bruce.
State economists estimate that the measure will let government keep $3.7 billion in surplus tax money that would otherwise have been refunded to taxpayers. The money is earmarked for education, transportation and health care.
Referendum C also changes the way TABOR’s spending and revenue caps are calculated to ease the impact of economic downturns on the state budget.
Owens has called TABOR’s “ratchet effect” — meaning TABOR ratchets down spending limits during recessions — a flaw in the amendment that needed to be fixed.
Bruce, who campaigned against Referendum C, said he was surprised that voters believed “lies” from people such as Owens that failure to pass Referendum C would result in severe cuts to state services.
“That’s what this election is about,” Bruce said. “Do you want to be free, or do you want Big Brother to take care of you?”
Bruce has vowed to file a lawsuit if Referendum C passed. In response to the threat, House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, quipped, “There is an old Arabic saying: The dog barks, but the caravan moves on.”
Jon Caldara, the Denver radio talk show host who is director of the Goldenbased Independence Institute, predicted Referendum D will fail and said, “I’ll take that half-loaf rather than no loaf at all.”
Caldara praised political leaders who opposed the measure including U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, saying they did so at significant political risk. Beauprez is running for the GOP nomination for governor.
“The entire political infrastructure was against the taxpayer tonight,” Caldara said. “We stood up to them, and we ought to be damn proud of that.”
Another reason for the passage of Referendum C was strong support from Denver media, including the city’s two daily newspapers, Caldara said. The Denver Post on Sunday published a rare frontpage editorial endorsing “yes” votes on the measures.
Bruce’s lawsuit threat has a familiar ring. He has frequently sued government over alleged violations of the constitution, but most of his lawsuits have failed.
The Referendum C & D campaign was expensive. Bruce Benson, co-chair of the Vote Yes on C and D, said supporters raised $7.5 million. Millions more were spent by the opponents.
But when the General Assembly convenes in January, there will be more room in the budget.
How much room depends on whether Referendum D also passes, but it was so close late Tuesday that some officials were predicting the outcome would result in an automatic recount.
As the evening wound down at the Referendum C victory party, Benson mused that the issue had created strange political bedfellows.
Republicans and Democrats who don’t often cross paths on election nights mingled over cocktails awaiting the results.
“Some of the folks here I don’t spend a lot of time with, and I never thought I would,” he said, pointing to a row of Democrats.
The major political rift is within the GOP ranks. Bruce and other El Paso County politicians had said that Republicans who supported Referendum C were RINOS — Republicans in Name Only.
How long it will take for bruised egos to heal remains to be seen.
For Democrats, the outcome is plainly a victory because virtually every elected Democrat in the state supported the measure.
I predict a pay raise for our state "leaders" before this abomination sunsets.
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