Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: November Election

Proposal to Make Colorado Ballot Measures Easier to Read Reaches November Ballot
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Proposal to Make Colorado Ballot Measures Easier to Read Reaches November Ballot

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette A ballot initiative that would require all ballot measures to be written at no higher than an eighth-grade reading level has qualified for the November ballot, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. The measure, backed by the group Advance Colorado, would also prohibit any state law from interfering with the provision by mandating that certain language appear in ballot initiatives. Advance Colorado submitted 176,224 signatures, of which 141,305 were deemed valid, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. To qualify for the ballot, an initiative needs at least 124,238 valid signatures. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
Douglas County School Board To Put $54 Million Tax Request Before Voters in November
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Douglas County School Board To Put $54 Million Tax Request Before Voters in November

By Nicholas Fogleman | The Denver Gazette The Douglas County School District board unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday to place a $54 million mill levy override on the November ballot, sending the funding request to voters after months of discussion about the district’s financial challenges. The proposed override comes as school districts across the Denver metro area grapple with budget pressures. Jefferson County Public Schools recently approved a $133 million mill levy override request for voters, citing similar concerns about funding and rising operational costs. The largest portion of Douglas County’s proposed measure, $21.4 million, would be dedicated to increasing compensation for teachers and staff by 4%. Throughout recent discussions, Superintenden...
Colorado Voters To Decide Whether To Cap State Income Tax At 4.4%
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Voters To Decide Whether To Cap State Income Tax At 4.4%

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Election officials on Thursday confirmed that the proposal to cap the state’s income tax at the current rate submitted signatures and voters will consequently decide its fate this November. The fight over tax rates is part of the tug and pull in Colorado between opposing political forces feuding over state revenue. One side of that fight argues that Colorado isn’t generating enough revenue to spend on state priorities, such as education. The competing side counters that the state already collects enough — but policymakers’ spending priorities are misplaced. The Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday cleared Initiative No. 232 after Advance Colorado, the group behind it, submitted more than 184,000 signatures to get it on the b...
Colorado Ballot Measure Would Protect Hunting and Fishing in State Constitution
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Ballot Measure Would Protect Hunting and Fishing in State Constitution

By Mike Krause | Complete Colorado DENVER–Colorado voters will decide in November whether to enshrine hunting and fishing as a constitutional right, after the secretary of state’s office on Wednesday confirmed Initiative #302 qualified for the general election ballot. Backers of the measure, formally titled “Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish,” turned in over 184,000 petition signatures, with state election officials declaring more than 145,000 of those as valid, easily clearing the roughly 124,000 signature threshold required for constitutional amendments, as well as the 2% per-district requirement in all 35 of Colorado’s state senate districts. The measure, backed by the newly formed T. Roosevelt Conservation Alliance, amends the Colorado Constitution to establish...
Colorado Voters Will Decide Right To Natural Gas in November
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Voters Will Decide Right To Natural Gas in November

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A citizen initiative that seeks to enshrine the right to natural gas has qualified for the November ballot, Colorado’s election office confirmed on Thursday. Petitions containing signatures for Initiative No. 177 were turned in to the Secretary of State’s Office for review in late June. On Thursday, the Secretary of State’s Office said 146,165 of the 189,508 signatures collected were valid, surpassing the threshold. The initiative from Advance Colorado establishes consumers’ right to purchase natural gas for cooking and heating their homes and businesses, as well as the right of distributors and utilities to sell natural gas to homes and businesses. “Natural gas is a clean, reliable and affordable form of energy...
Denver Ballot Measure Will Determine Xcel Partnership As Millions In Revenue Are At Stake
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver Ballot Measure Will Determine Xcel Partnership As Millions In Revenue Are At Stake

By: Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette This November, Denver voters will decide whether to renew the city’s longstanding franchise agreement with Xcel Energy. Members of the Denver City Council approved on Monday sending a proposed 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel that would deliver more than $180 million a year in franchise fees, infrastructure relocation savings and other undergrounding funds to the ballot. The vote was 10-2 with Councilmembers Shontel Lewis and Sarah Parady holding the two dissenting votes. “Denver has negotiated the strongest energy partnership agreement in the history of Colorado, and importantly, the benefits of this agreement and of being a franchisee extend far beyond any of the individual listed improvements and accomplishments,”...
Signature Gathering Intensifies As Colorado Ballot Battles Take Shape
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Signature Gathering Intensifies As Colorado Ballot Battles Take Shape

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER– A large-scale signature gathering effort is underway in Colorado as proponents rush to get numerous citizen-initiated ballot measures qualified for the November statewide election, with issues ranging from from a right to hunt and fish to capping the stat income tax rate. The conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado, for example, is hip-deep in the effort, with two measures already on the ballot and at least three others are in the signature gathering phase. Already on the ballot is “Penalties for Fentanyl Crimes,” a statutory change that reinstates certain penalties related to fentanyl that the Democrat-controlled legislature has weakened or removed over the years. A second measure, “Law Enforcement Reporting Requ...
Colorado Voters To Decide Future Of TABOR Refunds In November
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Voters To Decide Future Of TABOR Refunds In November

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER — For years, Democrats have been chipping away at Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) refunds while looking for ways to permanently disable the more than 30-year-old constitutional amendment that, among other things, limits growth of a portion of the state budge to a formula of population growth plus inflation.  Revenue collected over that limit must be refunded to taxpayers unless voters consent to forgoing refunds at the ballot box. This year, however, they may have found the way. The late session introduction and passage of Senate Bill 135 sends a question to the voters in November essentially ending TABOR rebates.  Proponents are using using school children and teachers to tug at the heart strings of Coloradans ...
Adams 12 asks taxpayers for $39.42M more in November vote
Fox31, Approved, Local

Adams 12 asks taxpayers for $39.42M more in November vote

By Heather Willard | Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — The Adams 12 Five Star Schools Board of Education unanimously approved the placement of a $39.42 million mill levy override on the November ballot at the board’s Wednesday night meeting. “We know the state’s not going to have a lot of money to help us out for next year,” Superintendent Chris Gdowski said in the district’s announcement of the placement. “So if we don’t help ourselves here in Adams 12, next year will be another difficult year when it comes to cuts.” The mill levy override will help pay for ongoing operating expenses, such as additional staffing and academic programming for students; salaries for teachers and support staff; and investments in safety and security personnel. The district also noted that it ranks nearl...