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Be prepared this fall for ad blitzes opposing the Colorado Promise Scholarships and touting the measure that would allow loosening of gambling laws and funnel new revenue to community colleges.
Campaign finance reports filed with the secretary of state by a Monday deadline showed heavy ad buys by Coloradans for a Stable Economy, the energy-industry funded group that opposes Initiative No. 113, the proposal to fund scholarships through an increase in the mineral severance tax.
Reports also showed big ad buys by Coloradans for Community Colleges, the casino-funded group supporting Initiative No. 121.
Neither measure has officially made the ballot yet. The deadline for petitions is Aug. 4.
Here’s a rundown on the latest fund raising and spending by campaign committees involved with the major education-related ballot measures. (Go to the bottom of this story to refresh your memory on what each initiative proposes.)
The Savings Account for Education group, which backs Initiative No. 126, the TABOR/Amendment 23 fix, has raised $192,110 and spent $159,156, much of that on petition circulating. It has $33,082 on hand.
SAFE has doubled its income since the last reporting deadline at the beginning of the month, but the bulk of that, $80,000, was given by the Denver Foundation, which previously gave $50,000. (Click here for an earlier story detailing the foundation’s involvement in the campaign.) Other recent donors include state Treasurer Cary Kennedy ($400) and Republican former state transportation director Tom Norton of Greeley ($1,000).
A Smarter Colorado, the main group supporting Gov. Bill Ritter’s severance tax/scholarship plan, has raised a total of $800,800, spent $508,388 and has $266,411 on hand. The group raised $350,000 and spent $352,427 in the most recent reporting period, with most of the spending on petition circulating and campaign consultants.
The big new donors were The Conservation Campaign for $35,000 and various arms of the Nature Conservancy with $339,541. (The amendment would funnel some of the severance revenue to environmental programs.)
Also supporting No. 113 is the Sierra Club State Action Fund / Colorado, which received $100,000 from the Sierra Club State Action Fund of Seattle and sent $99,000 with Grassroots Solutions of Minneapolis, a consulting firm.
Coloradans for a Stable Economy, which opposed No. 113, has raised $4 million and spent $3.1 million, with $836,419 on hand. It raised $400,000 and spent $2.9 million in the most recent reporting period, $2.6 million of that to Colorado Media Group for media buys. (We’ve already heard one radio commercial opposing the measures.)
The most recent contributions are $250,000 from Bill Barrett Corp. of Denver and $150,000 from Occidental Petroleum Corp. of Houston.
There’s also another entrant (or potential spoiler, depending on your point of view) in the severance tax sweepstakes, Initiative No. 120. It basically would freeze severance taxes where they are and direct some of that existing money to highways. It’s the brainchild of a group of Republican legislators.
The Better Roads Now Issue Committee has raised $300,000, spent $165,427 and has $165,427. All the contributions come from just three out-of-state oil companies, $100,000 from Berry Petroleum of Bakersfield, Calif., $100,000 from Occidental Oil and Gas of Los Angeles and $100,000 from Plains Exploration and Production of Houston. Most of the group’s money has been spent on petition gathering.
Coloradans for Community Colleges, which is pushing the gambling measure, has raised $3.8 million (all from about 14 casinos and related companies) and spent $3.5 million, much of it with an agencies for media buys. The group has $240,902 on hand. (Phil Fox, former executive at the Colorado Association of School Executives, received another $3,500 consulting fee from the campaign in the latest reporting period.)
Referendum O, placed on the ballot by the legislature, would change signature requirements for initiatives, is supported by Citizens for Constitutional Common Sense. It still is reporting no income and no spending.
Three labor-related measures also are of interest to the education community, if only because they are diverting the attention of teachers’ unions. Initiative 53 would ban the deduction of union dues from public employee paychecks, including those of teachers, and Initiative 59 would have the effect of limiting union political contributions. Amendment 47 is the “right-to-work” initiative.
Protect Colorado’s Future, the labor-backed group fighting all three, has raised about $2.4 million and spent about $1.6 million, with $811,026 on hand. Much of its spending has been on lawyers and campaign consultants.
Clean Government Colorado, the support group, hasn’t filed a report since the beginning of July. (See previous story.)
Primer on proposed initiatives
Here’s what each of the three major education measures would do if passed:
Initiative No. 126 would retain the TABOR requirement that voters approve tax increases. But the surplus state revenues that now are supposed to be refunded to taxpayers instead would be diverted to the State Education Fund, creating a larger dedicated source of money for schools.
A “savings account” also would be created within the fund, and that account could be tapped only by a two-thirds legislative vote in case of economic downturn and declining state revenues. In turn, most of Amendment 23’s requirements for automatic annual increases in K-12 spending would be repealed after 2011.
Initiative No. 113 would eliminate an existing property tax-severance tax offset for energy and mining companies and increase the tax on some low-volume wells. The additional revenue would be used for college scholarships, wildlife habitat, renewable energy programs and transportation and water projects in communities affected by energy development. It’s a proposed change in state law, not a constitutional amendment. Estimated first-year revenue is $290 million, about $157 million for the scholarships.
Initiative No. 121 would allow voters in Colorado gambling towns (Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek) to increase bet limits and casino hours, as well as add new games. If such changes were made, up to $78 million in additional revenue would go to the state’s community and local-district colleges.
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