Referendums C and D
Early voting continues today in Denver .
Here's Part V of the Rocky's series on the state budget effects of TABOR [October 20, 2005, "Refs C&D: Budget Breakdown
Moving off the streets"]. From the article, "The recession cut state tax revenues by $1.1 billion. Amendment 23 to the state constitution requires increased spending on K-12 education each year. At the same time, the prison population has ballooned and Medicaid rolls and costs have skyrocketed. As a result, other parts of the budget had to give. The legislature has tried to keep cuts to the state Department of Human Services budget to a minimum because it serves the most vulnerable Coloradans: abused children, the developmentally disabled, the mentally ill, the homeless. It also licenses child care providers, administers welfare and provides substance-abuse treatment to neglectful parents who would otherwise lose their children to foster care. It pays counties to run food stamp programs and Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor. Its total budget was cut 5.8 percent from 2003-04 to 2004-05 and recovered about one-third of that this year to reach $1.79 billion. To get through the recession, lawmakers cut mental health care for the poor who aren't eligible for Medicaid by $5.1 million, or 25 percent. They've cut substance-abuse treatment by $900,000, about 9 percent. They cut help to at least 1,200 of the 20,000 disabled people in programs that try to get them back into the work force."
Here's another story from the Rocky Mountain News about the Initiative 100 billboards [October 20, 2005, "Pot backers try again"]. They write, "A billboard promoting a pro-marijuana initiative on the Nov. 1 ballot is new, but advocates for victims of domestic violence haven't stopped fuming. 'Let's stop pretending that I-100 has anything to do with the issue of preventing domestic violence,' said Ellen Stein Wallace, executive director of SafeHouse Denver, a women's shelter and counseling center. 'The billboard is still misleading. All they did is put the lie into words instead of pictures.'"
Here's the coverage from the Denver Post [October 20, 2005, "Marijuana backers remove woman's billboard photo"].
Here's an article from the Rocky Mountain News dealing with the condition of state highways [October 20, 2005, "Study: 43% of roads in Colo. 'poor,' 'mediocre'"]. From the article, "The list, released Wednesday, was put together by the Road Information Project, a transportation advocacy group. The report concluded the average Colorado driver loses $1,577 a year through added costs of congestion (wasting gas and time) and safety hazards (cars being damaged by poor road conditions and accidents)."
Here's the coverage from the Denver Post [October 20, 2005, "Referendums hitch ride on road report"].
Opponents of Referendum C are saying that it's defeat will help in the fight to curb illegal immigration, according to the Rocky Mountain News [October 20, 2005, "Ref C opponents take on state funding for illegals"]. From the article, "Opponents of a measure that would loosen the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights said Wednesday that the state will have an opportunity to cut funding for illegal immigrants if voters defeat Referendum C and keep TABOR's tax limits intact."
Here's the coverage from the Denver Post [October 20, 2005, "Immigrant issue joins C, D fight"].
Meanwhile Adam Cayton-Holland explains Referendums C and D to voters in today's Westword. He writes, "So if you wonder why I haven't addressed the issue of referenda C and D in this very column, it's not because I'm skirting the issue like some power-hungry president appointing a Supreme Court justice, but because of my multitudinous obligations. Plus, I don't really know anything about C and D. But here's what I do know: My peeps in Park Hill all seem to support them, and if liberal guilt is on the side of an issue, that's usually the right side to be on. Seems clear enough, but the faces lining up on opposite sides of C and D cloud the picture. Independence Institute president Jon Caldara (a man who boldly asked the question, "What if a used-car salesman were to head a think tank?") is against C and D, but Governor Owens (you know, the guy from the Worst Damn Sports Show Period) is all about them."
Here's an article from the Denver Post detailing support and opposition from Colorado's small business and non-profit communities [October 20, 2005, "Small business, nonprofits on opposite sides of C, D"]. From the article, "A group of Colorado small- business owners said Wednesday that most of its members oppose Referendums C and D. But the state's nonprofit trade association is gearing up for a rally to support the measures. The state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, a small-business advocacy group, released a study showing 63 percent of the group's members oppose Referendum C. Thirty-four percent support the state ballot measure; 3 percent were undecided. As for Referendum D, 66 percent opposed it, 30 percent supported it and 4 percent were undecided. Meanwhile, the Colorado Nonprofit Association, which represents the state's 17,000 nonprofits, will hold a rally today in favor of the measures. It will start at 11:45 a.m. on the west steps of the Capitol."
SoapBlox Colorado: "Denver Dems endorse Jill Conrad For Denver school board at large, that is."
Category: Denver November 2005 Election
6:08:55 AM 
|
|
