Denver November 2004 Election
Governor Owens expects that the legislature will propose changes to TABOR and Amendment 23 and ask voters to approve them in the November election, according to the Denver Post ["January 6, 2004, "Compromise predicted on easing TABOR limits, Amend. 23 funding"]. From the article, "Changes to the 'ratchet effect' and suspensions in the Amendment 23 school funding increases would have to be approved by a two-thirds vote of each house of the General Assembly before heading to a statewide vote, according to legislative legal services. An alternate route to put changes before voters would require proponents to gather signatures in a citizen initiative. The 'ratchet effect' that Owens talked about says that if the state's revenues decline because of a recession, for instance, legislators can't return to pre-recession levels of spending. They can only increase spending incrementally. The mechanism is known as the "ratchet effect" because it clamps down on spending during lean economic times. Senate Minority Leader Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Golden, and House Minority Leader Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, have said they would be willing to make concessions. They said they would agree to suspend Amendment 23's required 1 percent annual increases during bad economic times if Republicans agree to undo the TABOR ratchet. (Rutt) Bridges and state Treasurer Mike Coffman agree that the Gallagher Amendment must be included in the reform. Gallagher limits the property tax residents pay to 45 percent of the total collected. Unlike Owens, Coffman has proposed changes to all three constitutional amendments."
6:44:01 AM 
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