How I will vote on Colorado ballot questions
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS (need 55% to pass)
Amendment V: Lower Age Requirement for State Legislature
NO. Would lower the minimum age for state lawmakers from 25 to 21. I was 31 when first elected to the Colorado Senate. I’m now 51 and recognize what I didn’t know 20 years ago. The last thing we need is laws made by inexperienced kids freshly indoctrinated by college professors.
Amendment W: Ballot Format for Judges
YES. This is a simple change that will make the ballot more readable and save money for counties when printing ballots.
Amendment X: Industrial Hemp Definition
YES. Corrects yet another unintended consequence of Colorado’s legalization of marijuana and makes our definition consistent with federal law which will eliminate needless red-tape for growers of industrial hemp.
Amendments Y&Z: Congressional & Legislative Redistricting
YES ON BOTH. The current system is broken. These initiatives replace the current system with a balanced process that includes equal numbers of Republicans, Democrats and independent voters. It has adequate checks and balances to ensure fairness and to prevent manipulation by a single political party.
Amendment A: Language Prohibiting Involuntary Servitude as Punishment
YES. Clarifies our state constitution’s prohibition on slavery and involuntary servitude to state that they are also not allowed as punishment for a crime.
Amendment 73: Tax Increase for Education
NO. The problem with school funding in Colorado is that legislators have expanded social welfare programs at the expense of education. If public schools still received the same share of the budget as they did 10 years ago, our schools would receive an extra $800 per student. We don’t need a $1.6 BILLION tax increase written into our state constitution.
