five facts about amending colorado's constitution
TRANSCRIPT
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8/7/2019 Five Facts About Amending Colorado's Constitution
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FiveFactsaboutAmendingColoradosConstitution
Coloradolawmakersareconsideringmajorchangestothestatescitizeninitiativeprocessin
theformofSenateConcurrentResolution1(SCR1),aconstitutionalamendmentthatwould(a)
mandatethatfutureamendmentsreceivea60percentsupermajorityatthepollstopass,(b)
requirecitizeninitiativestoqualifypetitionsignaturesinallsevenColoradocongressional
districtsaswellasstatewideinordertoappearontheballot,and(c)forcelegislatorstogarner
a2/3voteortowait3yearsbeforerepealingallorpartofavoterapprovedinitiatedstatute.
Asthisamendment,SCR1,haspassedtheColoradosenateandisnowpendingonthefloorof
theColoradoHouseofRepresentatives,theTruthinGovernanceprojectofCitizensinCharge
FoundationlooksintoColoradosamendmenthistory,drawingcomparisonsbetween
Coloradosconstitutionandthoseinotherstates.
Histor i cal l y , Colorado is Near the Nat i onal Average
Theaveragestateconstitutionhasbeenamended146times.Coloradosconstitutionhas
beenamended155times,whichis5.2percentmorethanthenationalaverage.Compared
toColorado,14otherstateconstitutionsrepresentingmorethanaquarterofthenation
haveasmanyamendmentsormore.(SeeTable1)
Interestingly,halfofthese14statesconstitutionswithhighernumbersofamendments
donthaveanyprocessthroughwhichcitizenscanproposeamendmentsbypetition.
ConstitutionsinthreestateslackinganyinitiativeprocessAlabama,SouthCarolina,and
TexashavebeenamendedmorethantwiceasoftenasColoradosconstitution.
Infact,thenumberofamendmentstoColoradosconstitution(155)isroughlyonparwith
amendmentstoDelawaresconstitution(140).Delawarenotonlydoesnthaveacitizen
initiativeprocess,itstheonlystateinwhichcitizensarenotaffordedanyvoteatallon
amendmentstothestateconstitution.TwothirdsofbothhousesofDelawareslegislature
canamendthatstatesconstitution.
Colorado Average in Amendm ents in Recent Years, Too
Between
2003
and
today,
the
national
average
for
the
number
of
amendments
to
state
constitutionswas12,whichiscertainlyclosetoColorados13constitutional amendments
passedduringthissameperiod.Duringthistime,constitutionsinthreestateswithouta
citizeninitiativeprocessAlabama,LouisianaandTexashadthreetimesasmany
amendmentsasdidColorado.
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FiveFactsAboutAmendmentstotheColoradoConstitutionTruthinGovernance
ForMoreInformationVisitCitizensInChargeFoundation.org
Most Am endment s Come from State Legis lat ors -- Not Ci t izen
In i t ia t ives
TheColoradoConstitutionhasbeenamended155times,butonly42ofthose(orlessthana
third)wereproposedbycitizensthroughthestatesinitiativeprocess.Thesenumbersarea
bitmisleading,though,becauseColoradosconstitutionwasadoptedin1876,while
Coloradansdidntestablishtheinitiativeprocessuntil1912.Sincetheinitiativewas
adopted,votershaveapproved112amendmentstothestateconstitution70
amendments(63percent)werereferredtovotersbytheGeneralAssemblyandonly42
measures(37percent)wereplacedontheballotbycitizensthroughtheinitiative.(See
Table2)
Inrecentyears,thetrendofstatelegislatorsproposingmoreamendmentstoColorados
constitutionthanhavebeenproposedthroughthecitizeninitiativehascontinued.Inthe
last20years,therehavebeen38newamendments20ofthemplacedontheballotby
legislatorsand18bywayofcitizenpetition.
One Source of Const i t ut ional Mat er ia l
In2002,ColoradovoterspassedAmendment27,aconstitutionalmeasureconcerning
campaignfinancereform.Votersdeemedthisissuerequiredamendingtheconstitutiononly
afterthestatelegislaturerepealedpartsofasimilarlawthathadbeenoverwhelmingly
approvedbyvotersasaninitiatedstatutein1996.Thissingleconstitutional amendment
added5,685wordstotheColoradoConstitutionroughly8percent.
WhileSenateConcurrentResolution1wouldmakeitmuchmoredifficulttoamendthe
stateconstitution,itdoesalsohaveaprovisiontomakeitmoredifficultforthestate
legislaturetoamendorrepealvoterenactedstatutes.Yet,notably,hadSCR1beenthelaw
between1996and2002,itwouldnothaveprotectedthe1996campaignfinancestatutefromthelegislaturesactionsagainstit.
Whats Miss i ng?
Whilethefrequencyofconstitutionalamendmentsisworthconsideration,thecontentof
thoseamendmentsiswhatismostimportant.SCR1wouldrequirea60percent
supermajorityofthevotetopassaconstitutionalamendment.IfSCR1hadbeenineffect
from1990untiltoday,whatwouldColoradocitizensbemissingfromtheirstate
constitution?UnderSCR1duringthisperiod,17ofthe25initiativeamendmentswould
havefailed.Inotherwords,68percentoftheballotmeasurespassedbyamajorityof
ColoradanswouldbegoneincludingtheTaxpayerBillofRights(TABOR),Amendment23
onfundingforpublicschools,threeseparatetermlimitsmeasures,medicalmarijuanaand
Coloradosminimumwage.(SeeTable3)
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FiveFactsAboutAmendmentstotheColoradoConstitutionTruthinGovernance
ForMoreInformationVisitCitizensInChargeFoundation.org
Table1:ColoradosConstitutionHasNeartheNationalAverageNumberofAmendments
State
TotalConstitutional
Amendmentsin2011
Constitutional
AmendmentsAdded
20032011
Allows Citizen-
Initiated
Amendments
Alabama 807 64 No
Alaska 29 1 No
Arizona 147 14 Yes
Arkansas 98 3 Yes
California 525 18 Yes
Colorado 155 13 Yes
Connecticut 30 1 No
Delaware 140 4 No
Florida 118 22 Yes
Georgia 72 4 No
Hawaii 110 10 No
Idaho 123 6 No
Illinois 12 1 Yes
Indiana 47 4 No
Iowa 54 2 No
Kansas 95 3 No
Kentucky 41 1 No
Louisiana 164 51 No
Maine 171 2 No
Maryland 225 7 No
Massachusetts 120 0 Yes
Michigan 30 7 Yes
Minnesota 120 2 No
Mississippi 123 2 Yes
Missouri 114 11 Yes
Montana 31 4 Yes
Nebraska 229 10 Yes
Nevada 136 5 Yes
NewHampshire 145 2 No
New
Jersey
44
1 No
NewMexico 160 14 No
NewYork 220 5 No
NorthCarolina 35 4 No
NorthDakota 150 6 Yes
Ohio 171 11 Yes
Oklahoma 187 22 Yes
Oregon 249 15 Yes
Pennsylvania 30 2 No
RhodeIsland 10 0 No
SouthCarolina 497 13 No
SouthDakota 215 103 Yes
Tennessee 39 3 No
Texas 467 57 No
Utah 115 12 No
Vermont 54 1 No
Virginia 46 8 No
Washington 103 8 No
WestVirginia 71 1 No
Wisconsin 145 12 No
Wyoming 98 7 No
NationalAverage 146 12
CitizensinstateshighlightedinyellowhavechosentoamendtheirstateconstitutionmoretimesthanColorado
voters.Source:2010BookoftheStates
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FiveFact
ForMore
Table2:
Table3:
Year
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2008
2006
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1998
1996
1996
1996
1994
1992
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51%
55%
53%
53%
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8/7/2019 Five Facts About Amending Colorado's Constitution
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8/7/2019 Five Facts About Amending Colorado's Constitution
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FiveFact
ForMore
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