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Obits for Future Ballot Measures are a Bit Premature

by: Great Education Colorado

Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 11:18:37 AM MST

(Excellent post - promoted by Colorado Pols)

It's November 2009, but the pundits are already out, constructing a new conventional wisdom about voter trends for years to come. The Denver Post, for instance, headlined Thursday's front page story "Big ballot plans may be a "no" go in Colorado":

"The drama of the losses (Tuesday) in terms of taxes is going to put a tremendous chill on the forces who want to put something on the ballot. Even 2011 is in question," [pollster Floyd] Ciruli said.

This is the "horse race" version of Tuesday's results. It's about odds, predictions and extrapolations from an off-off-year election in varied pockets around the state.

Setting aside the obvious truth that one or two years can make quite a difference in the electorate (2008, anybody?), this nascent "no go" conventional wisdom misses the point.

Great Education Colorado :: Obits for Future Ballot Measures are a Bit Premature

The decision about whether and when to put a ballot measure before the voters is about more than odds. It's about whether we're going to give the tools of opportunity -- health and education -- to the next generation. It's about whether we're OK being a state that leads the nation in growth in child poverty, provides just about the stingiest health care assistance in the nation, and imports college graduates, rather than growing our own.

It's about deciding when we're finally going to stand up for the kind of Colorado we want.

So what's the lesson of the election of 2009? No real news here: getting a meaningful statewide ballot initiative passed is going to be tough. A budget fix will pass when enough voters have had a chance to consider the long-term, moral and financial costs of living in a state that doesn't invest in its schools, colleges, roads, health care or economy.

What's the lesson of 2009? With funding for schools and colleges in free fall, the work of informing, organizing, and advocating has to begin today -- regardless of what year we're going to the ballot -- because inaction is no longer a moral option. Our kids can't wait and they don't get "do-overs."

You can start here.

Game on.

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Obits for Future Ballot Measures are a Bit Premature | 19 comments

No more band-aids

I just dont think that the answer to our problmes is passing another ballot initiative with unforseeable consequences.
When are we going to realize that the root of all of these problems is direct democracy? Yes, I said it, direct democracy. A yes/no vote among 3 million people is the the worst possible way we could make budgetary decisions. First and foremost, the problem is one of proper governance

I agree that the state of our schools are a mess, but another ballot initiative will be nothing but another band-aid. This is, and never will be, a real solution. Some say I am not being a realist, but until we allow our representative democracy to actually make decisions we will always have problems.

by: Aggie @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 19:45:05 PM UTC

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And, whether we like it or not,

it will take a ballot issue (or issues) to fix the direct democracy mess. Good luck to us all.

by: The realist @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 20:29:00 PM UTC

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TABOR alone will take at least three

by: redstateblues @ Sat Nov 07, 2009 at 16:28:32 PM UTC

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why?

I mean I get the single payer rule- but why can't TABOR be undone as a single subject?

Eg
repeal it in it's entirety.

Which I don't think would pass, btw.

by: MADCO @ Sun Nov 08, 2009 at 02:22:32 AM UTC

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I don't know, but I been told...

...that TABOR combines a bunch of related, but different issues...like restrictions on taxing, restrictions on spending, restrictions on breathing, and restrictions on reason. Some of these may bleed over into a new subject, I guess.

I'm not as sweet as I used to be.

by: Jambalaya @ Sun Nov 08, 2009 at 02:56:44 AM UTC

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Yeah, sounds alike te kind of

f'd up amendment we'd have passed.

But if the subject was TABOR in it's entirety, that would seem t make it a single subject. Maybe not.

So what's first?

by: MADCO @ Sun Nov 08, 2009 at 03:11:30 AM UTC

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If you don't do it all in 2011

and you had to pick one aspect to go after, it would likely be the Ref C/A-59 route of making it so the state can keep surpluses.

The toughest part will be to restore the power to raise taxes to the legislature. It will have to be packaged and messaged very carefully, and with great conviction, if there's to be a repeal.

by: redstateblues @ Sun Nov 08, 2009 at 06:42:06 AM UTC

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That is the problem

TABOR got it's claws in everywhere. So they then passed an amendment with the single subject rule, which made it impossible to unwind TABOR in a single measure.

It also made it impossible to amend TABOR to be something more reasonable as a single vote that included all the pieces of a compromise that made everyone happy.

No trees were destroyed in the posting of this comment. But a large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.

by: DavidThi808 @ Sun Nov 08, 2009 at 03:11:31 AM UTC

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well said

I'm glad to see someone call out Ciruli and the Post for this nonsense. It started with the article on Thursday in which Jessica Fender glossed over the fact that the majority of debt and tax measures actually passed. The facts were inconvenient for the narrative so they were mentioned briefly and then completely ignored in the subsequent analysis.

I don't get Ciruli at all on this issue. He comes across as just lazily tossing out canned "analysis."

The Post Ed board then picked up the ball today declaring that "Voters aren't in the mood for taxes." Well that's funny considering they just approved a load of them 3 days ago. Voters surely are not out in the streets clamoring for new taxes but the Post's editorial is clearly not based on an actual examination of the results from Tuesday. That would require hard work, critical thought and analysis - tasks that are far beyond the Ed board's abilities.

Despite what Ciruli and the Ed board say it appears that voters are mature enough to look at issues and make an independent judgment as to the efficacy of individual ballot measures.

I think long time Colorado political pundits, like Ciruli, are still stuck in the mid-90s. They don't seem to be able to grasp what the changing demographics of the state actually mean. I shouldn't single out the pundits though, plenty of consultants and operatives out there who do the same thing.

You can get things done in this state. It's not easy and you won't win on every ballot measure but the voters in this state aren't sheep and they aren't afraid of doing some critical thinking. We've got a pretty savy electorate for the most part.

by: Steve Balboni @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 20:10:14 PM UTC

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I think a better way to put it is

Voters need to see a clear & compelling for both the need and that the money will be well spent. If so, they'll vote for it - even in Colorado Springs.

But if not, even up here in Boulder an open space tax extension failed because everyone assumed it would pass and therefore no one worked to sell it.

As to Great Education Colorado - I think the single most important issue this country faces is the horrible job we are doing with K-12 education. This is even more serious than global warming & health-care in my book.

And if you propose new taxes without showing how you're going to improve the system (as is your wont) - I'll vote against it. Give us effective improvement and I'll pay what you need. Just say "mo money" and I'll wait for someone who's serious about improving things.

No trees were destroyed in the posting of this comment. But a large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.

by: DavidThi808 @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 23:46:29 PM UTC

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Make our State Constition are simple document

Unless it is appoved by 3/4 of the voters we should leave it to statute with a 2/3 override by the legislature within the first 5 years of passage. Otherwise lets save money and send all the legislatures home because in reality they are able to do less and less each cycle with each new ballot measure.

by: Retired @ Sat Nov 07, 2009 at 00:36:35 AM UTC

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well stated David n/t

by: Steve Balboni @ Sat Nov 07, 2009 at 19:41:33 PM UTC

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thank you :)

No trees were destroyed in the posting of this comment. But a large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.

by: DavidThi808 @ Sat Nov 07, 2009 at 23:18:41 PM UTC

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putting an initiative on the ballot should be about odds!

...at least to some degree. Proponents should engage in careful analysis of whether they have the right message at the right time and the right solution. To dismiss these concerns as pedestrian matters of "odds" is silly.

I'm not as sweet as I used to be.

by: Jambalaya @ Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 23:55:39 PM UTC

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Will be interesting to watch the civic engagement efforts

of Colorado's Future http://www.coloradosfuture.org/

The organization is helping communities organize meetings of local leaders at which the ballot initiative process (and other issues) are discussed. Through dialogue and through review of (and instant voting on) various proposals, Colorado's Future hopes to build a statewide consensus of community leaders for a possible future "fix" of our constitutional garbage dump (my words, not theirs). With the several meetings which have already been held - Grand Junction, Lakewood and Pueblo - there's a significant degree of consensus. The basic concept is that community leaders buy into the consensus view, then commit to influencing 20 people each, who in turn commit to influencing 5 people each. If the numbers are eventually sufficient, the effort could provide a successful framework for a future proposal.

by: The realist @ Sat Nov 07, 2009 at 17:56:51 PM UTC

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Good luck

Doesn't feel very realistic. Just sayin

And the web site font is way too small & dark
What about us old guys? Are you not expecting us to be reading it?

by: MADCO @ Sun Nov 08, 2009 at 02:27:37 AM UTC

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