August 16, 2011 06:59 PM UTC

Call It "Rag Tag" While You Can

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

Yesterday, the Colorado Education Association formally endorsed Initiative 25 (soon to be known as Proposition 103), the ballot initiative to temporarily return to Colorado’s 1999-level sales and income tax rates of 3.0% and 5.0% respectively. From their press release:

Colorado Education Association’s board of directors voted to unite with the growing, grassroots coalition that will ask Colorado voters for a temporary, modest income and sales tax increase to put badly needed funds back into public school classrooms.

More than 140,000 voters across the state signed petitions to support the Bright Colorado ballot measure, also known as Initiative 25.  It will appear on the November election ballot as Proposition 103.

“We’re greatly encouraged to see that so many voters share our view that great economies start with great education,” said CEA President Beverly Ingle. “This wonderful coalition of concerned civic groups, businesses and families is tired of hearing that student growth isn’t a budget priority.  We stand with them to remind all Coloradans that the education of our children is the state’s most pressing obligation and most critical investment.”

The only thing out of the ordinary in the CEA’s endorsement of Sen. Rollie Heath’s ballot initiative is the amount of time it took to get the state’s biggest traditional education funding proponent on board. The road to broad support for Initiative 25/Proposition 103, even among Democrats who are completely receptive on the issues, has been very slow and cautious this year. In the end, it took the campaign’s own initiative, demonstrating viability with a highly successful petition drive, to earn the second look they’re now getting.

The CEA’s endorsement will open the door to support for Proposition 103 by a much wider array of education and civic groups, and will increase pressure on public officials at all levels to take a position one way or the other. Remember also that Sen. Heath promoted his initiative (as opposed to other competing “progressive” tax reform measures) as one that he could get business interests to support. If that’s right, it could push people you might not expect to rethink their opinions–watch closely for signs of this in the coming weeks.

And yes, lovers of underdogs everywhere. This underdog initiative, scoffed at by the pundits and kept at arm’s length even by its friends for all this time, is growing more real every day.