August 24, 2011 11:43 PM UTC

BREAKING: Bright Colorado Initiative Makes It to Ballot

•  
• by: c rork

POLS UPDATE: Full release from the Bright Colorado campaign after the jump. Says Proposition 103 organizer Sen. Rollie Heath, “during the past few weeks, we’ve seen momentum build as our already strong, largely grassroots coalition gathers support from a growing number of organizations and individuals. We are committed to a person-to-person campaign for our kids that will continue to build toward a positive outcome in November.”

—–

From the Colorado Center on Law and Policy:

I am emailing you so that you are the first to hear some great news. The Colorado Secretary of State’s office certified that Initiative 25 will be on the ballot this November! They just called Senator Heath to let him know that we collected more than the 86,105 signatures needed to certify Initiative 25, now known as Proposition 103. Thanks to the work by volunteers like you, Coloradans will have the chance to this November to stop the short-sighted school cuts and start reinvesting in education.

Thank you for all that you’ve done to raise awareness of the challenges facing our schools. And thank you for the sacrifices you made this summer collecting signatures so that we can reinvest in our communities.

This great news deserves celebration, but our work is not done. We now turn our attention to persuading our friends and neighbors that voting yes on Proposition 103 is a vote to support  our schools, our communities and our economy. We will need your help in this endeavor. Success on Nov. 1 will require an even larger coalition than the one we’ve built together so far.

The supporters of Proposition 103 have continued to impress with their tenacity and ability to quietly build momentum. With the support of the Colorado Education Association, the Colorado Association of School Boards and the Colorado Association of School Executives, a coalition is being built bit by bit. It took some major cojones to petition gather without the certainty of these endorsements or that petition gathering would be successful. Given that K-12 funding has been cut half a billion dollars in the last two years and Colorado is last in state support for higher education, one can only hope that their gutsy action pays off.

Coalition celebrates Prop 103 as a chance to stop short-sighted, irresponsible school cuts

“Coloradans will finally have the chance to decide whether to allow another round of devastating and short-sighted cuts to classrooms or to reinvest in our schools, our communities and our economy,” state Sen. Rollie Heath said today after learning that the measure previously known as Initiative 25 will be on the ballot November 1.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office today confirmed the broad coalition of organizations supporting the measure submitted a sufficient number of signatures for it to qualify for the ballot. The Secretary of State announced the initiative will be listed on the ballot as Proposition 103.

The decision comes after the coalition submitted 142,000 signatures collected by more than 800 people in more than 100 Colorado communities during a 10-week period this summer.

“As we collected more than 142,000 signatures, Colorado voters reinforced to me that support for our schools runs broad and deep throughout the state,” Heath said. “Throughout the summer, voters all across Colorado thanked us for taking a stand and giving them a positive choice for our schools. During the past few weeks, we’ve seen momentum build as our already strong, largely grassroots coalition gathers support from a growing number of organizations and individuals. We are committed to a person-to-person campaign for our kids that will continue to build toward a positive outcome in November.”

Proposition 103 asks voters to reinvest in public education by returning the state’s sales and income tax rates to 1999 levels for five years. The measure would increase the state sales tax rate from 2.9 percent to 3 percent, and the state income tax rate from 4.63 percent to 5 percent. This would provide nearly $550 million per year for five years for preschool, K-12 and higher education.

To get involved in the effort to reinvest in Colorado’s schools, communities and economy, visit www.brightcolorado.com.