May 06, 2013 07:37 PM UTC

BREAKING: Partial Conditional Amendment 64 Repeal Drops

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #3: Colorado Public Radio's Megan Verlee:

As he announced the 11th hour resolution’s demise to his chamber, Senate President John Morse warned his colleagues that the marijuana industry doesn’t have any incentive to campaign for the tax measure this fall, and may fight legislative efforts to raise taxes on it in the future.

This measure “was an attempt to get the industry’s attention,” said Morse, “I implore those in the industry, get behind 1318 and help pass this tax, so we can give voters exactly what they asked for and not just half of what they asked for.”

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UPDATE #2: And this bill is dead–a little over three hours after introduction, FOX 31's Eli Stokols updates:

[A]fter a long pow-wow, the Senate decided not to add the bill to the second reading calendar, effectively killing it, but only after every lobbyist and lawmaker in the building with a skin in the Amendment 64 game almost loss their lunch.

Something like that.

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UPDATE: FOX 31 with initial coverage, statements from Senate leadership:

“The two ballot questions would not reverse the decriminalization of recreational marijuana,” said Senate President John Morse, D-Colorado Springs. “This is not an effort to repeal Amendment 64 as has been falsely alleged by marijuana special interest groups. We are giving voters a true voice in how they wish to see the recreational marijuana industry implemented and who will pay for it – marijuana retailers and users, or every taxpaying Coloradan.”

Morse sponsored the resolution along with Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs.

“With this bipartisan legislation, we wholeheartedly support the will of Colorado voters,” said Cadman. “They were promised legalization, they got it; and they were promised a retail system with a tax base, and now they will have an opportunity to put that in place, as well.”

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An explosive late-evening debate just concluded in the Senate Business Committee, leading to the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 003 on a bipartisan 4-1–the measure is headed for the floor of the Senate for fully expected passage tonight. We just received the text of the resolution moments ago and are still reviewing it, but it appears to be a partial, conditional repeal of the recently-passed Amendment 64 legalizing marijuana.

As we read it, the bill makes retail sales of marijuana, set to begin on January 1 of next year, conditional upon approval of the 15%+15% tax structure for marijuana sales that the legislature has agreed on for this fall's ballot. The resolution apparently wouldn't affect the possession aspects of Amendment 64 if it fails. The fact is, despite the wording and title language of Amendment 64, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) has very specific requirements for a measure to raise taxes that Amendment 64's language didn't comply with–that's why this second initiative is necessary.

In this respect, Amendment 64 was always open to second-guessing, before and after passage–and arguably did mislead voters, who thought a new revenue stream for education was a done deal as part of voting "yes" last year.

What we've heard is that proponents of this partial, conditional repeal resolution have lined up solid support to pass it–which they must do very quickly to allow for all the necessary stops before end of session on Wednesday. Needless to say, advocates for the marijuana industry are highly alarmed and converging on the Capitol with haste. We can't tell you with certainty what the real purpose is–to hold stakeholders' feet to the fire to support and fund the marijuana tax initiative? Or to give opponents a pretext to eliminate the most contentious of Amendment 64's provisions–over-the-counter sales–by allowing the tax initiative to wither on the vine?

We'll update as soon as we know more about the purpose of this last-minute jam session.