Amendment 46: Discrimination and Preferential Treatment by Governments Civil Rights Initiative

This initiative would prohibit state agencies from enforcing racial or gender "quotas."

Vote Yes - This initiative would merely stop the requirement of quotas and other discrimination in government.

Supporting: American Civil Rights Initiative
Opposing: Bill Ritter, Boulder Daily Camera, Progress Now
Learn more: www.ColoradoCRI.org

Amendment 47: Prohibition on Mandatory Labor Union Membership and Dues Right to Work

Prohibits mandatory union membership.

Vote Yes - This would establish Colorado as a right to work state. It will strengthen our economy and business competitiveness. It will also end the practice of being coerced to donate to political candidates via mandatory union payments.

Supporting: A Better Colorado, Colorado Association of Commerce, Colorado Union of Taxpayers, Colorado Republican Business Coalition
Opposing: AFL-CIO, Various labor unions, Colorado Bankers Association, Progress Now
Learn more: www.ABetterColorado.com

Amendment 48: Definition of a Person Personhood Initiative

This amendment would define a human being as existing from the moment of fertilization. Backers say it is intended to set the stage for a challenge to Roe v. Wade and prohibit abortion.

Vote No - A direct challenge to Roe v. Wade is likely to fail given the current make-up of the Supreme Court and would only serve to reinforce the decision, in the event of an Obama presidency it is even more likely to fail. Backers of Amendment 48 have been evasive about the sweeping nature of the bill and insist it is only going to apply to abortion; the reality of the matter is that the Amendment does not mention "abortion" at any point and would set the stage for a myriad of strange legal challenges.

Opposing: Bob Schaffer, Denver Post, Mike Rosen
Supporting: James Dobson, John Andrews

Amendment 49: Allowable Government Paycheck Deductions Ethical Standards

This stops union from automatically deducting dues from salaries of public workers.

Vote Yes - Despite scare tactics from unions, this initiative will not cause any unions to shut down or prevent people from joining. It will only prevent people from having dues automatically deducted from their wages and used to fund causes they disagree with (i.e. Democratic political candidates).

Supporting: Ethical Standards Now, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Hank Brown, Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Colorado Union of Taxpayers, Colorado Republican Business Coalition
Opposing: Progress Now, Protect Colorado's Future
Learn more: www.EthicalStandardsNow.org

Amendment 51: State Sales Tax Increase for Services for People with Developmental Disabilities

Would increase the sales tax in order to fund programs for people with developmental disabilities.

Vote No - This amounts to a fairly significant increase in sales tax to fund one program. There is no cap on the revenues collected and no way to really tell how much it would generate for the programs. The programs may be worthy but this is a blank check that would impede commerce and put a needless added burden on the consumer.

Opposing: Colorado Republican Business Coalition, Colorado Union of Taxpayers
Supporting: Mark Udall, Rocky Mountain News

Amendment 52: Use of Severance Tax Revenue for Highways "No Tolls, No New Taxes"

Caps usage of excess severance tax revenue by state agencies and diverts it to highway funding.

Vote Yes - This initiative crafted by Republican legislators Josh Penry, Cory Gardner, and Frank McNulty will provide much-needed transportation funding by capping usage of excess severance tax revenue by state agencies and using it instead on highway funding. It is an alternative to Bill Ritter's proposals to fund transportation that would entail tax increases. This bill does not increase taxes on anyone and does not cut into any funds that would be subject to TABOR rebates.

Supporting: Josh Penry, Cory Gardner, Frank McNulty, Jeff Crank, Mike Rosen, Colorado Republican Business Coalition
Opposing: Mark Udall, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Club 20
Learn more: www.BetterRoadsNow.com

Amendment 54: Campaign Contributions from Certain Government Contractors Clean Government Initiative

Prevents contractors awarded "no-bid" contracts from contributing to politicians who awarded the contracts.

Vote Yes - This bill will prevent "pay-to-play" practices and will eliminate a major potential source of corruption.

Supporting: Clean Government Colorado, Independence Institute, Colorado Union of Taxpayers, Colorado Republican Business Coalition
Opposing: Progress Now
Learn more: www.CleanGovernmentColorado.com

Amendment 58: Severance Taxes on the Oil and Natural Gas Industry Bill Ritter's Energy Industry Tax

Would increase taxes on the oil and gas industry in Colorado in order to fund a variety of government programs.

Vote No - Despite claims by supporters, the only logical outcome of this bill would be to increase energy prices while making Colorado less competitive attracting industry business. The bill is being sold largely as a way to fund college scholarships despite the fact that a majority of the funds would be spent elsewhere. In essence this amendment is being pushed by left-wing opponents of the energy industry in order to set up a massive slush fund.

Opposing: Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, C3, Colorado Union of Taxpayers, Colorado Republican Business Coalition
Supporting: Bill Ritter, Colorado Education Association, Progress Now

Amendment 59: Education Funding and TABOR Rebates "...drive a stake in the heart of TABOR..."

Amendment 59 would eliminate TABOR rebates and redirect them to K-12 education.

Vote No - Democratic State Treasurer Cary Kennedy described the purpose of the bill as "driving a stake in the heart of TABOR." She clearly didn't realize she was going to be quoted, but it is a very accurate and concise explanation of the bill's consequences. 59 would end TABOR and instead of freeing the rebate money up for the budget would send it directly to K-12 education to appease the teacher unions.

Opposing: TABOR supporters, Colorado Union of Taxpayers, Active Citizens Together, Colorado Republican Business Coalition
Supporting: Colorado Education Association, Cary "TABOR Slayer" Kennedy, Andrew Romanoff
Learn more: www.StrikeABetterBalance.com

Referendum L: Qualifications for Serving in the State Legislature

Lowers the minimum age requirement to serve in the Colorado legislature from 25 to 21.

Vote Yes - It's unlikely that any district is going to want to elect someone under 25, but if they really want to why should there be a barrier?

Referenda M & N: Removing Obsolete Provisions from the Constitution

These referenda will remove outdated laws cluttering the state constitution .

Vote Yes - The constitution is long enough without irrelevant decades-old laws in place.

Referendum O: Citizen Initiated State Laws

This Referendum would raise the petition requirements to place constitutional referendums on the ballot and would alter the process to make statutory referendums a more appealing alternative.

Vote No - Raising the bar to place constitutional initiatives on the ballot may be a good idea in light of the glut of issues on the ballot this year. Referendum O goes beyond that goal by "encouraging" citizens to advance statutory initiatives, this would in effect give the legislature the ability to override most citizen initiatives.

Opposing: Colorado Union of Taxpayers, Active Citizens Together
Supporting: Majority of State Legislators
Learn more: www.NoRefO.com