Five Facts About Amending Colorado's Constitution

8/7/2019 Five Facts About Amending Colorado's Constitution

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FiveFactsaboutAmendingColoradosConstitution

Coloradolawmakersareconsideringmajorchangestothestatescitizeninitiativeprocessin

theformofSenateConcurrentResolution1(SCR1),aconstitutionalamendmentthatwould(a)

mandatethatfutureamendmentsreceivea60percentsupermajorityatthepollstopass,(b)

requirecitizeninitiativestoqualifypetitionsignaturesinallsevenColoradocongressional

districtsaswellasstatewideinordertoappearontheballot,and(c)forcelegislatorstogarner

a2/3voteortowait3yearsbeforerepealingallorpartofavoterapprovedinitiatedstatute.

Asthisamendment,SCR1,haspassedtheColoradosenateandisnowpendingonthefloorof

theColoradoHouseofRepresentatives,theTruthinGovernanceprojectofCitizensinCharge

FoundationlooksintoColoradosamendmenthistory,drawingcomparisonsbetween

Coloradosconstitutionandthoseinotherstates.

Histor i cal l y , Colorado is Near the Nat i onal Average

Theaveragestateconstitutionhasbeenamended146times.Coloradosconstitutionhas

beenamended155times,whichis5.2percentmorethanthenationalaverage.Compared

toColorado,14otherstateconstitutionsrepresentingmorethanaquarterofthenation

haveasmanyamendmentsormore.(SeeTable1)

Interestingly,halfofthese14statesconstitutionswithhighernumbersofamendments

donthaveanyprocessthroughwhichcitizenscanproposeamendmentsbypetition.

ConstitutionsinthreestateslackinganyinitiativeprocessAlabama,SouthCarolina,and

TexashavebeenamendedmorethantwiceasoftenasColoradosconstitution.

Infact,thenumberofamendmentstoColoradosconstitution(155)isroughlyonparwith

amendmentstoDelawaresconstitution(140).Delawarenotonlydoesnthaveacitizen

initiativeprocess,itstheonlystateinwhichcitizensarenotaffordedanyvoteatallon

amendmentstothestateconstitution.TwothirdsofbothhousesofDelawareslegislature

canamendthatstatesconstitution.

Colorado Average in Amendm ents in Recent Years, Too

Between

2003

and

today,

the

national

average

for

the

number

of

amendments

to

state

constitutionswas12,whichiscertainlyclosetoColorados13constitutional amendments

passedduringthissameperiod.Duringthistime,constitutionsinthreestateswithouta

citizeninitiativeprocessAlabama,LouisianaandTexashadthreetimesasmany

amendmentsasdidColorado.

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FiveFactsAboutAmendmentstotheColoradoConstitutionTruthinGovernance

ForMoreInformationVisitCitizensInChargeFoundation.org

Most Am endment s Come from State Legis lat ors -- Not Ci t izen

In i t ia t ives

TheColoradoConstitutionhasbeenamended155times,butonly42ofthose(orlessthana

third)wereproposedbycitizensthroughthestatesinitiativeprocess.Thesenumbersarea

bitmisleading,though,becauseColoradosconstitutionwasadoptedin1876,while

Coloradansdidntestablishtheinitiativeprocessuntil1912.Sincetheinitiativewas

adopted,votershaveapproved112amendmentstothestateconstitution70

amendments(63percent)werereferredtovotersbytheGeneralAssemblyandonly42

measures(37percent)wereplacedontheballotbycitizensthroughtheinitiative.(See

Table2)

Inrecentyears,thetrendofstatelegislatorsproposingmoreamendmentstoColorados

constitutionthanhavebeenproposedthroughthecitizeninitiativehascontinued.Inthe

last20years,therehavebeen38newamendments20ofthemplacedontheballotby

legislatorsand18bywayofcitizenpetition.

One Source of Const i t ut ional Mat er ia l

In2002,ColoradovoterspassedAmendment27,aconstitutionalmeasureconcerning

campaignfinancereform.Votersdeemedthisissuerequiredamendingtheconstitutiononly

afterthestatelegislaturerepealedpartsofasimilarlawthathadbeenoverwhelmingly

approvedbyvotersasaninitiatedstatutein1996.Thissingleconstitutional amendment

added5,685wordstotheColoradoConstitutionroughly8percent.

WhileSenateConcurrentResolution1wouldmakeitmuchmoredifficulttoamendthe

stateconstitution,itdoesalsohaveaprovisiontomakeitmoredifficultforthestate

legislaturetoamendorrepealvoterenactedstatutes.Yet,notably,hadSCR1beenthelaw

between1996and2002,itwouldnothaveprotectedthe1996campaignfinancestatutefromthelegislaturesactionsagainstit.

Whats Miss i ng?

Whilethefrequencyofconstitutionalamendmentsisworthconsideration,thecontentof

thoseamendmentsiswhatismostimportant.SCR1wouldrequirea60percent

supermajorityofthevotetopassaconstitutionalamendment.IfSCR1hadbeenineffect

from1990untiltoday,whatwouldColoradocitizensbemissingfromtheirstate

constitution?UnderSCR1duringthisperiod,17ofthe25initiativeamendmentswould

havefailed.Inotherwords,68percentoftheballotmeasurespassedbyamajorityof

ColoradanswouldbegoneincludingtheTaxpayerBillofRights(TABOR),Amendment23

onfundingforpublicschools,threeseparatetermlimitsmeasures,medicalmarijuanaand

Coloradosminimumwage.(SeeTable3)

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FiveFactsAboutAmendmentstotheColoradoConstitutionTruthinGovernance

ForMoreInformationVisitCitizensInChargeFoundation.org

Table1:ColoradosConstitutionHasNeartheNationalAverageNumberofAmendments

State

TotalConstitutional

Amendmentsin2011

Constitutional

AmendmentsAdded

20032011

Allows Citizen-

Initiated

Amendments

Alabama 807 64 No

Alaska 29 1 No

Arizona 147 14 Yes

Arkansas 98 3 Yes

California 525 18 Yes

Colorado 155 13 Yes

Connecticut 30 1 No

Delaware 140 4 No

Florida 118 22 Yes

Georgia 72 4 No

Hawaii 110 10 No

Idaho 123 6 No

Illinois 12 1 Yes

Indiana 47 4 No

Iowa 54 2 No

Kansas 95 3 No

Kentucky 41 1 No

Louisiana 164 51 No

Maine 171 2 No

Maryland 225 7 No

Massachusetts 120 0 Yes

Michigan 30 7 Yes

Minnesota 120 2 No

Mississippi 123 2 Yes

Missouri 114 11 Yes

Montana 31 4 Yes

Nebraska 229 10 Yes

Nevada 136 5 Yes

NewHampshire 145 2 No

New

Jersey

44

1 No

NewMexico 160 14 No

NewYork 220 5 No

NorthCarolina 35 4 No

NorthDakota 150 6 Yes

Ohio 171 11 Yes

Oklahoma 187 22 Yes

Oregon 249 15 Yes

Pennsylvania 30 2 No

RhodeIsland 10 0 No

SouthCarolina 497 13 No

SouthDakota 215 103 Yes

Tennessee 39 3 No

Texas 467 57 No

Utah 115 12 No

Vermont 54 1 No

Virginia 46 8 No

Washington 103 8 No

WestVirginia 71 1 No

Wisconsin 145 12 No

Wyoming 98 7 No

NationalAverage 146 12

CitizensinstateshighlightedinyellowhavechosentoamendtheirstateconstitutionmoretimesthanColorado

voters.Source:2010BookoftheStates


5/9

FiveFact

ForMore

Table2:

Table3:

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2008

2008

2006

2006

2004

2000

2000

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1998

1996

1996

1996

1994

1992

1992

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55%

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Five Facts About Amending Colorado's Constitution

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