Could It Be?
By Meg Costello
Posted on Wed Apr 25, 2007 at 10:11:41 AM EST
An overwhelming majority of Colorado voters last fall approved Amendment 41, wanting to ban lobbyist gifts to lawmakers and policymakers. They approved the measure to raise the ethics standards in our state. Previous ethics-reform measures never made it out of the legislature.
Earlier this week, the Denver Post editorialized in favor of implementation. "There's still time for lawmakers to act. Otherwise, citizens will again have to the do their job for them." - The Denver Post, 4/20/07,
"Ethics Reform Effort is on Shaky Ground."Just when we thought it was never going to happen. FINALLY. The Colorado General Assembly passed Senate Bill 210, the compromise ethics implementation bill and it is now headed for the Governor's desk. This is no small feat, it has taken months to get this far. After a lot of feet dragging, the Colorado legislature is finally going to uphold the will of the voters.
Amendment 41, the Ethics in Government Initiative, was passed in November with over 62% of the vote. Higher than any other initiative on the ballot (and to be fair, there were 12 all together). Since its passage, it has become the talk of the town...literally. Opponents made wild claims that children of government employees would no longer receive college scholarships, and ranchers in southern Colorado couldn't receive disaster aid in the wake of giant snow storms. These claims caught on in the news, and the media storm that followed was something that none of us could have predicted. But, finally, Senate Bill 210 makes serious strides toward implementing the law the right way.
While the fight over Amendment 41 and whether the legislature can clarify its terms has been challenging, we remained cautiously optimistic. The voters spoke loudly and clearly when they voted for Amendment 41. They want faith that our legislators are upholding their interests, not the interests of lobbyists with deep pockets.
At the end of a rough, rough road like this, one would think we'd all be jumping up and down with joy. But, we're tired and there is more work to do! We will however, sleep very, very well tonight knowing that the Colorado legislature has finally done the right thing.
Stay tuned as the legislature finishes up the 2007 session, by appointing 2 of the 5 members to the ethics commission, and work to pass important election and campaign finance reforms.
Tags: ethics, amendment 41, colorado, legislature, special interests, lobbyists, reform (all tags)
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