Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Plan would bar some contractor donations

By Ed Sealover, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 30, 2008 at 6:55 p.m.
Updated July 31, 2008 at 2:13 a.m.

Text size  

Related Links

More Elections

More stories »

Backers of a proposal to bar no-bid government contractors from contributing to political candidates submitted more than 125,000 signatures to the state Wednesday.

A total of 76,047 signatures is needed to get the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

Colorado state government granted more than $386 million in contracts without taking competitive bids over the past year, said Tom Lucero, campaign chairman of Clean Government Colorado.

This practice drives up the price of services, and current law that lets these contractors pad the campaign accounts of officials who may award the contracts creates tremendous cynicism among voters, said Lucero, a University of Colorado regent.

The proposed constitutional amendment would ban those contractors or any organization with exclusive collecting bargaining rights - namely, labor unions - from giving political contributions for two years after expiration of the contract.

Any company that violated the rule would lose access to no-bid contracts for three years, and any official taking such a donation could be removed from office.

"Until you change the culture of how government does business, there's this automatic distrust with the citizens," said Lucero, a Republican. "The Clean Government Amendment is specially engineered toward addressing the idea of 'pay to play.' "

The proposed amendment would continue two recent trends in ballot initiatives: Making government more transparent and changing state law in a way that irks union leaders.

While Lucero said that the rule would treat all contractors the same, a pro-union group disagreed.

Jess Knox, executive director of Protect Colorado's Future, said the measure would not shut down corporate contributions but would eliminate a valuable way that union members have to communicate during elections

Comments

  • July 31, 2008

    9:16 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Lara writes:

    This is such a deceptive initiative. They keep saying it's about clean government, but it's true that it's purpose is really to put workers and the unions that represent them in a stranglehold.

    This must be defeated!

  • August 2, 2008

    2:34 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    jacka writes:

    YES on Amendment 47 and 49 for real employee free choice.

    Now we get a shot at clean government and insider sole source contracts!

    Colorado's Unions...standing with their corporate partner the Denver Chamber to deny Colorado small businesses a level playing field.