In this Capitol Report:
Two More Initiatives Qualify for 2020 General Election Ballot
The Colorado Secretary of State (SOS) announced this week that two more ballot initiatives have been approved for Colorado’s 2020 General Election ballot. They include:
- Initiative #283 – Establishing a Payroll Tax on Workers & Employers to pay for State-Administered Family & Medical Leave Program
- Initiative #295 – Regarding Voter Approval for Fee-Based Enterprises
Initiative 283: Mandates a paid family and medical leave State administered program to be funded by workers and employers. This proposal has been defeated in the State Legislature for the last six years and the opposition was led by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce in collaboration of its members and other business organizations due to the $1 billion cost of the program as well as other financial and administrative consequences for employers and workers. The initiative led by CO Families First submitted approximately 205,000 signatures. In its review the Elections Division projected the number of valid signatures to be 137,999, greater than 110 percent of the total number of signatures required for placement on the ballot. Below is a summary of the verification of signatures:
Random Sample Verification Summary:
Total number of signatures submitted | 205,660 |
5% of qualified signatures submitted (random sample) | 10,283 |
Total number of entries accepted (valid) from the random sample | 6,900 |
Total number of entries rejected (invalid) from the random sample | 3,383 |
Number of projected valid signatures from the random sample | 137,999 |
Total number of signatures required for placement on the ballot | 124,632 |
Projected percentage of required valid signatures | 110.73% |
Initiative 295: Requires any enterprises created by the State, and that collect over $100 million in fees over five years, to be approved by Colorado voters. The creation of enterprises has been a recent approach by members of the Colorado General Assembly as a way to avoid asking voters for approval of policies that require a tax or fee to pay for a State service or program. The proponents of this initiative, led by Colorado Rising State Action, submitted 196,090 petition signatures. In its review, the Elections Division projected the number of valid signatures to be 138,852, which is greater than 110% of total signatures needed to be on the ballot. Below is a summary of the verification of the signatures:
Random Sample Verification Summary:
Total number of signatures submitted | 196,090 |
5% of qualified signatures submitted (random sample) | 9,805 |
Total number of entries accepted (valid) from the random sample | 6,943 |
Total number of entries rejected (invalid) from the random sample | 2,862 |
Number of projected valid signatures from the random sample | 138,852 |
Total number of signatures required for placement on the ballot | 124,632 |
Projected percentage of required valid signatures | 111.41% |
Please contact Loren Furman at [email protected] or at 303-888-9387 with any questions regarding these initiatives.
Thank you!