Allege CEA's lobbying tactics were deceptive when soliciting grassroots contacts
Face the State Staff Report
State Rep. Kent Lambert has filed a formal complaint with the General Assembly leadership over deceptive lobbying practices employed by the Colorado Education Association.
In an email to teachers' union school-level organizers, the CEA asserts that without the Governor's proposed mill-levy tax increase, K-12 funding would be cut. Amendment 23 mandates yearly increases in K-12 spending, meaning there is no way the CEA's statement could be true.
Furthermore, the union asserts that the mill-levy tax plan is "NOT a tax increase." While the proposal is being sold by proponents as a "freeze," it will have a practical effect of raising property-tax income to the state. Any action which predictably results in higher taxes assessed on citizens is, by definition, a "tax increase."
The complaint against the Colorado Education Association forces the legislature to recognize a single standard for deceptive lobbying practices, given its ongoing investigation into former Colorado Concern lobbyist William Mutch. If the allegations against Mutch amount to deceptive lobbying practices as defined in the legislature's rules, so are the statements of the CEA to its members.
Click here to read the complaint filed by Rep. Kent Lambert
Click here for the Denver Post's coverage of Rep. Lambert's letter