Face the State

Face The State Staff Report

Representatives from Colorado’s liberal non-profits gathered for the first of several “educational” forums, during which speakers advocated for or against the different measures on this November’s ballot. The speakers went unchallenged and according to some campaign representatives, provided false information to attendees. While 35 organizations heavily promoted the event, only about 50 people came to forum held in Sturm Hall at the University of Denver Tuesday night.

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ProgressNow Outreach Director Brittney Wilburn tapped the Colorado C-3 Roundtable’s member organizations for speakers. The Colorado C-3 Roundtable is a self-described “coalition of progressive non-profit, non-partisan organizations that is dedicated to building an inclusive, engaged and equitable state for all Coloradans.”

Speakers gave introductory presentations followed by a question and answer session. Audience members wrote questions on pieces of paper, and moderators selected which were to be read aloud. A double-sided handout was given to participants with a “yes” or “no” written by the amendment number and a list of the non-profits that support or oppose each proposal.

Daniel Klawitter, a C-3 organizer, kicked off the event by speaking against Amendments 47, 49 and 54. Klawitter also noted he is a member of Protect Colorado’s Future, a union backed coalition actively campaigning against the same amendments.

“In places where they’ve been successful in passing these laws in other states, there is data that has shown workers make about $5,000 less per year and infant mortality is actually 21 percent higher,” said Klawitter on Amendment 47, the right-to-work measure.

But Kelley Harp, spokesman for the Amendment 47 campaign, questioned those statistics. "The facts are this: Amendment 47 will guarantee a fundamental freedom for all workers in Colorado, and there is strong evidence that right-to-work states perform better economically than non-right-to-work states."

According to Harp, states that have adopted right-to-work laws have seen an increase in economic development and jobs. From 2001 to 2006, right-to-work states increased payrolls by 6.4 percent, vs. 2.9 percent in non- right to work states. These states have also seen lower unemployment rates.

Klawitter later answered questions about the impact of Amendment 54, but members of the campaign say some answers were factually inaccurate. The proposal, if passed by voters, would prohibit government contractors holding no-bid contracts from making campaign contributions to political parties and candidates. It would not, however, restrict individual contributions. A handout from the event read,"Amendment 54 would prohibit any person, or family member, or anyone who works on a government contract from contributing to a candidate and/or advocating for an issue at any level."

One audience member wanted clarification on this point and asked, “Will Amendment 54 prevent individuals from contributing to candidates and campaigns? Since I’m in a union, I wouldn’t be able to give my money candidates I want to represent me?”

“Yes and yes,” Klawitter responded. Officials from the Amendment 54 campaign say Klawitter and his handout are wrong.

"It's just a flat out lie," said Tom Lucero, campaign manager for Amendment 54. "Individual union members can contribute to candidates and ballot issues of their choice. No longer are we going to refer to Klawitter's group as Protect Colorado's Future. Because of this repeated pattern of lies and misinformation, we are now referring to them as Protect Colorado's Culture of Corruption."

Christine Stroup found out about the forum through Coloradans for Obama. She said while the “event was very one-sided” she walked away with a good idea of “what everything is about.”

Bell Policy Center President Wade Buchanan spoke in a favor of Amendment 59, which would direct refunds from the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights toward education spending. Buchanan told the crowd there was no organized opposition to Amendment 59. He was corrected by a member of the audience, who pointed out Penn Pfiffner, Denise Polhill and Jon Caldara—all associated with the Independence Institute, a free-market think-tank in Golden—have come out against the measure. Buchanan called the trio the "usual suspects."

Pfiffner, speaking on a morning radio show Monday, said a committee against Amendment 59 recently formed under the name "Strike a Better Balance."

Presentations were also made about Amendments 46, 48, 49, 52, 53, 55, 58, 59 and Referendum L. Member organizations also include Colorado Progressive Coalition, 9to5 National Association of Working Women, ACORN, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, Common Cause and dozens more.

"I feel like I'm back in higher ed and dealing with issues related to intellectual diversity," Lucero said. "If they're a calling it education, it should have diverse perspectives and all ideas represented at the table. This is more like Indoctrination 101."

Wilburn, however, said she was pleased with the event but refused to answer further questions.