Face The State Staff Report
At a press conference on the West Steps of the Capitol Monday, Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, announced his formal opposition to the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, which will appear as Amendment 46 on this November's ballot.
Ritter said keeping the economy afloat was a major motivating factor in declaring his opposition to Amendment 46, which would ban public state institutions from granting preferential treatment based on sex, race or ethnicity in hiring, education and contracting.
Ritter attacked the amendment’s out-of-state author and financial supporter Ward Connerly, who has successfully seen similar amendments voted into law in California, Washington, and Michigan.
“Amendment 46 is a California import we don’t need or want,” Ritter said.
But Jessica Corry, leader of the pro-46 campaign, says she thinks the majority of Coloradans actually disagree. “The governor continues to believe that government should discriminate on the basis of race and gender,” Corry said. “This position is out of date in the 21st Century and out of touch with the nearly 70 percent of Colorado voters who say the support us.”
Corry pointed to a University of California study that showed a 3-5 percent cost savings for taxpayers after preference programs were eliminated through California's Proposition 209 in 1996.
Corry, who is also an editorial contributor to Face The State, accused Ritter of violating Colorado's Fair Campaign Practices Act after his Office of Economic Development and International Trade used state resources to campaign against the measure.
“The people were misled and they deserve a public apology for the governor's use of taxpayer funds to advocate on behalf of his own personal agenda,” Corry said.
Ritter denied the accusations outright at the conference, but later Don Elliman, director of OEDIT, admitted that state time and money were used to invite people to a forum on Sept. 22 featuring a prominent detractor to the amendment, but no supporters.
"We blew it," Elliman told the Rocky Mountain News. "It would appear from the wording on the invitation that we were taking a position. The governor can take a position, but that doesn't mean we can spend state money and time on it."