9 SEPTEMBER 12-18, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | hire enough staff to meet the demand.” Opponents argue that the measure would instead disrupt Colorado’s veterinary sys- tem and “lower standards of care.” “This level of training and hands-on experience is grossly inadequate for anyone entrusted with the health and safety of Colorado pets and animals,” according to the Keep Our Pets Safe campaign. “It is critical that voters see through these attempts to prioritize profi ts over pets.” Parole Eligibility for Crimes of Violence Proposition 128 would require offenders convicted of certain violent crimes to serve their full sentence if they’ve been convicted of a violent crime twice before. For all people convicted of certain violent offenses, it would increase the required percentage of sentence served before parole from 75 percent to 85 percent. The violent crimes included in the ballot measure are second-degree murder, fi rst- degree assault, first-degree kidnapping, first- and second-degree sexual assault, first-degree arson, first-degree burglary and aggravated robbery. Under current law, these inmates may apply for discretionary parole after serving at least 75 percent of their sentence, or earlier if they’ve earned time off for good behavior. Organizers behind the measure hope it will help address Colorado’s nearly 45 per- cent recidivism rate — among the highest in the nation. “It is no surprise that when violent criminals are released from prison before they have served even half of their sentences, these felons go right back to their lives of crime,” says Michael Fields, who is pushing this measure, too. Constitutional Right to School Choice Amendment 80 would add a child’s right to school choice and a parent’s right to “di- rect” their child’s education to the state constitution. Proponents say it would protect Colo- radans’ current ability to choose between public, private, charter, religious or home schools in the event that state legislation to restrict school choice is passed in the future. “It’s not guaranteed that the school- choice rights that parents and teachers strongly support will be in place forever, so we need to safeguard them in the state constitution,” notes Kristi Burton Brown, ex- ecutive vice president of Advance Colorado. LEGISLATIVE BALLOT MEASURES Before the Colorado Legislature adjourned in May, it approved adding fi ve measures to the ballot, in addition to two measures ap- proved for a 2024 vote last year. But many other proposals failed to make it through. Voted down by lawmakers were proposals to require that local governments ask voters for re-approval to retain more tax revenue than allowed by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights; create a parents’ bill of rights; en- shrine the right to school choice in the state constitution; and expand the homestead property tax exemption for certain seniors. Two proposals died on the calendar without fi nal votes: measures to prohibit someone appointed to fi ll a vacancy in the state legislature from running for legislative offi ce in the next term, and to establish a new formula for calculating annual property tax revenue growth limits. A resolution to allow the legislature to pass a retrospective law to let victims of child sexual abuse pursue lawsuits for the abuse regardless of when it happened made it to the Senate fl oor — but it failed by just one vote after Republicans united against it. The legislature also stepped in to stop several competing measures regarding fossil fuels that threatened to fl ood the ballot in November. Advocates for those initiatives agreed to pull their proposals in a compro- mise with Polis, state legislators, leaders of environmental groups and oil and gas industry representatives. The April agree- ment included introducing a pair of bills to establish a new fee for oil and gas production and cut certain compounds from drilling operations. In exchange, legislators killed other bills meant to reduce air pollution, and industry leaders withdrew two planned ballot measures, Initiatives 85 and 86. A similar legislative compromise at- tempted to prevent proposed property tax ballot measures by passing a bill to lower property tax rates, but advocates for the measures did not agree to pull their support... at least not during the regular session. But that changed during the special session. Here are the proposals put on the ballot during the regular legislative session: Constitutional Bail Exception for First-Degree Murder Amendment I would allow judges to deny bail to people charged with fi rst-degree murder in cases where “proof is evident or presumption is great.” This initiative comes after Colorado abol- ished the death penalty in 2020, unintention- ally doing away with the ability to deny bail to murder suspects. The state constitution says suspects can only be denied bond in “capital cases,” meaning cases that are pun- ishable by death. Since Colorado no longer punishes crimes with death, no suspects can be denied bail, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled last year. The ballot measure asks voters to create an exception to this new News continued from page 6 continued on page 10
