What passed, what failed and what is still too close to mention

Colorado’s biennial exercise in direct democracy will get a real workout this year, with voters being asked to weigh in on more than a dozen changes to the state’s laws and constitution. Half of those questions were asked on the ballot by state lawmakers, and the rest came from advocacy groups outside the Capitol.

Here’s how they fared:

This constitutional amendment would do that increase the number of veterans with disabilities who are eligible for property tax exemption for part of the value of their main home. Currently, the so-called homestead exemption was limited to veterans with a full permanent service-connected disability. If Amendment G passes, it would also include veterans with a significant service-connected disability that prevents them from working, which the Veterans Administration classifies as those in “individual unemployment status.” Nonpartisan legislative staff estimate this change would affect approximately 3,400 additional veteran homeowners.

Lawmakers are asking voters to change the rules for how Colorado handles misconduct in the judiciary. This amendment would introduce a new one independent judicial discipline councilconsisting of judges, lawyers and members of the public. The board will conduct disciplinary hearings and hear appeals of informal corrective sanctions issued by the Judicial Discipline Commission.

This constitutional amendment would make Suspects of first-degree murder are not eligible for bailas long as prosecutors can demonstrate they have a strong enough case. Currently, the state constitution says only people charged with “capital crimes” can be denied bail. When the state had the death penalty, it applied to anyone accused of first-degree murder (which was potentially punishable by death). But last year, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that since Colorado abolished the death penalty, first-degree murder is no longer a capital crime. Changing the wording of the Constitution would return the state to the bail practices it had before lawmakers repealed the death penalty.

This intended measure would strike from language in the state constitution that reads: “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as marriage in this state.” Colorado voters passed the ban on same-sex marriage into the state constitution in 2006.

This constitutional amendment would do that moving the deadline for citizens’ initiatives by one week to submit their signatures for the petition. The same change would also apply to the notice of intent that judges and justices must submit if they wish to apply for retention. In addition, the nonpartisan research staff requires that the official text and titles of ballot measures be published a month earlier.

This amendment would enshrining the right to legal abortion in the state constitution and prevent future lawmakers from passing laws that restrict access. It also lifts a ban on public funding for abortion that voters approved 40 years ago. This could allow Colorado to cover more abortions under Medicaid and for state and local governments to add abortion coverage to their employee health insurance plans.

This one-paragraph amendment would enshrine in the state constitution the right of parents to choose the type of education they want their children to receive, from kindergarten through twelfth grade, including community, charter and private schools, homeschooling, the option to open enrollment and “future innovations in education.” education.”

This initiative would end mountain lion and bobcat hunting seasons in Coloradoand prevent the state from ever allowing lynx hunting (lynx, which were reintroduced to Colorado in 1999, are still considered endangered by the state). Big cats can still be killed by state or federal employees as part of population management efforts or, with state permission, by ranchers to prevent livestock depreciation. People who accidentally hit an animal with their car are not punished.

According to Prop. 128, people convicted of certain crimes would have to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence before being eligible for parole or early release for good behavior. That’s an increase from current law, which allows inmates to apply for discretionary parole after serving at least three-quarters of their sentence, or even sooner if they have earned time off through good behavior while incarcerated. The list of covered crimes includes murder, assault, aggravated robbery and serious cases of assault, kidnapping, arson and burglary.

The measure creates a new middle position – between a veterinary technician with a two-year college degree and a veterinarian with eight or more years of training – called a veterinary professional associate or VPA. VPAs would be people with a master’s degree in veterinary care who can diagnose animals, perform routine surgeries, and order and perform tests and procedures under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian.

For this measure, the state government would have to set aside $350 million a special fund for law enforcement. The money would go toward providing grants to local departments to help hire, train and retain officers, as well as a new $1 million death benefit for the families of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

The way Colorado runs its state and federal elections would do that, too change in two important ways under this initiative:

No more party primaries: Instead of each party choosing its own candidate for the general election, all qualified contenders in a given race would be placed on the same primary ballot. The top four voters, regardless of party affiliation, would advance to the general election.
Ranked Choice Voting for General Elections: Prior to the November election, voters were given a ballot with the four candidates. Instead of selecting just one, voters ranked some or all of them in order of preference. The rankings of all voters would be combined in a mathematical process to determine the winner. This version of ranked choice voting is also called “instant runoff voting.”

This would allow Colorado to do so retain and spend all tax revenue it collects from sports betting. When voters approved sports betting five years ago, the state estimated it would generate about $29 million in tax revenue annually. However, state economists now believe the 10 percent tax on betting will raise significantly more than that in coming years. The additional money would go to water conservation and protection projects.

This proposal would impose a new excise tax of 6.5 percent on the sale of weapons and ammunitionwith the money raised by the tax going to behavioral health supports for veterans and youth, as well as school safety and gun violence programs and services for victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes.