Proposal to Change Initiative Process Introduced in Senate

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced a resolution that would ask the state's voters to toughen the requirements for amending the state's constitution.

SCR 003 adopts the recommendations of the General Assembly's Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Reform. It asks the voters to approve a constitutional amendment that would require petitions for a new statute to secure signatures from four percent of the voters who cast a ballot for governor in the last election in order to get the proposal on the ballot.

For initiatives that propose a constitutional amendment, the proposal would require proponents to obtain the signatures of six percent of the voters who cast a ballot for governor in the last election.

The voters would also be asked to require constitutional amendment petitions to garner signatures from each of Colorado's Congressional districts.

The resolution goes first to the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee. If approved there, it moves on to the Senate.

The primary sponsors of SCR 003 are Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, and Rep. Al White, R-Hayden.