Face The State Staff Report
In the aftermath of a poll demonstrating extremely weak public support for a proposed tax increase being pushed by Gov. Bill Ritter, the initiative's backers are now facing additional obstacles to seeing their initiative become law.
Initiative 113, a proposed severance tax increase on the state's oil and gas industry, was proposed earlier this year by Ritter as a way to increase tuition funding for Colorado's low income college students. While the initiative's title has been approved by the Secretary of State's title setting review board, backers have not yet obtained approval of their petition form. To begin gathering signatures, backers would need to have the form approved by the Secretary of State and would then be required to gather more than 76,000 valid signatures by an August 4th deadline.
"It's going to cost them $4 or $5 a signature and they've only got seven weeks to do it," said Jon Caldara, a critic of the proposal and president of the Independence Institute. "It's a nearly impossible task at this point."
With gas at $4 a gallon, two powerful Colorado organizations have now come out against the initiative, saying it will hurt consumers and commerce alike. The Pueblo-based Action 22 released a resolution on June 6th proclaiming that "any additional tax burden on the oil and gas industry in Colorado sends the wrong message to the business community in the state during a time of economic uncertainty and may also significantly increase oil and gas prices." In addition, Club 20, a powerful Grand Junction business coalition, has publicly released a letter in opposition to the initiative. Resistance by the two groups follows a May decision by the Colorado Competitive Council, a coalition of businesses and local chambers of commerce, to oppose the initiative.
The Hill survey results, reported by Face The State Monday, showed that of 802 respondents polled by the Texas-based David Hill, just 38 percent supported Ritter's proposal. An additional 44 percent were opposed, and 19 percent remained uncertain. In addition to the weak overall numbers, the intensity of support for the proposal was also lethargic, with just half of supporters saying they strongly supported the measure.
The poll was funded by Coloradans For a Stable Economy, a coalition organized to oppose the initiative. According to state Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, the poll's numbers are almost a death sentence for the initiative's backers. "At this stage of the game, you need to be at 58 percent yes if you want to be smart about moving forward," he said.
In addition to opposing Ritter's initiative, Gardner is part of a coalition of lawmakers proposing its own competing effort, Initiative 120. Under current state law, half of all severance tax revenue generated by energy producers goes to the Department of Local Affairs for distribution to municipalities, with the other half going to the state's Department of Natural Resources. The proposal, also backed by Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, and Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, would freeze the current dollar amount going to the DNR to what it receives today, allowing for yearly increases only in line with inflation. Any revenue generated by the tax over and above this amount would go directly into transportation funding. According to Gardner, this shift would create at least $1 billion in new revenue for roads over the next decade.
Gardner's initiative had been given a title by the Secretary of State and he says signature gathering will begin shortly. While the initiative is also plagued with an August 4th signature turn-in deadline, Gardner believes he has the funding necessary to obtain the required number of signatures before the clock runs out.
Under the unlikely scenario where both Ritter and Gardner's proposals make it onto the ballot and both pass, Gardner's proposal, a constitutional amendment, would supercede Ritter's statutory change.