12/10: Amendment 51 backers press on

Remember Amendment 51, the proposal to raise the sales tax to pay for developmental disabilities? Despite being trounced at the ballot box, its proponents are pressing on.

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Initiative campaigns' final pitch for your vote

A Face the State Staff Report

October 21, 2008
Mail-in ballots have been trickling back to County Clerks' offices, and early voting began Monday with record turnout. Face the State gave each of 10 remaining ballot initiatives the opportunity to write a short column explaining why voters should support or oppose each measure.

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"We all agree that there's a huge role for the state government in taking care of developmentally disabled individuals. While we need to guard against mission creep - identifying marginally disabled as needing the full range of care, for instance - we wouldn't even be talking about making these folks productive members of society if the state hadn't begun deinstitutionalizing 20 years ago. So the state has a historic role in helping these individuals, and shouldn't be shirking that.

"Today we had Joe Blake from the Chamber in to record his video arguments against the union amendments (53, 55, 56, 57, fiftywhatever), then Jon Anderson in here to oppose Amendment 50 before your esteemed editorial board and on video (though in defense of the casinos, I must say that if I'd gone to Black Hawk to play penny slots last weekend I wouldn't have broken my little toe on a shopping cart at Target), then the No on 48 campaign also appearing before your esteemed edit board and on camera."