Support making Constitution more stable

The Constitution of the United States is a remarkable document. In fact, the body of laws and governing principles stands alone in its durability and relevance over a long period of time. In my view, the primary reason that this body of laws is still so relevant and that there have been no serious Constitutional crises is the brilliant foresight of our founding fathers in creating a federal system of laws that was evolving, but that was not easily altered by the temporary whims and will of the people. It is difficult to amend the U.S. Constitution and that quality, in itself, has kept the country aligned to its initial principles.

As a former California resident, I have witnessed the opposite of what our founding fathers were trying to accomplish with the Constitution.  California has long been the leader in the number of initiatives that reach its ballot each election.

But in the last 100 years, more initiatives per person have been placed on the Colorado ballot than California.  The reason for the large number of initiatives is that the process is so easy.  Under Colorado’s law today, all a person or group has to do to get their idea on the ballot is collect 100,000 signatures.  In fact, all one has to do to get an amendment to the State’s Constitution is collect 100,000 signatures.  The ease of this process has led to over 150 amendments to the Colorado Constitution versus the 27 amendments that have been passed to the U.S. Constitution.  According to Colorado State Treasurer Walker Stapleton, the ease of this process, and the unfunded mandates that it creates, is the primary reason that Colorado does not have a triple A bond rating.

Amendment 71, the “Raise the Bar” initiative, is a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that addresses this weakness. It would make it more difficult, but not impossible, to amend the Constitution on future ballots. The bill changes the Constitution from requiring 100,000 signatures for an initiative to make the ballot, which can be gathered from any specific area of Colorado, to requiring the signatures of 2% of registered voters in each of the state’s 35 Senate districts. This proposed Constitutional change, which is supported by every living current and ex-Colorado Governor, regardless of political party, would require that the serious step of amending the Constitution have a minimum support in all of Colorado’s regions.  Furthermore, it raises the bar of passage of those amendments from a simple majority to 55% of the vote.  This moves Colorado more in line with the wisdom that of the country’s founding fathers in their requirement that 2/3 of the States ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Northern Colorado Economic Alliance wholeheartedly endorses and urges voters to pass Amendment 71. This amendment protects Colorado from a process which could continually see its future reshaped by the temporary will of a minority of the State’s population. By placing Colorado’s Constitution more in line with the U.S. Constitution and by requiring broader geographic support to change our Constitution, we place our faith back in our representative form of government, which will lead to greater stability and continuity for our great state.

Andy Montgomery is CEO of the Northern Colorado Economic Alliance.

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