ELECTION: Amendment 74 falls

Coloradans voted Tuesday to reject Amendment 74, a measure that would have triggered changes to the Colorado constitution to require governments to compensate property owners should the value of that property be reduced by laws or regulation.

Amendment 74 was seen as a countermeasure for Proposition 112, which would put strict new setback regulations on oil and gas drilling. Proposition 112 was also defeated Tuesday.

Channel 9 News called the race at about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday. At that time, about 53 percent of votes counted — 754,757 — were against Amendment 74.

Amendment 74, led by the Colorado Farm Bureau and heavily financed by oil-and-gas interests, proposed to alter a section of Colorado’s constitution with 11 new words to read: “Private property shall not be taken, or damaged, for public or private use, or reduced in fair market value by government law or regulation, without just compensation.”

Supporters said the measure is necessary to backstop private property owners from unfair takings by the government.

But a bipartisan collation of opponents, including the Colorado Municipal League, argued the measure would bring a host of negative consequences to the economy and local and state government coffers.

Colorado Municipal League executive director Sam Mamet saluted the Colorado Farm Bureau on Twitter “for a hard fought battle” and said the league is “looking forward to working together on key issues” in the future.

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