The editors of the Rocky Mountain News slam the deception of Protect Colorado’s Future (previously covered here and here), and give a major thumbs up to Amendment 49 on Colorado’s ballot:
As you may have guessed, we support Amendment 49 – just as we previously supported various versions of this policy at the local level. It would block state and local government agencies from deducting dues or fees from employee paychecks for unions or other membership groups….
The free deduction and collection of dues is a special benefit denied to most other worthy civic organizations.
Should Amendment 49 pass, unions and other organizations benefiting from free collections would simply share the same fundraising challenges that other groups successfully confront all the time. And that would hardly be the end of the world. Banks routinely set up automatic withdrawals so that their customers can pay any number of bills or, say, make retirement contributions. Deducting union dues should be a snap.
A number of jurisdictions – including Arapahoe and Douglas counties – have already enacted a local version of Amendment 49. A yes vote would extend this basic provision of fairness throughout Colorado. [emphasis added]
Arapahoe and Douglas are two of 12 Colorado counties – also including Jefferson, El Paso, Larimer, Weld, and Mesa – that have tested the policy by passing it at the local level.
The Rocky Mountain News joins the Pueblo Chieftain, Grand Junction Sentinel, Colorado Springs Gazette, former Gov. Bill Owens, former U.S. Senator Hank Brown, and a host of civic and professional organizations and community leaders in endorsing Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards Initiative.
Please read the entire Rocky editorial – one of the strongest, most persuasive cases for Amendment 49 that I’ve seen.
(Full disclosure: I also happen to work for the Independence Institute, which has provided the intellectual ammunition behind the Ethical Standards Initiative.)
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