HJR 1023: Colorado lawmakers’ constitutional ignorance on display
When the federal government certified the Colorado Constitution as “republican” in 1876, the Colorado constitution limited the legislature more than TABOR does.
Constitutional trouble for Colorado’s National Popular Vote scheme
Two new SCOTUS decisions make it clear NPV violates the Colorado Constitution.
Colorado Supreme Court rules against TABOR—Again!
If you read enough Colorado Supreme Court TABOR opinions, you notice . . . motifs: (1) taxpayers always lose, (2) the court’s opinions are often evasive . . . , and (3) after creating an anti-TABOR precedent, the justices then stretch it to create even more anti-TABOR precedents.
New Research Finds Most State Constitutional “Blaine Amendments” Facially Unconstitutional
Rob’s new research demonstrates that bans on “sectarian” aid were . . . designed to require state officials to discriminate in favor of mainstream Protestantism and against any faiths they deemed “bigoted” or “extreme.”
Blaine’s Shadow: Politics, Discrimination, and School Choice
More than three dozen states have some type of Blaine clause in their state constitutions. These problematic clauses prohibit government aid to “sectarian” institutions. Though this language has been euphemized to stand for the “separation of church and state,” such an outlook misinterprets the religious protections outlined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution […]
Masters v. School District Number 1
The Independence Institute has long been a champion of tenure reform, local control, and flexibility in the realm of school and district personnel decisions. In 2010, the Institute was part of a broad, bipartisan coalition supporting Senate Bill 191, Colorado’s teacher evaluation and tenure reform bill. It continues to defend SB 191’s critical reforms from both […]
January 6 Colorado Energy Cheat Sheet: fracking foes awaken; legislative session promises energy battles; EPA and Gold King Mine saga
Let’s start with the obvious–the anti-fracking forces have reignited their campaign to ban hydraulic fracturing, and want to do away with property rights too, according to this Gazette editorial: CREED, an umbrella of sorts for anti-energy activists, wants an outright ban on fracking with a proposal known as Initiative 62. In addition to banning all […]
Colorado SB 13-048 vs. the Constitution: fuel tax dollars for trains and bike paths
The law’s proponents say the spending qualifies as a road maintenance measure because it pays for ways to reduce traffic and thus the wear and tear on local highways. Schwartz said by that logic, the fuel tax could then be used to subsidize people buying new computers and faster Internet connections.
