As Colorado gears up for elections this November, the Colorado Rural Health Center has decided to oppose a trio of ballot initiatives that would severely impact Colorado's fiscal situation: Proposition 101, Amendment 60 and Amendment 61. If you think the past few years have been tough (keep in mind, our state isn't even close to being finished with budget cuts and I know all of us have been impacted by the current cuts that have occurred) these three ballot measures would severely cripple state and local services.
We encourage all of our members to get the word out and vote no on these! Tell your friends! Contact your elected officials! Vote NO on Proposition 101, Amendment 60 and Amendment 61!!!
During the next few months, CRHC will be providing you more information on these measures or you may visit the Looking Forward website to learn more. You can find county specific data as to how much your county will lose if any of these three passed. You may also sign on to oppose these measures, along with a host of other organizations including our rural partners Club 20, Action 22, and Progressive 15 by visiting Don't Hurt Colorado. I will be providing continued information about these ballot initiatives in the upcoming months in efforts to ensure these do not pass this November.
Below is a quick synopsis of what these three measures would do to local & state services.
Proposition 101 would eliminate taxes and revenue collected from car registrations and vehicle fees. This revenue helps fund local school districts, emergency medical services, and maintenance of roads & bridges. If passed, the state would lose about $2 billion a year (approximately $600,000 of that would impact local communities). This would greatly impact healthcare services by eliminating the ability of communities to have ambulance and emergency services.
Amendment 60 would overturn prior local election decisions regarding taxes & fees, cut local support for schools and charge new taxes on public services. This measure would greatly impact local funding for school districts who would expect to lose about 50% of their propery tax revenue. In total, A60 would cut over $1 billion of local funding. It would also charge new taxes on public universities & colleges, water authorities, and the Division of Wildlife.
Amendment 61 would bar the state from borrowing money, including short term loans, which are used for construction projects, roads, universities, and hospitals. Basically, the state of Colorado would freeze once this was enacted as the state would be unable to upgrade, build, or improve any infrastructure in the state.
All together these three measures would cause the state to lose about $6.3 billion annually from state and local goverment. This means that healthcare services would be greatly impacted as the state would not be able to completely fund Medicaid, reimburse providers (who have already been cut by 5.5% the past two years) and greatly diminish emergency medical services in the state. Colorado cannot afford any of these measures to pass.
Stay tuned for more information about these three and how you can mobilize your communtity, friends, and family members to vote NO!!!!
