HEADLINES

CACI Completes Interviews of 52 New Legislative Candidates

CACI Members Urged to Contribute $50 to CACI’s Small-Donor Committee

Three Controversial Ballot Measures Draw Fire

Dan Pilcher

CACI Senior Vice President

& Chief Operating Officer

E-Mail: dpilcher@COchamber.com

Phone: 303.866.9600

www.COchamber.com

Friday, July 9, 2010

CACI Completes Interviews of 52 New Legislative Candidates

The CACI lobbying team and a number of CACI members on Tuesday completed interviews with the last three of a total of 52 new legislative candidates interviewed in June.

The participation of CACI’s members in the interviews has been critical to the CACI lobbying team as it assesses the new candidates in terms of their views and positions on business issues that concern CACI.  We thank these individuals for their time and commitment to actively participate in the interviews over four and one-half days.

The CACI lobbying team is now developing a list of new candidates to recommend to the CACI Executive Committee and CACI Board of Directors for endorsement and financial support from the Colorado Business Political Action Committee (CB-PAC).

CACI is working hard this summer and fall to create a pro-business legislature next year with the endorsement and financial support of pro-business legislative candidates, both incumbents and new, who will listen to employers’ concerns.

To support this important effort, CACI members can contribute $500 to CB-PAC.  Individuals, companies and PACs can contribute up to $500 during the two-year election cycle to a political action committee such as CB-PAC.  CACI members who wish to contribute should contact Denise Reeves, CACI Vice President of Events and Programs, at 303.866.9622 or via e-mail at dreeves@COchamber.com 

Here is the list of new candidates interviewed by CACI:

To locate the legislative districts, click here.

CACI Members Urged to Contribute $50 to CACI’s Small-Donor Committee

Under Colorado’s campaign finance laws, an individual can contribute $50 per calendar year to a small-donor committee.  CACI’s small-donor committee contribution can be an important factor in the financial support of pro-business legislative candidates in key, competitive races.  During the 2008 election campaign, the CACI Prosperity Fund supported six legislative candidates in tightly contested races.

Any individual can contribute to CACI’s small-donor committee.  Please mail personal checks for $50 made out to The Colorado Prosperity Fund to the CACI Office to the attention of Dan Pilcher.

Three Controversial Ballot Measures Draw Fire

On Tuesday, reporter Tim Hoover of The Denver Post dissected Amendment 61, one of the three ballot proposals that CACI and many other business organizations are opposing.  Click here to read.

On Wednesday, The Post editorialized against the three ballot measures but Amendment 61 in detail, saying that it would “cripple the ability of our local and state governments to provide the most basic of services—from building schools for children to supplying clean water to our homes”.  Click here for the article.

At its June meeting, the CACI Board of Directors voted to oppose the three ballot measures--Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101-- because the proposals, should they be approved by the voters in November, would cause severe damage to state and local governments in Colorado and, therefore, to the state’s business climate:

·         Amendment 60 would reduce property taxes and, significantly, repeal voters’ previous “TABOR overrides” at the local government level;

·         Amendment 61 would limit debt financing by state and local governments, including school districts; and

·         Proposition 101 would reduce various taxes, including a repeal of the increase in vehicle taxes passed by the legislature last year to fund transportation needs.

The two proposed amendments would amend the Colorado Constitution; Proposition 101 would amend state statutes.

CACI urges its members to (a) become acquainted with these three measures and then (b) financially support the organization, Coloradans for Responsible Reform, that is fighting the measures.  Click here to go to their website.

The legislature’s chief economist, Natalie Mullis, has written a memo analyzing the three measures.  Please click here to view.

For the public, the legislature’s “Blue Book” will be the best source for non-partisan, balanced analysis of the three measures.  Visit the legislature’s Web site periodically to view the drafts on the three measures as they progress through the drafting-and-comment process this summer.  Click here to read the first of drafts of the analyses of the three ballot proposals:

CACI members also can submit comments about the measures via e-mail to the legislative staff working on the analyses.