INITIATIVES DRAW DOLLARS SPENT ON BALLOT ISSUES

Spending on Colorado ballot issues topped $10 million this year, as
big companies and national organizations fought to control the state's
laws and taxes.

The spending total is believed to be the highest ever in Colorado. It
by far exceeds the amount spent on the races for governor and other
statewide political races combined. Unlike state political races,
hemmed in by the campaign finance limits of Amendment 15, there are no
limits on what can be given to a ballot issue campaign.

"In politics, money is like water running down a hill," said Steve
Welchert, a political consultant who specializes in ballot
initiatives. "It's going to find someplace to go."

Leading the list was Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen's successful
drive to build a new stadium with taxpayer dollars. The pro-stadium
tax effort got $3.1 million, two-thirds of it from Bowlen. But Bowlen
is expected to recoup the investment easily, bringing in $20 million a
year at the new stadium.

Bowlen's contributions dwarfed the opposition, which raised
$23,800.

But more money didn't ensure victory in every case. Supporters of
tuition tax credits and opponents of strict new hog regulations lost,
even though they had more to spend than their opponents in big-money
contests.

Another big-money race was the water war between San Luis Valley
farmers and businessman Gary Boyce. Each side spent a little more than
$1 million, but voters sided with the farmers. The group trying to
legalize the medical use of marijuana spent nearly $400,000, even
though votes were not counted in the race.

The unlimited big-dollar contributions can drown the grassroots
idealism that ballot initiatives are supposed to foster, campaign
finance experts say.

"It's been added to the list of ways special interests can co-opt what
was thought of as grassroots campaigning," said Sheila Krumholz of the
Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan Washington group that
studies the effect of money on politics.

Krumholz said the dollars flowing into ballot issue campaigns and
so-called "independent expenditures" show the need to look at all
aspects of the system when trying to improve campaign finance laws.

Welchert noted that many of the issues decided by voters this year had
been debated in the Statehouse without result, making the ballot issue
an end run around the Legislature.

"Whichever side didn't get what they were looking for took it to the
ballot," said Welchert, who was hired to defeat the tuition tax
credits initiative. "Amendment 15 has basically rendered the state
Capitol irrelevant."

One reason for all that money is that Colorado's growth has attracted
a broad cross-section of the American population to the foot of the
Rockies. That makes it a good laboratory to test ideas before taking
them to the rest of the country, Welchert said.

Checked-by: derek rea