New video exposes “Amendment 66: The PERA Fiction”

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

The Yes on 66 campaign released a video on Monday dubbed “The PERA Fiction” in response to the latest instance of an opponent repeating a widely discredited claim about how money raised for schools under Amendment 66 might be used.

The claim was recently made by political consultant Laura Carno during an appearance with Amendment 66 supporter Laura Chapin on The Denver Post’s video program “The Spot.”

“Colorado voters are smart enough to see through the scare tactics opponents are using,” said Yes on 66 Campaign Director Andrew Freedman. “New money raised for schools under Amendment 66 is constitutionally and statutorily prohibited from being used on anything but education reforms and program enhancements, and we’re happy to make that clear to voters.”

“We’re not agreeing to disagree. We’re saying that our opponents are wrong, period.”

Money raised by Amendment 66 CANNOT BE USED for “shoring up” PERA, as political strategist Laura Carno and others claim.

In fact, all new money raised by Amendment 66 must be placed in the newly created State Educational Achievement Fund, where it can ONLY be used for “Implementing educational reforms and programmatic enhancements.” 1

To be certain there is no question as to what qualifies as “educational reforms and programmatic enhancements,” lawmakers defined them in 19 categories in Senate Bill 213. 2

As a further protection, Amendment 66 requires an annual state audit “to ensure compliance” that new money is only spent on education reforms and program enhancements. 3

That’s why we say the money is “constitutionally and statutorily prohibited from ever being used directly to fund PERA.”

But don’t just take our word for it. In a Sept. 9, 2013, editorial headlined “The PERA Fiction on Amendment 66,” the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel editorial board called it “downright embarrassing” to base opposition ”…on the inaccurate claim that money raised by Amendment 66…could end up going to the Colorado Public Employees Retirement Fund — or PERA — instead being sent to schools.”

“Downright embarrassing.”

Steve Reynolds, the board chairman of the Western Slope business group Club 20 wrote in The Sentinel that the information being circulated that new money “would be redirected to bail out PERA is blatantly false.”

That’s right. “Blatantly false.”

There is only one way to read Amendment 66 when it comes to where the new money goes:

Shoring up PERA  = FICTION

New money for classroom and programs = FACT

Amendment 66 is good for kids, it’s good for schools, and it’s good for Colorado. Don’t let the false information fool you.

End of discussion.

1Amendment 66, Sections 6a, 6c

2 SB 213: Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-54.5-101(3)

3 Amendment 66, Section 6d

4 Grand Junction Daily Sentinel editorial, Sept. 9, 2103

5 Grand Junction Daily Sentinel guest commentary, Sept. 15, 2103

View the original article here

Amendment 66 is committed to providing access to early childhood education

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Making new friends, trying new things, discovering interests and abilities — we remember preschool and kindergarten as a time of fun and exploration. What you didn’t realize at the time was that spending your days in a preschool or kindergarten classroom was setting you up for success for the rest of your life.

Why is early childhood education important?

Students who complete preschool and full-day kindergarten are more likely to graduate from high school and are better prepared to enter the workforce. Win for them, win for our communities. Preschool and full-day kindergarten give students a head start to tackle critical skills like reading — and when kids are proficient in reading by the 3rd grade, they are much more likely to be successful throughout their entire learning careers.

Where we stand:

Colorado does have a state program for preschool. That’s a good start, but we spend less than almost all other states that have a statewide pre-K program: 38th out of 40, and the lack of funding shows. Districts have lengthy waiting lists for many kids who are eligible for the Colorado Preschool Program. Colorado funds only half-day kindergarten, and relies on parents and taxpayers in each school district to cover the cost of full-day kindergarten.

What we’ll do:

25,500 preschool-aged kids will have access to the Colorado Preschool Program. Bring on the learning! Want full-day kindergarten for your little ones? Amendment 66 will pick up the tab for districts that want it. The more kids enrolled, the more space we’ll need! We’re going to help districts build or expand facilities to accommodate our young learners. Creating a stronger early childhood education system for our state’s 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds is an important way to commit to Colorado’s kids.

To learn more, please visit voteyeson66.com

View the original article here

DelGrosso falsely claims Amendment 66 would increase taxes on small businesses

(We suspect there will be a high demand for fact checking this fall – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

On a Sept. 5 show, KFKA talk-radio host Tom Lucero told Colorado House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso that government shouldn't be an obstacle to small business.

Agreed. But talk-radio hosts shouldn't be an obstacle to small business either. Or to educating our children.

But Lucero established himself as such an obstruction by failing to correct DelGrosso when the new Colorado House Minority leader claimed that Amendment 66, which would raise income tax to support education, would be a burdensome tax on small businesses:

DelGrosso: Well, the reality is, I think it’s mid- to upper eighty percent of all businesses in Colorado are small businesses. And close to eighty percent of those small businesses are set up either as a sole proprietorship, an LLC, or an S Corp., which means that their taxes that their business makes flows through onto their personal income tax. So, you will see about 80% of businesses in Colorado see a tax increase as a result of this. [Listen here.]

But Amendment 66 doesn't affect Colorado taxes on businesses. It's a tax on "individuals, estates, and trusts."

It's true that some business owners (like me) choose to take profit from their businesses (e.g., in the form of dividends) and account for it on their personal income tax filings. But that's because it's their income! So they pay personal income tax on it, just like they would income from any other source or employment.

If you make income from a business, whether you own the business or not, you pay income tax. The individual would be taxed, not the business, under Amendment 66, and no one will be taxed twice. 

With Lucero apparently agape at the fictitious thought that small businesses could be facing a new tax, DelGrosso went on to say:

DelGrosso: When the taxes go up, not only does that get passed along to the consumer, another way that that affects folks is that affects pay raises for the business. So maybe, because the taxes went up, I’m not going to be able to give pay raises this year. I’m not going to be able to hire somebody, or I’m going to have to let somebody go, or I can’t expand.

It's hard to imagine a small business owner who would look over his personal budget, including the income from his LLC or S Corp, and decide not to invest more in his business due to the tax increase under Amendment 66.

ColoradoCommitsToKids calculates that an individual making the gross median income of $57,000, will pay an additional $211 in tax. A small businessperson who claims gross income on his individual income tax return of $150,000 will pay an additional $24 per week. Double that and it's still not enough for the greediest capitalist to do much with.

But, collectively, it's enough to give our kids the opportunity they deserve to succeed on Colorado.

That's why media figures like Lucero, whose background as a former CU Regent should sensitize him to the educational needs of our kids, should counter DelGrosso's misinformation with facts. Or have an educator on the show who can.

View the original article here

Amendment 66 Heads To The Ballot

FOX 31's Eli Stokols reports, an autumnal battle royale awaits after the recalls:

The proposal to raise income tax rates to generate nearly $1 billion annually to fund a new public education financing model will be on the November ballot, the Secretary of State’s office announced Wednesday.

Initiative 22 will allow voters to decide on whether to approve a two-tiered rate hike to help fund full day kindergarten statewide, along with a number of other reforms.

Moving forward with the blessing of Gov. John Hickenlooper, Amendment 66 is quickly shedding any remaining stigma attached to 2011's failed Proposition 103. Proposition 103 failed in part due to concerns that it wouldn't raise enough revenue to address the longstanding problem of adequately financing education in Colorado. Amendment 66 is not a "band aid," but the most ambitious and comprehensive attempt yet to settle the problem of school finance for the long term. And even after passage, Colorado would remain a low-tax state compared to much of the nation–that fact alone should give voters an idea of the hole the state needs to dig out of.

And in case you didn't know already, no one in Colorado politics gets vacations until mid-November.

View the original article here