Advance Colorado Action Qualifies Ballot Measures Establishing A Constitutional Right To School Choice, Parole Requirements

Advance Colorado Action, a small government issue advocacy organization, recently qualified two more ballot initiatives. Advance Colorado Action describes its mission as “supporting policies that increase economic opportunity and greater government transparency.”

The new ballot initiatives are Initiative 138 and Initiative 112.

Initiative 138 would add a sentence to the state constitution that says, “Each K-12 child has the right to school choice.” The amendment would state that “all children have the right to equal opportunity to access a quality education” and that “parents have the right to direct the education of their children.” Under the amendment, school choice would be defined to include neighborhood schools, charter schools, private schools, homeschools, open enrollment options, and future innovations in education.

Initiative 112, referred to as the Truth in Sentencing Initiative by sponsors, would change the requirements for individuals convicted of certain violent crimes to apply for parole. The initiative would require such individuals to serve 85% of their sentence before being eligible for parole, including any earned time. Persons with a previous conviction of a violent crime would have to serve the full sentence before being eligible for parole. Currently, in Colorado, if someone is convicted of a violent crime, such as second-degree murder, first-degree assault, or aggravated robbery, they can apply for parole after serving 75% of their sentence. This calculation excludes any time they might have earned off their sentence for good behavior.

Initiatives 138 and 112 join two others sponsored by Advance Colorado Action that have already qualified for the ballot. Initiatives 108 and 50.

Initiative 108 would change the definition of residential real property to include multifamily residential properties (but excluding hotels and motels), as well as residential land and improvements. This change would revert changes made by Senate Bill 238, passed by the Colorado State Legislature in 2023, which made multifamily residential property a subclass of residential real property with a different valuation rate (6.8% for 2024). The initiative would set the valuation for assessment of residential property (including multifamily property) to 5.7%. The rate for non-residential property would be reduced from 29% to 24% of the actual value for all taxable property except for residential real property producing mines and lands or leaseholds producing oil or gas.

Initiative 50 would limit property tax revenue from increasing beyond 4% growth from the total statewide property tax revenue collected in the previous year. Statewide voter approval would be required to retain property tax revenue above the cap.

Both of the property tax initiatives could be withdrawn from the ballot if a compromise deal is reached in the state legislature. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) has called the legislature into a special session to address property taxes. Sponsors of the initiatives agreed to withdraw the two ballot initiatives if legislation is passed to reduce property taxes and cap local government and school district tax revenue growth.

Another initiative sponsored by Advance Colorado Action, Initiative 157, would create a Peace Officer Training and Support Fund and appropriate $350 million to the fund for law enforcement hiring, salaries, bonuses, training, and death benefits. Signatures for the initiative are pending verification.

Two other initiatives pending signature verification, but sponsored by other groups, are Initiative 145 and Initiative 310.

Initiative 145 would create the profession of veterinary professional associate (VPA) requiring a master’s degree and registration with the state board of veterinary medicine.

Initiative 310 would establish top-four open primary elections and ranked-choice voting for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, Colorado University board of regents, state board of education, and state legislature.

As of this writing, 13 statewide ballot measures have been certified for the November 5 election.

Produced in association with Ballotpedia. Edited for Zenger News by Kyana Rubinfeld