Colorado Looks Likely to Pass Ban on Political Contributions by Contractors

Colorado citizens yesterday were voting on a constitutional amendment to ban political contributions from entities winning no-bid government contracts. The Denver Business Journal reports that this proposal will pass with about 51% of the vote. The amendment has raised the ire of unions, especially public employees ones such as the teachers union, as it is worded broadly enough to seem to ban family members of union members from making contributions. It might also affect the local utility as there is only one in Colorado. The amendment seems headed to court. The law suits will help determine how specific the amendment is. The goal is to limit corruption in politics by preventing politicians from rewarding campaign contributors with directed contracts rather then relying on competition. This has been a big issue with local and city governments as most have a cap of about 100K for a contract requiring competition. It is not hard for a mayor or city councilman to give a contract to a big supporter if the total value is kept below the maximum. In DC it used to require a $1 M level for the City Council to approve and they found that city offices were deliberately breaking up contracts to keep below the threshold so that people could be rewarded for their support of the Mayor and other politicians.