October 7, 2008 

On Tuesday, November 4, Coloradans will vote on a variety of important ballot issues, statewide offices and the next President of the United States.   Not all public issues have the same moral gravity.  In the case of proposed state constitutional Amendments 46, 51 and 59, faithful Catholics can legitimately disagree on whether to support or oppose these initiatives.  Nonetheless, as part of the public discussion, the Catholic bishops of Colorado offer the following thoughts. 

Vatican II, the great reforming Church council that opened more than 40 years ago, called Catholics to a greater zeal for the social mission of the Church.  But since the council, the hopes of a better life for so many of our neighbors have gone unrealized – despite the work of many good persons dedicated to living the Gospel every day.  

Amendment 46, if passed, would ban affirmative action programs that take race or gender into account for public employment, education or contracting purposes.  The intent of this amendment may seem attractive to some.  Nonetheless, Colorado’s bishops oppose Amendment 46, because it will have negative effects on programs and policies that benefit women and minorities. 

Amendment 46 is a disturbing policy shift for Colorado.  It is a setback for women and minorities and ties the hands of the state’s universities and colleges.  It is bad public policy and undermines decades of progress made in bringing full equality to education, employment and contracting in Colorado. 

In contrast, the bishops strongly support Amendments 51 and 59.  Amendment 51 creates a modest increase in the state sales and use tax in order to generate new funds.  This money would be used to eliminate the waiting list for state developmental disabilities services.  The bishops regard this proposal as reasonable and urgent.  If we seek to be genuinely “prolife,” we need to provide adequate support for the mentally and physically disabled, who too often wait years for important state services.  Persons with disabilities share in our own human dignity as children of God.  They and their caregivers deserve society’s appropriate help.

Amendment 59 creates a dedicated funding stream for Preschool through 12^th grade public education.  Amendment 59 requires our state to save money when times are good, to avoid cutting essential educational services when times are bad.  In effect, it would relieve public education and other important services from future cuts that would otherwise be dictated by TABOR – the nation’s strictest spending limitation on all levels of state government.  With the dramatic downsizing of public services since it passed in 1992, Colorado now ranks near the bottom of all states in its support for critical public structures and services. 

While most of the direct benefits of Amendment 59 will go to education, the fact that this amendment allows the state to retain all revenues collected means that many budget cuts to other critical programs such as senior services, health care, affordable housing and higher education are likely to be mitigated in the future. 

Churches and charities cannot build a just society alone.  We need government to do its rightful job, not cut or severely restrict its services.  We need government to serve the common good with laws that defend the weak, and with the money, personnel and other resources to ensure a life of basic dignity for all our people.  Therefore, we encourage our people to vote for the passage of Amendment 59.