Measure forces ballot initiative disclosures
By The Denver Post
05/26/2010
http://www.denverpost.com/legislature/ci_15161699Sponsors of a bill signed into law Tuesday say the new restrictions on ballot initiative backers could prevent future tangles like those surrounding a series of anti-tax measures before voters this November.
House Bill 1370 requires that issue committees, the term for groups backing initiatives, register with the state and begin disclosing financial information as soon as they print and distribute 200 petitions.
Current rules require these groups to register only after they raise or spend $200, a threshold that can be harder to gauge, according to bill co-sponsor Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver.
The groups backing the three ballot initiatives with rumored ties to former lawmaker and anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce now face questions about how they're funded and whether they should have had to disclose their financial information long ago.
Gov. Bill Ritter signed the bill at a ceremony in his office. It takes effect in January.
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