Even as a part-time effort during the 2009 Colorado legislative session, the Gadsden Society made a difference. We lobbied several bills, and even when we were not successful, we made sure our opposition knew further erosion of our freedoms would not be easy.
For example: SB-57 Public School Spending Transparency Act.
This bill would have required every public and charter school in Colorado to post its revenue sources and expenditures in a searchable online database available to the public. Even though many did not expect this bill to get out of the Senate Education Committee, our advocacy and testimony helped get it out of Committee and passed in the Senate.
Unfortunately, the House Education Committee killed the bill. They succumbed to pressure from school-district and education union lobbyists. It makes sense that since these schools are funded by the people, it should be easy for the people to be able to see where and how their money has been spent. The opponents of the bill, in essence, believe that we mere subjects need not concern ourselves with how our betters in government spend public money.
One Senator actually said that all this bill would do is give people more reason to complain about how their money was being spent. In other words, how dare the poor vassals question the government use of their money?
The Gadsden Society is working to bring this bill back and get it passed in 2010. We may be nothing but poor vassals, but the legislature will hear us.
SB-87 Special District Accountability. The Gadsden Society worked with Senator Morgan Carroll (D-Arapahoe) in drafting this bill that requires notice to homeowners of the Special Districts in which they live, annual notice from each Special District to eligible electors about when and where Special District elections are held, who represents them on the Special District board and when and where regular Special District meetings are held.
Prior to the passage of this bill, many Special Districts operated in virtual anonymity, yet racked up hundreds of millions in dollars in potential liabilities on behalf of Colorado citizens.
We helped get this bill passed. Senator Carroll publicly recognized Gadsden Society President David K. Williams, Jr., for his efforts in helping to get this bill passed into law.
HB-1288 Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act. The Gadsden Society worked with State Representative B.J. Nikkel in getting this bill passed into law. It requires the entire State government to post its revenue sources and expenditures in a searchable online database available to the public.
HB-1299 Direct Election of the President. The United States was created as a constitutional republic, and not a democracy. Our founding fathers intentionally gave each state a say in the federal government. They did not want the most populous states to dictate to the least populous states, like Colorado. This bill, if passed, would have been another blow to our form of government, effectively ending Colorado’s say in the election of the U.S. President. It would have awarded Colorado’s electoral votes to whoever won the national popular vote, even if Colorado voters selected someone else. The Gadsden Society worked to kill this bill, which was pulled by its sponsor in the Senate for lack of support. Gadsden Society supporters let our Senators know how we felt, and they heard us.
HB -1238 Civil Forfeiture. This truly horrendous expansion of state power received so much opposition it was pulled by its sponsor before it could be killed in committee. The Gadsden Society was part of that vocal opposition.
The bill would have repealed safeguards protecting private property from civil forfeiture to government authorities. Among other things, it would have:
Repealed the requirement that someone be convicted of a criminal offense before their property could be forfeited;
Allowed for forfeiture even if the owner didn’t know that the property was used in violation of the law under the theory that he “reasonably should have known;”
Repealed the requirement that the government prove that the property subject to forfeiture was instrumental in the commission of an offense;
Removed any transparency and accountability by repealing all forfeiture reporting requirements.
The Gadsden Society is proud to have assisted in protecting individual property rights and helping to prevent further expansion of state power over personal freedom.
SB-241 DNA Testing for Adults Arrested for Felonies. The Gadsden Society strongly believes in the concept of “innocent until proven guilty.” While we believe that enforcement of criminal laws is a crucial function of government, we do not believe it trumps all other crucial functions of government. One of the functions it does not automatically trump is the enforcement of the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.
This bill mandates the use of force to take DNA from people merely charged with a felony, and not convicted. The State puts this DNA in a government database. To make matters worse, if the person charged is
subsequently acquitted or has the charges dropped, the burden is on the innocent citizen to seek a court order removing the DNA from the database.
Since the government has a hard time keeping track of nuclear secrets on laptops, the Gadsden Society does not have faith in the government to keep track of DNA records of people that have not been convicted of anything.
Despite our opposition, this bill passed easily. It had the support of law enforcement and District Attorneys throughout the state, led by Denver D.A. Mitch Morrissey.
It takes real courage to stand up for individual freedom from ever expanding government power, especially when the pro-government advocates invoke scare tactics and make comments claiming the bill helps “protect that population out there called our daughters and our wives.”
The Gadsden Society believes that our daughters and wives- and the rest of us – need protection from an ever expanding government authority and that our Fourth Amendment rights are worth protecting, as well.
We salute the following the legislators that voted against SB-241 and in favor of individual freedom over government power:
Senator Bill Cadman (R – District 10)
Senator Morgan Carroll (D – District 29)
Senator Peter Groff (D – District 33)
Senator Keith King (R – District 12)
Senator Kevin Lundberg (R – District 15)
Senator Mark Scheffel (R – District 4)
Senator Dave Schulteiss (R – District 9)
Representative Debbie Benefield (D – District 29)
Representative Terrance Carroll (D – District 7)
Representative Dickey Lee Hullinghorst (D – District 10)
Representative Daniel Kagan (D – District 3)
Representative Claire Levy (D – District 13)
Representative Buffie McFadyen (D – District 47)
Representative Sal Pace (D – District 46)
Representative Edward Vigil (D – District 62)
Representative Paul Weissman (D – District 12)