The Kim Monson Show – July 9, 2024

On July 9, 2024, Kevin Lundberg joined the show. Analyzed Colorado’s crowded November ballot including abortion constitutional amendments, Protect Kids Colorado petition drives, and legislative referrals affecting property taxes Protect Kids Colorado Petition Drives and Ballot Initiative Strategy Start listening at 16:15 – Hour 1 Kevin Lundberg reports that signature gathering for the Protect Kids Colorado initiatives proceeds at a rapid pace across the state. The two citizen initiatives address keeping boys out of girls’ sports and requiring schools to notify parents within 48 hours if a child expresses gender incongruence. With over 5,000 petitions printed for each initiative, organizers have distributed approximately 3,500 and are working against a July 31 deadline to return completed signatures. Lundberg emphasizes the strategic importance of citizen petition drives when the legislature fails to act on issues important to voters. He encourages Coloradans to visit protectkidscolorado.org to obtain petitions and help reach the signature threshold before the August 5 submission deadline to the Secretary of State. The grassroots effort demonstrates how engaged citizens can bypass legislative inaction to place important issues directly before voters. “The ballot is so loaded because the legislature has not been doing their job right. And there are a whole lot of reasons why people can’t count on the legislature to get it done.” Kevin Lundberg, Former State Senator Constitutional Concerns About Colorado Abortion Ballot Measures Start listening at 24:43 – Hour 1 Kevin Lundberg raises serious constitutional concerns about the abortion amendment heading to Colorado’s November ballot. Initiative 89 would enshrine abortion access in the state constitution, requiring a 60 percent vote to pass. Lundberg warns the measure was constructed improperly because the ballot title fails to mention that it repeals Article 5, Section 50 of the Colorado Constitution, which prohibits direct or indirect state funding of abortions. According to Lundberg’s analysis, the Colorado Constitution requires that any portion of an initiative not contained in the ballot title shall not take effect. This creates a potential legal conflict: if the initiative passes, Colorado would have both a constitutional provision authorizing abortion funding and an existing provision prohibiting it. The title board’s failure to include the repeal language may have been intentional to boost support, but Lundberg believes it makes the measure legally vulnerable to challenge. “This is putting in the Colorado Constitution a very strident abortion shall be allowed anywhere, at any time, for any reason, to anyone. That’s essentially it, and it’s putting it in the Constitution.” Kevin Lundberg, Former State Senator Citizen Engagement Through Neighborhood Petition Gathering Start listening at 20:13 – Hour 1 Kim shares her personal plan to walk her neighborhood collecting signatures for both Protect Kids Colorado initiatives and anti-ranked-choice-voting petitions. The strategy reflects the grassroots nature of citizen petition drives, where committed individuals engage their neighbors on important issues rather than relying on paid signature gatherers. Lundberg praises this approach as a win-win-win solution that builds community connections, educates voters about critical issues, and collects needed signatures. He notes that personal conversations with neighbors...