The presidential election isn’t the only thing on the Colorado ballot this year. While all we seem to hear about is the competition between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, there are many other important issues that are of concern to Colorado and U.S. citizens.
The creation of the ColoradoCare system, Amendment 69, is a very important issue that should draw the attention of Colorado citizens in particular. The amendment will be on the Nov. 8 ballot as an initiated constitutional amendment. ColoradoCare would form agreements with healthcare providers to pay for specific healthcare benefits, be responsible for administering Medicaid and provide children’s basic health programs and other state and federal healthcare funds. Some of the healthcare benefits cover state residents for specialty care, hospitalization, prescription drugs, mental health services and emergency and urgent care.
Amendment 70 is another important ballot issue that will affect Colorado residents. Amendment 70 would increase minimum wage to $9.30 an hour with an annual increase of $.90 each January. The minimum wage will increase until it reaches $12 an hour. “Yes” votes support the raise from $8.31, while a “no” vote will keep the state minimum wage at its current price.
Perhaps a more controversial ballot topic is Amendment 106, which would make assisted death legal among patients with a terminal illness who have received a projection of death within six months. Right now, in Colorado, helping another person in ending their life is considered felony manslaughter. Passing Amendment 106 will provide terminally ill patients the ability to decide the extent of their vitality.
As of now, Colorado has a closed primary system, meaning that only registered party members may take part in a party’s primary; however, Proposition 108 is looking to change this. The group leading the campaign for this proposition, Let Colorado Vote, wants unaffiliated voters to vote in presidential primaries without declaring any party affiliation.
Though not an Amendment or Proposition, another significant issue on the Colorado ballot is the Colorado House of Representatives elections for 2016. A full list of candidates running this year can be found on BallotPedia with the district they are running for and their party affiliation. The current 2016 Colorado House candidates for District 1 are Susan Lontine (Democrat) and Raymond Garcia (Republican). For District 2, the candidates are Alec Garnett (Democrat) and Paul Linton (Republican).
For this year’s election, both at the national and state levels, there are many important issues on the ballot to address.
