Face the State uncritically reported opponents' contention that Colorado Children's Amendment proponents "misled the public"

Summary: Reporting on a disagreement among members of the Colorado State Board of Education about a lawsuit challenging the Colorado Children's Amendment, the "news" website Face the State failed to challenge the claim by two members of the panel that Gov. Bill Ritter "is now using the new funds for different programs than he originally advocated" in the legislation. The report also uncritically quoted one board member's assertion that the measure's advocates "misled the public" about how the funding would be used.

In an April 7 Staff Report, the "news" website Face the State uncritically reported that two Republican members of the Colorado State Board of Education, Randy DeHoff and Peggy Littleton, have contended that in budgeting funds made available by the "Colorado Children's Amendment" proposed and signed by Gov. Bill Ritter (D), "Ritter is now using the new funds for different programs than he originally advocated." Further, Face the State reported that in response to "news" that some of the funding for the measure, enacted in May 2007 as Senate Bill 199, would be used to expand "low-income health care coverage and other social programs," Littleton sent a March 13 email to DeHoff stating, "[T]hey misled the public about what the funding will be used for." However, Face the State did not report, as Colorado Media Matters has noted, that in announcing the mill levy freeze proposal, Ritter's office noted specifically that it would bolster the state General Fund to preserve funding "for higher education, health care and human services."

The Face the State report concerned disagreement among members of the Board of Education over the body's official stance on a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the measure and the Colorado Department of Education's handling of the case.

From the April 7 Face the State staff report "PRESSURE MOUNTING FOR PUBLIC VOTE BY BOARD OF EDUCATION ON PROPERTY TAX LAWSUIT":

In the face of pending litigation over a statewide increase in property tax revenue, the state Board of Education has been holding closed door meetings to debate their support of the lawsuit. Multiple board members are now questioning that secrecy and pushing for a public vote on the issue.

On March 5, the board went into executive session to "receive information" from attorneys at Sherman & Howard, a firm previously retained by the board in January to file a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a coalition of taxpayer activists. The coalition claims that a new school funding law championed by Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, during the 2007 legislative session amounts to an unconstitutional tax increase because of the way it calculates the state's mill levy formula.

That session was not simply utilized to "receive information" about the board's unsuccessful efforts to have the lawsuit dismissed. Instead, according to a statement read after the closed-door vote, the board decided to continue retaining Sherman & Howard. The move, supported by the board's official record, reflects the fact that on March 6, Chairwoman Pamela Jo Suckla, R-Slickrock, read a prepared statement into the record indicating that the board had instructed Sherman & Howard to continue defending against the lawsuit. No public vote was taken.

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Additional documents obtained through Colorado's open records law reveal growing discontent over the department's handling of the lawsuit. Board members Peggy Littleton, R-Colorado Springs, and Randy DeHoff, R-Littleton, question the statewide increase in property taxes, saying Ritter is now using the new funds for different programs than he originally advocated. In response to news that money raised from the controversial tax would be used to fund Ritter's "Building Blocks" program expanding low-income health care coverage and other social programs Littleton wrote, "Not only is what they did unconstitutional, but they misled the public about what the funding will be used for. 3.8 billion dollars of taxpayer $ squandered."

Littleton had forwarded to DeHoff an e-mail promoting an item on the Republican Senate Minority Office's website, ColoradoSenateNews.com, regarding programs to be funded as a result of the Colorado Children's Amendment with the remarks, "Hmmmm are we shocked? Not only is what they did unconstitutional, but they misled the public about what the funding will be used for. 3.8 billion dollars of taxpayer $ squandered." DeHoff's response began, "OK, I've had enough. First we get sued even because the additional revenue is for education. Now it's not even going to education, and we can't provide any of the remedies asked for."

In his March 13, 2007, announcement, Ritter described the Colorado Children's Amendment as a plan to freeze mill levy rates in order to shift much of the burden of K-12 funding to the local property tax base, thereby freeing up state funds -- including $84 million annually for additional public education funding. The plan was designed to ensure the solvency of the State Education Fund and protect the state's General Fund from further encroachment by constitutionally mandated increases in minimum per pupil K-12 spending. Contrary to the claim that the advocates of the Colorado Children's Amendment "misled the public about what the funding will be used for," Ritter's announcement explicitly stated that the plan would make funds available for purposes other than local education:

The governor said the Colorado Children's Amendment also will protect the state's General Fund.

"Without a comprehensive plan such as this amendment, the state's General Fund -- which also pays for higher education, health care and human services -- would be forced to subsidize the State Ed Fund, and that would have harmed those other services," Ritter said.

—E.B.