Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers (R) is reaching out statewide to voters urging them to support A november referendum that would make it drastically harder to amend the state’s constitution.

If passed, the odds for any type of future gambling expansion is drastically reduced.

Suthers, who opposed the legalization of marijuana during his time as Colorado’s attorney general, is on a new crusade: to end amending the state Constitution. To attain that goal, he’ll ironically first have to amend what the law states.

Appearing in a new commercial campaign, Suthers opines, ‘The Founding Fathers managed to make it hard to amend the United States Constitution, because they knew it set fourth fundamental rights that should be protected. The Colorado Constitution is a far different story.’

The campaign comes from the ‘Raise the Bar Safeguard Our Constitution’ coalition. Based on the group, the Colorado Constitution has been amended over 150 times, while the United States Constitution has been changed just 27 times.

‘Our state requires the same initiative process to amend our Constitution as our state laws,’ the organization says on its website. ‘ This framework has made Colorado’s ballot and Constitution one of the most effortlessly changed within the country.’

Previous Colorado Springs Mayor Mary Lou Makepeace is also lending her support and showing up in a tv spot.

Suthers Sulking

Colorado is one of only five states that have legal charitable, pari-mutuel, commercial, tribal, and racetrack gambling, and a state lottery. Tribes are permitted to operate casinos on their land that is sovereign localities are allowed to accept casino gambling though just three have done so.

The majority are small-scale gambling venues situated together in mountain towns like Black Hawk.

Suthers would like to keep it like that.

Officially called Amendment 71, improve the Bar wants to mandate that petitions to change the continuing state Constitution receive signatures from at the least two percent of voters in all 35 Senate districts. The public that is general then need to vote in favor of the amendment by at least 55 percent.

Current legislation to maneuver a petition ahead requires five percent of the previous vote for secretary of state, but those signatures are collected anywhere in Colorado.

Proponents for lots more stringent Constitution amendment guidelines argue groups presently go into Denver and Boulder to obtain the necessary John Hancocks, and those two cities does not necessarily represent Coloradans as a whole.

If the Suthers coalition wins, amendments would seemingly be impossible. Gaining two per cent support in every corner of their state, from the greatly conservative remote areas to the heavily liberal towns, might function as the recipe that is perfect inaction.

Weed Yay, Casinos Nay

In 2014, voters in Colorado passed Amendment 64, the ‘personal use and legislation of marijuana,’ by a margin of 55.3 in favor to 44.7 percent opposed. But throughout that election that is same rejected a motion to expand gambling.

The owners of this Arapahoe Park horse track and 11 off-track wagering parlors had desired permission from the public that is general allow its facilities to add slots and table machines, with 34 % of total income going to support education.

The Arapahoe Park and off-track areas are owned with a team of investors situated in Rhode Island.

‘East Coast casinos tried to create a gambling monopoly within our Constitution,’ Suthers concludes in the commercial. ‘It’s time to make yes constitutional amendments have actually broad public support.’

Voters were on top of marijuana, but low on gambling.

The video gaming amendment failed overwhelmingly as a lot more than 70 percent of voters went against the motion.