Amendment 41 sounded good, and voters passed it, but its consequences are far reaching and limiting, especially for college-bound kids of representatives, senators and government employees.Amendment 41 prohibits public officers, members of the General Assembly, local government officials or government employees from soliciting or accepting certain monetary or in-kind gifts from lobbyists. The rules apply to immediate family members as well.Because of the Amendment, thousands of state, county or municipal employees and elected officials’ children are no longer eligible for the majority of college scholarships.Soon after the amendment passed, Hank Brown, president of the University of Colorado, asked the Colorado attorney general’s office if the amendment also impacted children of university employees. Deputy Attorney General Jason R. Dunn responded to Brown’s question in a Dec. 28, 2006 letter: ìUniversity employees are government employees. Thus, the answer to this question turns on the nature of the entity, giving the scholarship, the type of scholarship given, and whether there is lawful consideration given for the scholarship.”While his response left many government employees’ questions unanswered, Chris Ward, fiscal analyst for the Colorado Legislature, said that in most cases children of employees who receive their income from tax revenue are ineligible for scholarships.In February, the Boettcher Foundation, a privately endowed grant-making organization, brought a lawsuit against the state of Colorado stating that ìAmendment 41 inadvertently banned financial aid to the families of state employees.îAccording to the Boettcher Foundation Web site, the suit was dropped after Attorney General John Suthers agreed that the group’s scholarships are not barred under Amendment 41. A statement on the Web site read that ìDenver District Court Judge Christina Habas accepted the deal.îScott Bauer, an attorney with Moye White, who represented the Boettcher Foundation in its lawsuit, said, ìWe believe this has broader implications and serves as a solid first step toward clarifying the ambiguities of Amendment 41 for the benefit of students across Colorado.îHowever, Ward said other scholarship funding received by children of tax-paid employees is still in jeopardy. But, he added, “Legislation may soon resolve this issue.”Ward said House Bill 07-1304 establishes an ethics committee that will address the complaints of state employees related to scholarships. House Resolution 1019 asks the Colorado Supreme Court to answer core questions about Amendment 41, because its passage, according to the resolution, ìMay have created unintended consequences not anticipated by the voters.îHouse Speaker Andy Romanoff said a compromise had been reached concerning HB-07-1304. ìThe bill will not become a law unless the Colorado Supreme Court says it is constitutional,î he said. ìIf approved by the Supreme Court, the bill will only remain in effect until November 2008, when voters will be asked to approve the law.ìThe House doesn’t usually involve itself in this kind of action once amendments to the Constitution are passed. While it is possible some companies could breach the public’s trust by offering scholarships to officials’ children, I don’t believe voters intended to deny scholarships with the passage of Amendment 41.î
