In other news, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled today on the questions presented to it by the Governer and Secretary of State in light of the Citizens United case:
Pursuant to Section 3 of Article VI of the Colorado Constitution, the Governor submitted two interrogatories to the Colorado Supreme Court on February 9, 2010, concerning whether various provisions of Article XXVIII of the Colorado Constitution were unconstitutional in light of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC US 130 S. Ct. 876 (2010).
The supreme court answered both interrogatories in the affirmative. It held that to the extent section 3(4) of article XXVIII of the Colorado Constitution makes it unlawful for a corporation or labor organization to make expenditures expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate, it violates the dictates of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Similarly, it held that, to the extent section 6(2) of article XXVIII of the Colorado Constitution makes it unlawful for a corporation or a labor organization to provide funding for an electioneering communication, it violates the dictates of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
The uncertainty having been cleared up, this will no doubt be the green light for the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee to take up the bill providing for public funding of political campaigns. With my luck, they’ll take it up over Yom Tov.
