Review and Comment Hearing for Initiative #276, 277
In a statutory review-and-comment hearing, Legislative Council and Legislative Legal Services staff walked proponents through Initiatives #276 and #277, twin measures that would require Colorado ballot questions to be written in plain language at no higher than an eighth-grade reading level and bar statutes from mandating ballot-question wording.
Key Actions
Notable Quotes
“The major purposes of the proposed amendment to the Colorado Constitution appear to be one, to require that measures initiated by or referred to the people in accordance with the Colorado Constitution be written in plain language that does not exceed an eighth grade reading level and two, to prohibit the Colorado Revised Statutes from mandating language to proceed, follow or appear within the ballot question for initiative.”
+ 2 more quotes
Subscribe to see every key action, the full discussion, amendments, and notable quotes.
Sign in to subscribeOkay. This is the hearing for proposed initiatives measures 2526-202520-26276 and 277 concerning plain language ballot questions. It is March 20, 2026 at 1:00pm we are in Senate Committee Room 354. We will now go around and introduce ourselves. For purposes of the record, my name is Amanda King with Legislative Council staff. Sam Anderson, Office of Legislative Legal Services. Suzanne Tehari, proponent. Elizabeth Cavan, proponent. 8. Section 140, 105, per 1 Colorado Revised Statutes, requires the Directors of Legislative Council staff and Office of Legislative Legal Services to review and comment on initiative petitions for proposed laws and amendments to the Colorado Constitution. We have submitted our comments and questions to you in a memo dated March 18, 2026. The purpose of the statutory requirement of the Directors of Legislative Council and the Office of Legislative Legal Services is to provide comment and questions intended to a designated representatives and the proponents they represent in determining the language of their proposal and to avail the public of the contents of the proposal. Our first objective is to be sure we understand your intended purpose of the proposal. We hope that the comments and questions in the memorandum provide the…
Subscribe to unlock the full transcript, summary, and search across all Colorado committee hearings.
Sign in to subscribe