Nicole Myers, OLLS, testified before the Committee, explaining that in 2013, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado issued a permanent injunction against enforcement of unconstitutional laws regarding petition circulators. One of the unconstitutional provisions requires a petition circulator, among other things, to be a resident of the state; the other prohibits a petition circulator from receiving more than 20% of his or her salary on a per-signature basis. The OLLS has been aware of the court decision, and has included an editor's note in the C.R.S. to advise readers of the injunction.
*The note is located beneath the source note for section 1-40-112, C.R.S., and reads:
"In Independence Institute v. Gessler ... the United States District Court for the District of Colorado found subsection (4) of this section unconstitutional under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and permanently enjoined the Colorado Secretary of State from enforcing [this subsection] and any ancillary provision that enforces [it], namely, sections 1-40-135 and 1-40-121, to the extent those sections apply to restrictions on per-signature compensation."
Ms. Myers explained that at the Committee's August meeting, staff recommended the repeal of the unconstitutional provisions; however, staff asked for more time to solicit feedback on the draft legislation before taking action to introduce the bill. The bill draft repeals the enjoined provisions; the Secretary of State's Office and other interested organizations were consulted and reviewed the draft, and everyone agreed that the language in the bill is appropriate and ready for the Committee's consideration.