"Horse Racetrack Limited Gaming Proceeds for K-12 Education" ballot measure deemed sufficient

Denver, Colorado, July 28, 2014 - Today Secretary of State Scott Gessler deemed the proposed ballot measure concerning Horse Racetrack Limited Gaming proceeds for K-12 Education as sufficient and will be included on the November 2014 ballot. Proponents submitted petitions to the Secretary of State’s office on July 14. The office initiated a review of a computer-generated, random sample of the signatures. The results are as follows:

Random Sample Summary:

• Total number of qualified signatures submitted: 136,800
• 5% of qualified signatures submitted (random sample): 6,840
• Total number of entries accepted (valid) from random sample: 5,109
• Total number of entries rejected (invalid) from random sample: 1,731
• Number of projected valid signatures from random sample: 102,180
• Total number of accepted entries necessary for placement on ballot: 86,105

This initiative will appear on the November 4, 2014 General Election ballot as Amendment 68 and will ask, "Shall state taxes be increased by $114,500,000 annually in the first full fiscal year, and by such amounts that are raised thereafter, by imposing a new tax on authorized horse racetracks’ adjusted gross proceeds from limited gaming to increase statewide funding for K-12 education, and, in connection therewith, amending the Colorado constitution to permit limited gaming in addition to pre-existing pari-mutuel wagering at one qualified horse racetrack in each of the counties of Arapahoe, Mesa, and Pueblo; authorizing host communities to impose impact fees on horse racetracks authorized to conduct limited gaming; allowing all resulting revenue to be collected and spent notwithstanding any limitations provided by law; and allocating the resulting tax revenues to a fund to be distributed to school districts and the charter school institute for K-12 education?"

The Secretary of State’s office has notified the proponents the petition was deemed sufficient.