• Freedom from discrimination and access to opportunity are the values upon which the United States was created.
• Pay equity is expected for women, people of color, and all workers.
• Self-sufficiency standards for public services are needed to support families and children.
• Election reform is necessary to protect voting rights for all.

BACKGROUND

• In 2005, Latinos made up 19.5 percent of Colorado’s population.  This means nearly one in five residents of Colorado are Latino.
• Latinos are affected by a wage gap that enables white men to earn more than Latino men and Latina women.  In 2004, Latinos in the United States earned 63 cents for every dollar earned by white men, while Latinas earned only 56.9 cents for dollar earned by white men.
• Colorado Latinos are an important and growing voter block, yet our potential has not been fully realized.  In 2004, only 56.5 percent of eligible Latinos were registered to vote.  Those Latinos who registered and voted in the 2004 election represent 45.7 percent of eligible Latinos.

Don’t be fooled by attacks on equal opportunity!

CALIFORNIA MILLIONAIRE PUSHES ATTACK ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN COLORADO

The deceptively named “Colorado Civil Rights Initiative”, backed by the American Civil Rights Institute, founded by Ward Connerly, a conservative California millionaire, was responsible for the collection of signatures for new Amendment 46. Amendment 46 would eliminate all equal opportunity programs, including affirmative action, in public employment, contracting, and education throughout the state.

If Amendment 46 were to pass this November, math and science tutoring programs for young women, mentoring programs for students of color and efforts to close the pay gap between women and men would be eliminated.

And that’s just the beginning of Amendment 46’s anti-equal opportunity impacts on Colorado’s economy and our educational system….

Circulators of the “Colorado Civil Rights Initiative” petition lied outright to Colorado voters by claiming that this initiative would actually create affirmative action programs, have no impact on current equal opportunity efforts, and in the most extreme cases, that it was Colorado’s Equal Rights Amendment.

TAKE ACTION TO STOP ANTI-EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PETITIONING

We are currently gathering stories from Colorado voters for a possible legal challenge – because of fraudulent practices – to this initiative. If you were deceived into signing the petition by fraudulent claims about Amendment 46, also known as the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, please let us know immediately. You may e-mail us at stopfraud@progressivecoalition.org or call us at 303-628-0925 or 1-800-522-0925 outside the Denver area.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN THESE ISSUES

9to5 National Association of Working Women – www.9to5colorado.org - 303-628-0925

Latina Initiative – www.latinainitiative.org - 303-572-0013

Colorado Progressive Coalition – www.progressivecoalition.org - 303-866-0908