Initiative 300

KCNC-Channel 4

DENVER – Ballots go out next week as Denver voters decide whether every worker gets paid sick days and opponents are stepping up their efforts to fight the initiative.

Dozens of Denver restaurant owners rallied against the measure.

"We represent the shops and entertainment that revitalized downtown Denver," a business owner said at the rally.

Eli Stokols
Political Reporter, KDVR-Channel 31

DENVER – The most controversial ordinance on this year's municipal ballot, an initiative that would force most businesses to give employees nine days of annual paid sick leave, is dividing the city's restaurant industry, pitting most of the servers and cooks against the employers who sign their paychecks.

By Ed Sealover
Denver Business Journal

A study arguing that a paid sick leave ordinance on the Denver city ballot in November will not hurt businesses was released by a liberal think-tank on Monday, the same day a coalition of independent restaurants rallied in opposition to Initiative 300.

By Joseph Boven
The Colorado Independent
Oct. 29, 2009

Ordinarily, the Bell Policy Center does not take positions on local ballot measures, but last year we weighed in on Denver's Initiative 100 because we felt it was bad policy. More than that, we felt it was racially motivated.

Initiative 100 passed, but backers decided it didn't have "teeth,'' so they are back with Initiative 300. Denver residents are being asked to approve a costly measure that would require police to impound the vehicles of drivers who cannot immediately produce a driver's license.

The Bell Policy Center urges Denver residents to vote against Initiative 300, the November 3rd ballot measure that would require police to impound the vehicle of anyone who cannot immediately produce a driver's license.

A similar initiative was passed by the voters in August 2008, but backers decided it didn't have "teeth." Adoption of Initiative 300 will only make a bad situation worse.