The Women’s Foundation of Colorado has released its state ballot guide, called the “Womanifesto.” In it, the organization takes a position on 10 of the 14 state ballot measures through a gender lens.
Alison Friedman Phillips, the foundation’s director of policy and advocacy, said while the guide is focused on women’s issues, it's useful for everyone.
“It's for all people who can vote, and for people who really want to be able to vote with women in mind,” Phillips said.
The foundation released a survey earlier this year, asking Colorado women what issues matter most to them. Phillips said they used the data to inform some of their positions.
About 69% of women said unpaid caregiving gets in the way of their careers.
“If our state is able to provide more programs or more childcare … a better, more robust healthcare system, women and communities are going to be better off,” Phillips said.
The foundation is supporting other measures it says would affect the cost of living, which the foundation’s survey found was a top issue for Colorado women.
“We know that women in our state are getting hit in their pocketbooks and are making tough decisions for their families,” Phillips said.
The foundation is recommending a yes vote on Amendment 87, which would create a graduated income tax.Phillips said it would boost funding for education, healthcare and childcare, all of which women are often responsible for. Opponents, like the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, said it will discourage businesses from setting up shop in the state.
The foundation is also supporting Proposition NN, which would redirect TABOR refunds to K-12 public education funding. Opponents, like the Independence Institute, said it could make the state budget less predictable.
“The same budget volatility Colorado experienced due to Ref C’s timeout and COVID-19 one-time money will only continue and worsen if Proposition NN passes,” it argues in a blog post on its website.
Some ballot measures are less explicitly tied to women, like Proposition 132, which would increase criminal penalties for fentanyl offenses. When people spend more time in prison for drug offenses, it can leave women burdened with additional parenting duties, according to Phillips.
“In a lot of those instances, it might then fall on the backs of women, who are mostly caregivers in our state,” Phillips said.
As a result, the foundation recommends a no vote on Prop 132 in its Womanifesto.
The foundation is also recommending no votes against two measures targeting transgender youth. Proposition 134 would require all school sports teams, from kindergarten through college, to be separated by biological sex. Proposition 135 would prohibit health care professionals from performing gender-affirming surgeries on minors. PFLAG Roaring Fork Valley, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, also opposes the two measures.
Protect Our Children, which campaigned to get the measures on the ballot, framed the initiatives as “reasonable protections for children,” in an emailed statement to Aspen Public Radio.
“Adults remain free to make their own medical decisions,” Protect Our Children wrote about Prop 135. “Children deserve time to grow up before making certain irreversible ones.”
Election Day is Nov. 3.
Find the full Womanifesto here.
