Montanans in Action still refuses to disclose
donors
Oct. 4, 2007 - The front group for CI-97 in
Montana, Montanans in Action, still refuses to disclose
its funders. And the group wants a federal judge to block
investigation of its finances. Read more.
Nov. 8, 2006 - The Not In Montana coalition
rejoices with Oregon, Nebraska, and
Maine, where CI-97 type initiatives all were soundly defeated
on election day.
Oct. 26, 2006 - CI-97
is DEAD! The Montana Supreme Court today upheld the
decision of the lower court that CI-97, along with CI-98 and
I-154, are INVALID due to pervasive fraud and deceit
in the signature gathering process. Read
more, including Supreme Court's decision.
This is an enormous victory for Montana people,
democracy, and the integrity of our precious initiative process.
It means out-of-staters may not come into our state
and spend millions of dollars breaking our laws and using
fraud and deceit to advance their agenda.
This long, difficult fight is over at last.
Thanks to the thousands of Montanans who have helped in this
campaign!!
Click
here to view a short 'NO CI-97' TV spot.
Click
here to see our second TV spot, featuring Montana firefighter
Tom Steenberg.
About CI-97
A small group of Montanans, backed by big
out-of-state money, pushed this dangerous ballot initiative.
New York City real estate multi-millionaire
Howie Rich
and his group, Americans for Limited Government, paid out-of-state
signature gatherers over $275,000 to get CI-97 on Montana’s
November ballot.
In all, Rich and his group spent nearly $700,000
to get CI-97 and two other dangerous initiatives on Montana's
ballot. They spent over $13 million pushing similar initiatives
in other states.
See Howie Rich's scheme in Montana exposed
on national TV.
What CI-97 would do
CI-97 is a consitutional amendment. If passed, it would
dictate Montana's state budget, limiting it to a rigid formula
of population growth plus inflation.
It’s a formula for disaster.
It doesn’t allow the state to keep up with the real cost
of providing basic public services. CI-97 would lock this
formula permanently into Montana’s constitution.
CI-97 threatens to cut
funding for services such as education, firefighters,
public health, aging services, and roads. That's what happened
in Colorado, the only state to
pass a measure like CI-97.
CI-97 is a gimmick that will raise local
property taxes
CI-97 promises everything but does nothing to fix real
problems. Instead, CI-97 would force our state to slash funding
for vital public services. When state funding drops, it forces
officials to raise your fees and local property taxes.
A proven failure
CI-97 is modeled after a measure called TABOR, passed in Colorado
in 1992. In 2005, Coloradans voted to suspend their
version of CI-97 because it caused
so much damage. It is a proven failure in the only state
that tried it.
CI-97 has all the same key
elements as the TABOR that failed in Colorado.
Twenty-one state legislatures have considered
and rejected measures like CI-97 because it is such bad policy.
We already have a balanced budget requirement
It’s right in Montana’s constitution: Article
VIII, Section 9. We don’t need a gimmick like CI-97.
Read more about
what's at stake in Montana and how Colorado's version
of CI-97 affected that state.
Who is against CI-97
A coalition called Not In Montana: Citizens
Against CI-97 formed to fight CI-97. The coalition includes
firefighters, teachers, nurses, seniors, healthcare groups,
businesses, and others. And our coalition is growing. In all,
62 Montana groups and hundreds of individuals oppose CI-97.
Home: Not in Montana
Who's
behind CI-97
Why
CI-97 doesn't work
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