Bighorn Center

Colorado Telemarketing No-Call List

There is no doubt that Bighorn’s most popular accomplishment has been creating the Colorado Telemarketing No-Call List. Finding a way for people to avoid annoying telephone solicitations in their homes fit perfectly within Bighorn’s mission. Our goal is to create common-sense public policy solutions in an efficient way to improve the quality of life for the people of Colorado. Creating an effective telemarketing no-call list proved to be a difficult job and we made mistakes along the way, but the payoff was worth it -- a more peaceful dinner hour for millions of Coloradans.

The idea for a no-call list had been around for a while. When Governor Bill Owens was a state senator in the eighties he worked to pass an early version of a no-call list. From early on, Senator Steve Johnson, (R, Ft. Collins) was a tireless supporter of a no-call list but every year his sponsoring legislation went down in defeat. The telemarketing firms that use telemarketing to sell goods and services to the public were tenacious opponents of a no-call list despite overwhelming public support to stop the unwanted calls.

Bighorn took a new approach to the problem. First we used a best practices approach to study other state’s experience and design a no-call list tailored to Colorado. Instead of creating a costly new division of state government, we put the list online and contracted the service out to a private vendor. In place of using tax dollars to pay for the service, the vendor charges telemarketers a reasonable amount every year to access the list and conduct telemarketing in the state. This new way of doing business for government reflects part of Bighorn’s vision; use market-based solutions wherever possible to be more efficient and keep the cost of government low.

Just as important as the design of the no-call list was the approach to winning in the legislature. To break the grip of the telemarketing special interests, Bighorn built a website where average Colorado citizens could show their support and be the first in line to be on the telemarketing no-call list. Soon this website had 40,000 supporters from all around the state. Bighorn was also willing to play “hard ball” to get the no-call list passed. We let the public know which elected officials supported the no-call list and which legislators were in the pockets of the telemarketers. This approach came as a shock to some legislators – they had never seen an organization use traditional political muscle to support an idea for the public good.

The no-call list experience also showed how important it is to develop and work with a non-partisan team. Key Republican legislators like Senator Ken Chlouber, Rep. Mark Larson and Rep. Al White got the votes needed to make the list a reality. Democrat Attorney General Ken Salazar defended the list successfully in federal court when the telemarketers tried to have the law overturned.

Today, there are over two million registered Colorado phone numbers on the no-call list. The list has been expanded to include cellular phones and fax machines. The Attorney General’s office uses a mostly automated system to enforce the no-call list nationwide. The entire system operates at a fraction of the cost in most states and when the federal government developed its own telemarketing no-call list, they incorporated most of the ideas from Colorado.

Fiscal Reform Awareness

For over two decades, Colorado voters have instituted sweeping and often conflicting fiscal policies into the state constitution. In 1982, the Gallagher Amendment ushered in property tax relief for homeowners, permanently limiting their share of the total statewide tax burden. The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights or TABOR has restricted the growth of government across the state by capping state and local revenue and returning revenue over this limit back to the taxpayers. In 2000, Colorado voters again amended the state constitution with a mandate to fund public K-12 education at least at the rate of inflation.

Many Coloradans believed in the wisdom of these voter-initiated constitutional changes but may not have anticipated the way they would interact together especially following the economic downturn of 2000-2001. While state and local elected officials have worked diligently to balance budgets over the past several years they have run out of quick fixes. Colorado’s budget challenges have reached a crisis level. The time has come to reform our fiscal rules or face dramatic reductions in state services like higher education, roads and medical services.

Starting in 2002, Bighorn has worked to raise awareness about a looming fiscal crisis especially among community leaders across the state. This effort culminated in the Colorado 100, a series of 15 meetings across the state where over 700 community leaders came together to learn about the conflicts in our constitution and discuss ways that we might address these problems while preserving the intent of the voters. Link to Colorado 100

In 2004, Bighorn worked with a coalition of leaders from the private and public sectors to test fiscal reform ideas and ballot language. While public research indicated that greater awareness was needed before taking the proposal to the ballot, this was another opportunity to raise awareness on the issue and helped build the coalition that will be needed to create significant fiscal reform.

We applaud the proposed Colorado Economic Recovery Act, a bipartisan agreement between the legislature and Governor Owens. This proposal which must be approved by Colorado voters in the fall of 2005 will begin to address the serious budget issues facing the state and better ensure our state’s fiscal health. Bighorn plans to will play an active role in helping Colorado voters make an informed decision this fall. Link to Coloradobudget.com

Election Reform

The Bighorn Center for Public Policy is committed to strengthening Colorado elections by improving ballot access for eligible voters while keeping the process secure and free of fraud. Following the national controversy over the 2000 election, Americans clamored for election reform, and Congress responded with a set of sweeping changes in the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). In Colorado, too, election issues have come to the fore recently, with extremely close local and Congressional races highlighting the need for fair, accurate elections and greater public trust in the system. Today, voters and election officials are responding to a multitude of changes brought about by both federal and state legislation. To ensure that those changes are implemented smoothly, the Bighorn Center was a founding partner in the FairVote Colorado (www.fairvotecolorado.org) election watch project, which monitored Colorado’s 2004 election and recommended improvements to our state’s elections laws and practices. The Bighorn Center will continue working to move Colorado’s election practices forward toward greater simplicity, fairness, and security.

Charitable Solicitations Act

We all know that charities use the phone to raise money, but how much money actually gets to the charity? A 2001 investigative report by the Denver Post found that some paid solicitors mislead consumers by raising thousands of dollars and sending only pennies to the charity. The report spurred Bighorn to begin research on legislation that would let the public know how much money actually goes to the charities they support while respecting the first amendment free speech rights of charities and the fundraisers they hire.

After researching the thorny legal issues, Bighorn contacted Colorado Secretary of State Donetta Davidson, Senator Ken Gordon (D, Denver) and Representative Joe Stengel (R, Littleton) and together we fashioned a reasonable solution to the problem.

The bill that became law (6-16-104(6)(a)-(c), C.R.S.) requires that charities and paid solicitors register annually to raise money and provide some basic financial information to the Secretary of State. The registration requirements make it difficult for corrupt charities or paid solicitors to conduct business in Colorado. With the financial reporting information, the Secretary of State annually publishes a list of charitable solicitations activity in the state allowing the public to know how much money actually goes to charity.

Additional Information about the Charitable Solicitations Act is available at www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/bingo_raffles/charitable.htm.

Anti Bullying

Colorado’s children deserve to be safe at school, free of threats and bullying. It’s no longer acceptable to excuse or dismiss bullying behavior as a phase or something that all children experience. Bighorn, in cooperation with former Colorado Attorney General and now U.S. Ken Salazar, Coca-Cola, 9News, the University of Colorado of Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, and the National Campaign Against Youth Violence developed the Colorado Anti-Bully Project which culminated in the construction of the Colorado Anti-Bullying website, www.no-bully.com and anti-bullying information line, 1-866-NO-BULLY.

Special Events

Capitol Confidential

Bighorn is committed to good government and providing those individuals who have been elected to public office with solid information. To that end, in 2002 and again in 2004 Bighorn invited newly legislators of both parties to Capitol Confidential, a bi-partisan informational briefing that allowed these new public servants a friendly environment in which to ask questions about the state’s budget in addition to receiving practical advice on such things as media strategy and best practices for dealing with lobbyists. Presenters have included representatives from both the Republican and Democratic Parties: Former Senator Ed Perlmutter, D-Jefferson County, Peggy Reeves, D-Ft. Collins, and Sally Hopper , R-Jefferson County, former Representatives Bill Kaufman, R-Loveland and Tim Foster, R-Grand Junction, Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Ft. Collins, Senator Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood, Senator Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora.

As serious as Bighorn’s commitment is to good, common-sense public policy, we also know that there is plenty of humor in politics. True to our mission, Bighorn events typically have both sides of the aisle represented. Click for more.

Strange Bed Fellows

In 2002, well-known syndicated columnist and author Dave Barry appeared with former senator Alan Simpson, R-Wyoming for an evening of unscripted humor.

Duel at the Seawell

Following the success of the Strange Bedfellows, in 2003 Bighorn brought together for the first (and only time) on the same stage local radio talk show host Mike Rosen, and longtime syndicated columnist and author Mollie Ivins. Click for pictures/invitation

Bighorn Salons

Beer Brats and the Budget

Beer Brats and the Budget Invitation

Tim and Tupa Go Toe to Toe

Is Bias Bad? Do Jounalists Views Help Us Understand Our Should They Check Their Opinions At the Door?

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They; Does Colorado’s Caucus System Still Have Legs , or Is It Time to Take It Out to Pasture?

Current Events and Defense of the Homeland: A Conversation with Senator Gary Hart

Civility in Politics: A Fireside Chat with former Senator Hank Brown and former U.S. Representative David Skaggs

State of the State and the Future of Healthcare: A Fireside Chat with former Governor Dick Lamm

Partnerships

Headfirst

The Bighorn Center is proud to be a partner in a publication devoted entirely to improving education in Colorado. HeadFirst explores fresh ideas, differing viewpoints, and looks for impractical, and looks for practical, common sense ways in order to provide the best possible education for Colorado’s students. Headfirst is published quarterly by the Public Education and Business Coalition, the Donnel-Kay Foundation and the Bighorn Center. For more information, contact 303-861-1501 or www.headfirstcolorado.org.

Fairvote Colorado

“FairVote Colorado (FVC) is a coalition of nonpartisan organizations created to monitor the 2004 Colorado Primary and General Elections and to document and attempt to resolve voting problems. FairVote Colorado trained over 200 volunteer poll monitors to observe polling places in sixteen urban, suburban and rural counties across Colorado during the 2004 General Election. FVC also operated a toll-free ‘vote line’ staffed by volunteer attorneys and election law experts, which took over 16,000 calls on Election Day, and maintained a website with voter information that received over one million hits between October 15 and November 1 and took over 442,000 hits on Election Day. Click [LINK “here”] for brief report that provides an overview of FVC’s findings and makes recommendations for specific changes to Colorado’s election practices.”
For more information on this project, www.fairvotecolorado.org