



Protect Colorado's Future already has spent much of its money on grassroots voter organization. But $900,000 is available to fund the collection of signatures to get the labor-backed measures on the ballot and to fight the right-to-work initiative, the group said.
In addition to contributions from labor unions, Protect Colorado's Future had hundreds of individual donors who, for the most part, contributed less than $50 each. "We're humbled by the support that we've gotten from a lot of folks," said Jess Knox, executive director of the pro-labor group.
The right-to-work initiative has collected enough signatures and will appear on the November ballot as Amendment 47. The campaign, which seeks to ban mandatory union membership in Colorado, will probably cost millions of dollars.
A Better Colorado is the name of the organization backing right-to-work. It has spent $185,960. That does not include money spent by a separate group to collect signatures to put the initiative on the ballot.
A $200,000 contribution to A Better Colorado from Colorado Citizens for Change was funded by CoorsTek, said Jonathan Coors, the company's director of government relations. Coors Tek is a high-tech manufacturing spinoff of the brewing company and is run by Jonathan's father, John Coors.
The only other cash donation came from Ronald Martinez, a retired Colorado Springs resident. American Furniture Warehouse has donated office furniture valued at $2,817, records show.
American Furniture, owned by Jake Jabs, also contributed money to the group that collected signatures for the right-to-work campaign.
A Better Colorado spokesman blasted the union's initiative efforts.
"Their report shows that almost 100 percent of their contributions came from big labor-union interests, money that was taken from their hardworking members' paychecks," Kelley Harp said.
(denverpost.com)