You won’t see the millions upon millions of dollars being spent in favor of candidates in the 2021 election, but big money donors, many of them hidden by committees that are able to shield their funders from disclosure, are busily investing in ballot measures that Colorado voters will decide on Nov. 2.

Here is Colorado Politics’ tally and analysis of the dollars behind this year’s questions:

Proposition 119 would require a hike on taxes for recreational marijuana sales. The revenue would fund after-school special learning opportunities in both public and private schools.

The big backer of Prop 119 is Gary Community Ventures, which is aligned with the Piton Foundation. Both were founded (and funded) by oilman Sam Gary more than 40 years ago. Gary has put nearly $6 million into a variety of statewide and local ballot measures since 2013, although Gary has spent more than $4.4 million of that $6 million just since May 2020. Gary was one of the biggest donors to 2020’s Yes on Amendment B, to repeal the Gallagher Amendment; and the largest donor, at $1.25 million, for 2020’s Proposition EE, which raised tobacco taxes to fund early childhood and preschool education.

The Yes on Prop 119 committee has raised $1.4 million, with $948,250 from Gary; $325,000 from Ready Colorado, a conservative education nonprofit; and $25,000 from the Colorado Association of Realtors.

Much of the spending for the Yes committee – nearly $975,000 – has been for petition circulators Blitz Canvassing.

There are three opposition committees: No on Prop 119, run by former state Rep. Judy Solano, a Brighton Democrat, which has raised $7,500 in non-monetary contributions, spent on the committee’s website.

Coloradans Against School Vouchers, led by Cindy Barnard of Taxpayers for Public Education, has reported about $12,500 in monetary and non-monetary contributions, mainly from the Colorado AFL-CIO and Taxpayers for Public Education.

The third opposition group is Cannabis Committee for Fairness and Safety, which reported a $5,000 donation on Oct. 7 from Organic Alternatives of Fort Collins. The committee has reported spending $10,500, all of it to RBI Strategies for consultant work and legal fees.

Amendment 78

Amendment 78 would change the state constitution to require all funds received by the government to be spent by the General Assembly. 

Its main backer is Colorado Rising State Action, a 501(c) 4 that doesn’t disclose its donors. 

The Committee for Spending Transparency, run by Rising’s Michael Fields, has raised $1.275 million, all in dark money. All contributions have come from Unite for Colorado, which also doesn’t disclose its donors. Unite has been in trouble with the Secretary of State’s office before.

In August, Unite for Colorado was fined $40,000 for failing to register as an issue committee in the 2020 election, tied to the Independence Institute‘s backing of two ballot measures with $17 million from Unite, according to the ruling of Administrative Law Judge Matthew Norwood. The judge also ordered Unite to register as an issue committee and to report its contributions and expenditures. Unite filed a notice of appeal on Oct. 5.

A second campaign finance complaint against Unite – this one tied to funding for the Committee for Spending Transparency – is in the works. The Secretary of State’s Office has said it will finish the investigation on the second complaint by Oct. 21.

No committee has registered to oppose Amendment 78, according to TRACER, the Secretary of State’s campaign finance database.

Proposition 120

This measure would cut property taxes for certain kinds of properties, primarily multi-family units and hotels. 

A Fields-backed group called Cut Property Taxes is the big spender behind Prop 120, with $1.1 million, and its biggest donor is Unite for Colorado, again meaning dark money. Colorado Rising State Action kicked in $200,000.

DENVER

With 13 measures facing Denver voters on Nov. 2, the biggest spending has come from dark money groups advocating for support with spending now more than $2 million. 

Initiated measure 300 would increase retail marijuana taxes within Denver from 5.5% to 7%, with the money going to pandemic research.

It’s backed by Guarding Against Pandemics, a Delaware-based 501(c)4 run by Gabe Bankman-Fried, a former Democratic staffer on Capitol Hill. Bankman-Fried’s group is bankrolled by his brother, Sam, who estimates his net worth from cryptocurrency at around $10 billion, although Forbes, which rated him No. 32 on the 400 list of richest Americans, estimates his wealth at about $22 billion. 

Campaign finance reports show the initiative’s Denver Pandemic Fund committee had taken in almost $542,000 in cash and in-kind contributions, all from Guarding Against Pandemics, and spent $278,404.

The money raised from the tax would go to the University of Colorado Denver’s City Center, which has no connection nor did it seek the ballot initiative, according to a spokesperson.

There does not appear to be any organized opposition to 300.

Initiated measures 301 and 302

Both deal with what the city should do with the defunct City Park Golf Course.

Initiative Measure 301 would require voter approval for commercial or residential development on city park lands or for lands under a conservation easement, as defined by the city charter. 

Spending in favor of 301 is Yes for Parks and Open Space with $145,000 in cash and $40,334 in non-monetary contributions. The committee has spent $33,314, so expect a big push with less than a month to go before the election. The committee’s donors include former Mayor Wellington Webb ($2,000), former First Lady Dottie Lamm ($100) and former Denver City Councilwoman Susan Barnes-Gelt ($2,500).

Initiative 302 is a stopgap measure to 301; if 301 passes, 302 would lift the requirement for voter approval for the conservation easement.

The main backers are the partners that plan to redevelop City Park, and that are funding the committee Empower Northeast Denver. The committee has taken in $72,420 in cash, almost all of it from ACM Park Hill. The committee has spent $19,485 through Oct. 5. Westside Developers, the other partners, also paid $268,305 for signature-gathering. 

Initiated ordinances 303 and 304 are both backed by the chair of the Denver Republican Party, Garrett Flicker, but who’s paying the bills is another story.

Initiative 303 would enact a ban on camping on private property, with a three-day notice, and a requirement that the city come up with four camping locations on public property. The site would have to include lights, bathrooms and running water. 

Ordinance 304 would lower the city’s sales tax from 4.81% to 4.5%, which could cost the city as much as $80 million.

Both measures, according to Westword, are being bankrolled by the dark money group Defend Colorado. The same group is supporting Denver measure 2F (see below). The three committees getting money from Defend for the ballot measures are Safe and Sound Denver (2F), Enough Taxes Already (304) and Let’s Do Better (303). All donations came from Defend Colorado, which has has refused to talk about who’s funding it. Collectively, the three committees have raised just over $325,000 and spent about $292,000 through October 5.

A spokesman for Defend Colorado declined to identify the group’s donors.

The City Council referred five of the eight remaining measures to the ballot. When Mayor Michael Hancock requested $450 million for a package of city improvements, the council voted to split the ask into five measures.

Hancock-backed Rise Denver is the committee assembled to back the five bonding measures. The committee has raised $194,600 as of Oct. 5 – with $75,000 from Friends of the National Western Stock Show; $25,000 each from the Downtown Denver Partnership, Denver Botanic Gardens and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Visit Denver kicked in $10,000. Friends of National Western raised $510,000 and spent $140,387 (including that $75,000 donation to Rise). 

Their big name donors include former stock show manager Pat Grant ($75,000), former University of Colorado President Bruce Benson ($25,000), beer magnate Peter Coors ($50,000); powerhouse law firm Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber & Schreck ($10,000); and BEW Farms, owned by longtime stock show supporter Barth Whitman ($50,000).

Denver campaign finance records do not show anyone funding opposition to four of the five city-sponsored bonding measures or to measures 2G or 2H.

Correcton: A previous edition misstated the position of Defend Colorado on Denver measure 2F.