By Allie Winter, LAW WEEK COLORADO
The Colorado Bar Association holds its semiannual board of governors meeting 9:30 a.m. tomorrow at Estes Park’s Stanley Hotel.
Three initiatives on Colorado’s 2010 ballot —Proposition 101 and Amendments 60 and 61 — are expected to stimulate discussion among the more than 100 governors attending, President David Johnson said. The full board packet is published below this story.
“Those three ballot initiatives are aimed at reducing the number of taxes, and essentially it will be reducing the income stream that the state has to pay its bills with,” Johnson said. “Included in these bills is the judicial branch. The bar is always very concerned about properly funding courts so they can address the needs of citizens.”
The association is staying abreast to this issue, Item No. 16 on the meeting’s agenda, because the “sense is there’s going to be a dramatic impact on the revenue stream the state receives, which will eventually impact the court’s ability to do their job.”
Discussion typically lengthens whenever anything political is addressed, Johnson said, specifically if the bar is asked to take a position. As an example, Johnson referenced Amendment 40. That was a proposed amendment to the constitution that would have imposed term limits on appellate court judges.
“The bar association opposed that,” he said. “It was not terribly controversial within the bar, but it was hot topic in the media.”
The amendment ultimately failed.
Also tomorrow, a representative from each of the local bar associations will be present to discuss basic information and housekeeping items. This is done quickly. Each topic is designated anywhere from five to 15 minutes discussion. The governors try their very best to stick to the schedule, but at the end of the day the allotted time is just a guideline, Johnson said.
“Because the agenda is so large we stick to [it],” Johnson said. “If there are some discussions, that’s fine, but a lot of time is spent making routine decisions.”
The day’s agenda includes an array of topics including the introductions of new members, the approval of the 2010-11 CBA budget, a president’s report and membership survey results. However, Johnson expects this meeting to basically act as a recap of last year. He assumes they’ll be interested in Item No. 8, the bar’s economic task force’s progress, and Item No. 13, Chuck Turner’s report on the status of the “Clear the Bench” campaign on the agenda.
“If we do have any sort of decision to make that needs to be given good discussion, we have an incredibly talented group of people,” Johnson said.
The next board of governors meeting will be Saturday, Nov. 6.

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