Amendment 58 was a proposed

initiative Popular initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put direct ...

on the

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

ballot of 2008 regarding Colorado's

severance tax Severance taxes are taxes imposed on the removal of natural resources within a taxing jurisdiction. Severance taxes are most commonly imposed in oil producing states within the United States. Resources that typically incur severance taxes when ...

. It was turned down by 57.9% of the voters.

Effect

The initiative stated that Amendment 58 would: *"increase the amount of state severance taxes paid by

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

companies, primarily by eliminating an existing state

tax credit A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "dis ...

*"allocate the increased severance tax revenue to

college scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need, research ...

s for state residents,

wildlife habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

projects,

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

projects in energy-impacted areas, and

water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, ...

grants *"exempt all oil and gas severance tax revenue from state and local spending limits.Colorado Blue Book. Notice of Election to Increase Taxes on a Citizen Petition. 2008 STATE BALLOT INFORMATION BOOKLET and Recommendations on Retention of Judges Legislative Council of the Colorado General Assembly Research Publication No. 576-1

Conflict with Amendment 52

Both Amendments 58 and 52 in the 2008 election regarded the handling of Colorado's use of the severance tax. While Amendment 58 would have allocated some of this money to college scholarships and natural resource conservation, 52 would have directed the money into improving

Interstate 70 in Colorado Interstate 70 (I-70) is a transcontinental Interstate Highway in the United States, stretching from Cove Fort, Utah, to Baltimore, Maryland. In Colorado, the highway traverses an east–west route across the center of the state. In weste ...

(I-70).

Results

References

{{Reflist Amendment 58 Initiatives in the United States Constitution of Colorado Severance taxes U.S. state constitutional amendments