Reporting From CBS4 Prompted Amendment 78 About State Spending

(CBS4) - Amendment 78 would put state legislature in charge of how state funds are spent after CBS4 Political Specialist Shaun Boyd discovered the governor's office received millions of dollars in donations from corporations and private and founds and spent the money with no oversight.

Boyd said she had to dig for the information and Amendment 78 would make sure the money goes through the normal legislative budget process, out in the open so the public can weigh in.

Unofficial results as of 10 p.m. show 56% rejecting the amendment.

The amendment would apply not only to gifts, grants and donation but also money that is currently exempt from the budget process like disaster relief and stimulus funds, legal settlements and transportation funding. Some of the examples include the CARES Act and the opioid class action.

The governor alone decided how $1.6 billion of the CARES act was distributed and the attorney general will distribute all of the $400,00 of the opioid settlement.

If it passes, the legislature will hold public hearings decide to how the money will be spent. Interest earned on the money will go into the general fund. Because this is a constitutional amendment, it needs 55% of the vote to pass.

LINKS: Denver Election Results | Colorado Secretary of State Election Results