by Colleen Enos

The Government Shutdown in our nation is now over as of last Wednesday, November 12. Our military, TSA workers, air traffic controllers, and federal workers are beginning to receive their paychecks that were due last month. In Colorado, 33,707 federal workers have been on furlough since the shutdown began. That is an incredible amount of people affected in our state, likely due to the large size of our military population here.

Additionally, Colorado’s election results have furthered the class warfare in our state by raising taxes on higher earners to pay for universal school breakfasts and lunches, which are given to every child, regardless of need. Proposition MM also funnels some extra cash to Colorado’s SNAP program, which receives $1.4 billion in federal funds per year. The result of these new taxes, of course, means that those higher earners will exit stage left. The jobs that they offer as small business owners will naturally leave with them. Unintended consequences of spending other people’s money are real.

It should be self-evident how effective ballot measures can be and since we support families and children, I’d like to bring some of those potential measures to your attention. Protect Kids Colorado is gathering signatures for three ballot initiatives to be placed on the Colorado 2026 election ballot. PKC is an organization that advocates for protecting kids and strengthening families in our state. Consider signing all three.

Initiative #108, entitled Penalties for Human Trafficking of a Minor, “sets a penalty of life in prison without parole for anyone who buys or sells a minor child for sex in Colorado.” This is a commonsense justice measure, also referred to as the “Children Are Not for Sale Act,” that would crack down on human traffickers in our state.

Initiative #109, entitled Male and Female Participation in School Sports, would ensure that girls’ sports in Colorado are only for biological females and teams would be designated as male, female, or coed. Girls should have sports opportunities that are not taken from them. The “Protect Women and Girls Sports Act” will protect girls from gender-confused biological males who are bigger and stronger than they are. This is clearly what should happen in our state.

Finally, Initiative #110, Prohibit Certain Surgeries on Minors, would set an age limit on irreversible sex change surgery. We know that children were created in the image of God, the Imago Dei (Genesis 1:26). He made them perfectly with no mistakes. Children do not have the maturity to make life-altering decisions such as sex change surgeries. The “Protect Children From Irreversible Sex Change Surgery Act” is something that all Coloradans can agree on.

Contact Protect Kids Colorado to ask if you can carry a petition for them to collect signatures on these three initiatives or find out where you can go to sign them. Ask your church if you could collect signatures in the lobby on a Sunday morning. Your pastor may even want to include these issues in his sermon. All three are moral issues that Christians should support.

On the national level, House Joint Resolution 127, a parental rights amendment to the United States Constitution, was introduced by Representative Mary Miller, a homeschool mom. This amendment recognizes the fundamental God-given right of parents to raise, educate, and care for their children. This is the foundational right that secures your right to homeschool your children. Call your United States House Representative today and ask them to co-sponsor this resolution.

Even though laws have passed in our state that we don’t support, let’s give Coloradans the opportunity to vote on some issues that are protective of families and common sense. That includes a federal constitutional parental rights amendment as well.

What you can do:

• Contact Protect Kids Colorado:

  • Offer to circulate the three initiative petitions
  • Sign all three petitions for the initiatives

• Contact your US Representative and ask that they co-sponsor HJRes 127.

In Him,

Colleen Enos
CHEC Director of Government Relations
colleen@chec.org

About the Author: Colleen Enos