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Our call — vote YES
The measure
This is a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment. Amendments 81–86 require 55% of the vote to pass. It writes into the state constitution a right for consumers to purchase natural gas for cooking or heating in homes and businesses, and a right for distributors and utilities to sell natural gas for those purposes, per the Blue Book summary.
What YES does
A YES vote constitutionalizes the right to buy and sell natural gas. A future ban or phase-out of gas service or appliances by statute or regulation would have to overcome a constitutional right.
What NO does
A NO vote leaves natural gas under current law and regulation, where legislatures and regulators remain free to restrict it.
The math
The Blue Book's fiscal analysis, as reproduced in the guide cited below, identifies no change to any tax, TABOR refund, or revenue destination for this measure. No dollar fiscal estimate is published for it.
OUR CALL
Our call: YES.
Energy choice belongs to the homeowner, not the regulator. Jurisdictions elsewhere have moved to ban gas hookups and appliances by rule; this amendment takes that option off the table in Colorado and protects a fuel that heats homes affordably through Colorado winters. A constitutional right to buy a lawful product is a restraint on government growth. YES.
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Sources
- Ballotpedia, List of Colorado ballot measures — https://ballotpedia.org/List_of_Colorado_ballot_measures
- Colorado 2026 State Ballot Information Booklet (Blue Book), Legislative Council Staff, as reproduced in the Colorado 2026 ballot measures guide — https://whipplewood.com/insights/colorado-2026-ballot-measures-guide/
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.