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In the face of a new lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Amendment 54, state Rep. Kent Lambert, R-Colo. Springs, is moving forward with House Bill 1165, legislation that would enable the implementation of parts of the statewide transparency measure.

Amendment 54, which was narrowly approved by a majority of voters last November, restricts the recipients of sole-source, also known as no-bid, government contracts of $100,000 or more, from contributing to political candidates. It also requires the creation of a searchable database listing the recipients of such contracts. Lambert's enabling legislation seeks to provide specific funding for implementation.

“The section about the database is severable from the sections of Amendment 54 that are being challenged,” he said, adding that the database can still be built while the lawsuit is ongoing.