Property rights are an integral part of the culture and values of western states. Our ability to make the most out of the property we own is a core part of what made our state special. Even prior to statehood, the individual ability to turn our most precious resource, our land, into something more valuable – metals, minerals, ore, crops, cattle – was something worth fighting for.

Not only did the framers of the U.S. Constitution understand property rights as an aspect of freedom, so did those who created Colorado’s constitution. In addition, they also appreciated the rare times when the needs of the many may require the government to take private property, or diminish its value, for the good of everyone. It is in those times that the drafters of both constitutions required that those property owners be compensated for their loss. It’s only fair.

As a result, many residents would be surprised to learn that currently, Colorado’s state and local governments can take more than 90 percent of the value of private property before the owner has any recourse. As Coloradans, that number should both shock and disappoint us all. Amendment 74 is a thoughtful answer to this problem.

Read also: “CON | Am. 74 would drown government in litigation – and hand taxpayers the tab”

As secretary of the interior, I witnessed firsthand the critical role property owners play in our environmental and economic successes. With a strong foundation of enforceable private property rights, farmers enhance their lands, families beautify homes, and businesses invest to create jobs. Sadly, we have seen efforts by activists to continue to erode property rights and find friendly governments all too willing to agree to their demands.

Today state and local governments have very few checks on their power to make decisions and implement policies that benefit the many at an overwhelming cost to the few. Amendment 74 does not take that power and responsibility away from town councils, county commissioners and other Colorado regulators. With Amendment 74, nuisance activities can still be regulated and prevented without compensation. Amendment 74 does not let people create junkyards in the middle of neighborhoods or dump hazardous wastes into rivers; people do not have a right to use their property in a way that injures others.

Balancing property rights and regulation is a challenging task. A long history of judicial decisions establishes requirements that a property owner must prove to obtain compensation. Amendment 74 leaves all of those requirements in place, it simply changes one factor: the extent of loss an owner must suffer. Owners no longer need suffer near-total loss of their property before obtaining any compensation. Amendment 74 does not create unjustified windfalls for landowners. It simply provides fairness in the balance between regulation and property rights.

Sometimes the political process rewards action and the implementation of new policies, without a real look at the cost of that action. As a result, many knee-jerk actions are based more on politics than good policy. That kind of action can hurt regular Coloradans. Just as with our physical property, without the underlying value of that property, we honestly have no property at all.

Amendment 74 creates a reasonable constraint on government. As one of the simplest and most straightforward ballot proposals put forth this year, it merely requires compensation to owners when their property is devalued through government action. It is a right all Coloradans expect, but courts have made it unavailable to all but the rare few. Amendment 74 instructs our courts to level the playing field and provide a fair chance for citizens to push back against an action that damages the value of their property. With the passage of Amendment 74, we can finally shift the balance of power back to the individual.

The primary opponents of Amendment 74 are government interests. Opponents are using over-the-top scare tactics in an attempt to convince voters Amendment 74 is the wrong direction. They say it could cost governments too much money. However, those costs would only occur after an individual party meets all the requirements to prevail in court. A high bar remains in place even with the passage of Amendment 74.

Ultimately, Amendment 74 creates a much-needed check on the system at a time we need it the most. Courts and the legislature would be able to work with this flexible new policy to ensure its implementation in a way that benefits all Coloradans, as they have done with our current Constitution. Vote YES on 74 and help keep Colorado a great place to call home.