Friends of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights,
Your TABOR Committee has a lot of irons in the fire, so I thought to take inventory:
The lawsuit alleging TABOR unconstitutional is Kerr vs. Hickenlooper. You might recall that a 3-judge appellate panel of the federal 10th Circuit found the trial could proceed. In a direct and forceful response, the Attorney General’s Office asked for an appellate review by the entire Court (“en banc”). From the opening salvo:
This case involves questions of exceptional importance: whether three state legislatorsmay enlist the federal judiciary to take sides in their dispute with the state’s constitution, its governor, and its people over the proper role of direct democracy. A case involving more fundamental issues about the proper role of the federal courts in a system of horizontally and vertically divided power is hard to imagine. If the panel decision stands, this Circuit will be alone in giving federal judges the power to decide that some laws are unconstitutional because they are too democratic.
The panel reached two holdings, each of which is unique among the circuits and conflicts with Supreme Court precedent….. Continue reading