Monthly Archives: March 2018

Mar 17

Speaker will make case to preserve TABOR

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Speaker will make case to preserve TABOR

  • ERIN McINTYRE

The Mesa County Republican Party is inviting the public to come to a free presentation on the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, delivered by conservative think-tank leader Jon Caldara on March 27.

Caldara, the president of the Denver-based Independence Institute, is a proponent of limited government and plans to speak in favor of keeping TABOR intact, despite talk from both sides of the political aisle recently about tweaking the formula that limits government spending and requires taxpayer consent to use funds in excess of spending limits.

TABOR was voted into the Colorado Constitution 26 years ago, and the original intent of the law was to limit government growth and require taxpayers to approve tax-rate increases.

Critics have said the ratcheting effect TABOR has on spending has prevented governments from recovering from leaner times, especially in local governments that depend on property taxes for funding when those property valuations decrease.

Caldara has defended TABOR in the past, stating it prevents further problems during recession and helps keep governments from experiencing vast budget shortfalls. He also used an analogy comparing TABOR to obtaining consent for sexual contact in a column last year for the Denver Post, titled, “Why date rapists hate TABOR.”

Bringing Caldara to speak in Grand Junction on TABOR is timely, said Marjorie Haun, who handles publicity for the Mesa County Republican Party. Haun said she noticed some confusion about TABOR during the 2017 election, in which the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and the Mesa County District Attorney’s Office asked voters to raise sales taxes to support their budgets in the “Back the Badge” campaign. Continue reading →

Mar 07

Update on The Hospital Provider Fee lawsuit

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-TABOR friends and supporters,

You know that your TABOR Foundation filed a lawsuit to stop the collection of the Hospital Provider tax and program until the new tax receives its required voter approval.  We also had to amend the lawsuit to include all the wrong-headed, errant and unconstitutional provisions that affected the program with the passage of Senate Bill 267 last year.  That measure will allow an increase of state taxes of (at least) $400 million per year, without the required TABOR vote.  It also moved the welfare program that is the Hospital Provider fund off the books by renaming it as a government business.

We wanted to let you know that there has been significant activity on that lawsuit.  It had been filed originally in 2015 but was not taken up by the Court for 18 months.  Within the past several months, our attorneys at Mountain States Legal Foundation filed the amended complaint.  They have answered copious number of briefs to:

  • obtain permission to make that filing,
  • to resist unsuccessfully the addition as Defendants of the Hospital Association, and
  • to add to our own list of Plaintiffs

In addition, a lot more activity has taken place with the procedure of Discovery.  Just last week, I was deposed for nearly four hours by opposition attorneys, and another TABOR Foundation Director, Rebecca Sopkin, withstood another two hours of grilling.  Our attorneys have taken depositions from the Defendants.

Our attorneys must also deal with the Defendants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit altogether, as they allege among other things, that there is no remedy (“relief”) for the problems we have cited.  There is also an important motion for summary judgment that is in process.  Unless one of those two motions is successful, we will see this lawsuit go to trial in late June.

We’ll try to keep you apprised of further developments as they occur.  The speed that new steps are occurring and the demands on our volunteer time are such that we have been running out of time to inform you in a timely manner.

 

Penn Pfiffner
Chairman

Mar 02

Welcome To The TABOR Website!

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Thank you for your support of Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights!

The TABOR Committee and its sister organization, the TABOR Foundation, are active in protecting this important constitutional provision.  You recently signed up to receive informational emails from our organizations.  We do not clutter your inbox with extraneous self-promotion nor do we mail periodicals.  You will receive short notices only when developments warrant.

  • There is no formal process to membership nor is there any formal dues.  You may find the website at https://thetaborfoundation.org/ .
  • If you are seeking for a way to make a difference politically, we have a number of volunteer opportunities.
  • We appreciate donations. If you can make a financial contribution to either the TABOR Foundation or TABOR Committee we thank you.  Here’s the link to do so: https://thetaborfoundation.org/donations/ .
  • To subscribe or unsubscribe from the TABOR email list, send an email to info@TheTABORCommittee.com with “subscribe” or “unsubscribe” in the email subject line.
  • And please share the TABOR message and emails with your people. If they want to sign up for our email list, follow the instructions in the previous bullet point.

TABOR on!

Penn Pfiffner
TABOR President