Colorado legislators on Thursday rejected an attempt to change the title of a ballot measure in a widely disseminated publication in order to avoid mentioning that it would result in a tax increase for households with incomes above $300,000 a year.

The proponent of the change argued that keeping “tax increase” in the measure’s title would suggest that everybody’s taxes are going up. Legislators who balked at the move said the proposal, indeed, increases taxes — and policymakers should not hide that fact.

At issue is Proposition MM, which seeks to raise $95 million more for a school lunch program offered free to all K-12 students. Voters had approved the program in 2022, but it has run in the red from the beginning, given that every public school child can now receive a free breakfast and lunch, regardless of income.

Lawmakers had been scrambling to fill that funding gap in the last two years. They have since decided to ask voters to raise the tax liability of residents earning above the $300,000 threshold. That proposal is already slated for this November’s ballot.

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