Category Archives: Ballot Initiative

Jul 04

Colorado Governor Jared Polis Is Working On A New Plan To Block Tax Relief

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Colorado Governor Jared Polis Is Working On A New Plan To Block Tax Relief

Patrick Gleason Contributor 

Policy

I cover the intersection of state & federal policy and politics.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) welcomed conservative economist Art Laffer to the state capitol in Denver today to help gin up Republican support for a potential deal intended to avert taxpayer refunds projected to be sent to Colorado taxpayers in the coming year, with Polis’ ultimate goal being the wounding of the nation’s strongest taxpayer protection measure so that it remains in effect in name only, not in practice.

Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), approved by voters in 1992 as an amendment to the state constitution, is the sturdiest taxpayer safeguard in the nation. Under TABOR, state revenue cannot grow faster than the combined rate of population growth and inflation.

Any state revenue collected in excess of the TABOR cap must be refunded to taxpayers. Thanks to healthy state revenue collections coming in above the cap allowed by Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, current projections show the state will have to refund roughly $500 million to Colorado taxpayers next year. That won’t happen if Proposition CC, a measure ending TABOR refunds, is rejected by Colorado voters this November.

To read the rest of this story, click (HERE):

Jul 02

Network of Colorado groups ramp up effort to diminish Taxpayer Bill of Rights

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Don’t mess with TABOR.
TABOR protects you from Tax & Spend politicians.
Vote NO on Proposition CC in November and NO on repealing TABOR in November 2020.
Don’t lose your rights!

Network of Colorado groups ramp up effort to diminish Taxpayer Bill of Rights

FILE - Coloradans vote on TABOR in 2005

A voter exits the voting booth at the Denver Election Commission office in Denver, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005. With polls suggesting a vote too close to call, Colorado residents decided Tuesday whether to hand state government more than $3 billion in taxpayer money to stave off potentially drastic cuts to everything from higher education to health care for the poor.

(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

The network is called Vision 2020, and so far it includes the Bell Policy Center and Colorado Fiscal Institute, and Great Education Colorado, among others.

The network recently praised a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that said a proposed measure to repeal TABOR outright doesn’t violate the state constitution’s single-subject requirement. The ruling means TABOR, passed by voters in 1992, could be repealed with one vote.

Proponents of repeal would still need to collect signatures to get the question on the ballot for 2020.

To read the rest of the story, click (HERE):

Jun 29

TABOR Override in Trouble

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The Buzz

Friday, June 28, 2019

TABOR Override in Trouble

Colorado’s controversial tax limitation initiative is on the defensive. The Democratic Party and elements of the business community and local government have been long opposed to the TABOR Amendment passed in 1992, during an era of Republican ascendance and strong anti-tax sentiment. Several restrictions included in it have been limited by courts, and now the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled the entire multi-topic amendment can be overturned by one counter amendment if its opponents want to take it on.
To read the rest of this story, click (HERE):

Jun 29

Caldara: Cowboy up and repeal of Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights

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Caldara: Cowboy up and repeal of Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights

In this file photo, volunteers pile up signs for backers of the 2005 ballot measures that aimed to lift some TABOR restrictions. Referendum C passed which allowed the state to retain expected refunds for five years and reset the TABOR base.

By JON CALDARA | Columnist for The Denver Post

PUBLISHED: June 28, 2019 at 2:14 pm

Come on you taxpayer-hating, consent-loathing, voter-fearing pantywaists.

Cowboy up and put a full repeal of our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights on the ballot. You know you want to. So just do it.

I’m talking to you in the Colorado Legislature who’ve been calling tax increases “fees” because you don’t trust the people who elected you to vote on their own taxes. You who want another “TABOR time out” to nibble away consent and jack up spending limits permanently.

You’ve always hated TABOR because you hate asking for permission to raise taxes. You hate asking to raise debt. You hate asking to keep excess tax revenue above the rate of population growth and inflation.

You’ve used every conceivable loophole the courts have pried open for you to keep what would have been refunded to working families.

And now you never want to have to ask again.

To read the rest of this editorial, click (HERE):

Jun 20

How much Colorado taxpayers will get in TABOR refunds depends on these two wildcards

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How much Colorado taxpayers will get in TABOR refunds depends on these

How much Colorado taxpayers will get in TABOR refunds depends on these two wildcards

A ballot measure in November will ask voters a key question, and now lawmakers are talking about a special legislative session, too

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENTPRIMARY CATEGORY IN WHICH BLOG POST IS PUBLISHED

John Frank

The Colorado Sun — johnfrank@coloradosun.com

Colorado taxpayers could get a potential TABOR refund worth hundreds of dollars over the next three years — or not.

How much the state returns to taxpayers depends on two major questions, one that Democratic leaders will answer and another that voters will decide.

The two combine to form a political puzzle for Democrats and a test case for critics who want to weaken the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, the state’s only-in-the-nation limits on government spending.

The first question is whether Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and top lawmakers will call a special legislative session to raise the TABOR revenue cap. Democratic leaders acknowledged Wednesday that it’s an option being discussed, and if it happens, it could substantially reduce projected taxpayer refunds for 2020.

To read the rest of this story, click (HERE)

Jun 20

Even the Denver Post is skeptical of Proposition CC

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Want to repeal TABOR? We do too, but here’s some realistic advice

We’ve always thought a repeal of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights would be prudent. We now know, thanks to a Colorado Supreme Court ruling, that it’s possible; all that remains to be known is if it’s plausible.

Common lore and a dismal record of voter approval for tax increases would indicate that voters in fact like TABOR. When asked to raise taxes, as required under TABOR, voters have said no, consistently.

This summer, the conversation is going to heat up around TABOR, especially given that taxpayer refunds are in the forecast. We have some advice for how opponents of the rigid and restrictive amendment should frame the conversation.

First, we are no longer convinced that the state needs more revenue for the general fund. The state’s economy is booming, and thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, revenue from state income tax filings has spiked in Colorado.

How much more revenue are we talking about?

To read of the rest of the Denver Post Editorial, click (HERE):

Jun 20

TABOR recall gets go-ahead, author Doug Bruce speaks out

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – An effort to abolish TABOR, Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, is moving forward. The Colorado State Supreme Court has ruled a repeal question can be put before voters in 2020 if enough signatures are gathered.

In a few short words, the man who wrote the law and got it passed back in 1992 said, “when that happens, which it won’t, call me.”

When asked what would happen if it did happen, Doug Bruce, former Colorado lawmaker responded, “You’re asking me to speculate on a proposal that’s never going to happen.”

Click (HERE) to read the rest of the story and see the video.

Jun 19

Colorado taxpayers possibly headed for both TABOR refund and tax cut

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Colorado taxpayers possibly headed for both TABOR refund and tax cut

  • Anna Staver
  • PUBLISHED:  | UPDATED: 

Coloradans are inching closer to their first TABOR tax refunds in years, according to updated state revenue forecasts released Wednesday.

In fact, state collections have been so strong that taxpayers are likely to get both a sales tax refund and a state income tax cut, according to Kate Watkins, the chief economist for Colorado’s Legislative Council.

She and her team estimate TABOR will drop the state’s income tax rate from 4.63 percent to 4.5 percent for both 2019 and 2020. For someone who makes $50,000 a year that’s a savings of $65. The sales tax refund amount is based on a complicated formula, but it ranged from $13 to $41 when the state last gave them out, in 2015.

Click (HERE) to read the rest of the story.

Jun 18

TABOR Committee responds to Court ruling on TABOR repeal

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TABOR Committee responds to Court ruling on TABOR repeal

 

Colorado’s Constitution contains a provision which requires that all matters proposed by ballot initiatives can address only one subject.  Yesterday, the Colorado Supreme Court allowed a ballot measure to proceed that would wipe out the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in its entirety.  The Court explicitly threw out a quarter-century of precedent.

The TABOR Committee adamantly condemns the Court’s determination.

“The Court has become dangerously unmoored from the clear meaning of the state constitution,” protested Penn Pfiffner, the Committee’s chairman.  The TABOR Committee points out that the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights includes not only the frequently-debated provisions for slowing the growth of government, but also for example

  • election provisions that call for, among other things, notification of the citizens by any Colorado government of any election,
  • requirements for emergency reserves at all levels of government
  • a state-wide prohibition on real estate transfer taxes ,
  • rules for property tax assessments
  • rights of local districts to resist state-imposed mandates.

Committee Board director Rebecca Sopkin observed, “It is strange that the Court found all of this to be one subject. The Court held that all of the above provisions and rights are ‘necessarily and properly connected,’ as though no one of them could exist without the others. We find that to be preposterous.”

In a scathing dissent, Justice Marquez pointed out that using the Court’s logic, a single measure could repeal the entire Colorado Bill of Rights.  Petitioners could simply substitute the Bill of Rights[1] for the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights[2].

 

The TABOR Committee finds it unsettling that the Colorado Supreme Court appears to take sides.  It specifically addresses[3] what seems to be at the heart of issue – that it would be difficult and expensive to repeal the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in a “piecemeal” manner.  Does the Court step into the political arena in an attempt to collaborate and cooperate with TABOR opponents? The Court should be impartial rather than act to relieve TABOR opponents of “expense and difficulty.”

 

The single subject issue arose as a ballot initiative in 1994. TABOR was very much part of the debate. The official summary (Blue Book) specifically noted that if the Single Subject Rule were to be passed, then it would not be possible to repeal TABOR in a single vote.  Instead, it would be necessary to address its provisions one at a time.  Citizens passed the measure.  The Court ignored the will of the people, history, established law, and common sense in its Opinion.

[1] Colorado Constitution Article 2

[2] Colorado constitution Article 10, Section 20

[3] Opinion, page 12