Category Archives: Ballot Initiative

Apr 17

TABOR exemption question to be on fall ballot

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Vote NO on this attack on your Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights

TABOR exemption question to be on fall ballot

  • CHARLES ASHBY
Voters would be asked this fall if the state should be able to retain surplus revenue over what the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights allows under a bill that won final approval in the Colorado House on Tuesday.

Under House Bill 1257 and a companion measure, HB1258, all of the taxes and fees the state collects over the revenue cap under TABOR would be evenly divided between transportation, public schools and higher education.

TABOR limits growth in revenue collections year over year based on inflation and population growth.

“In the last 27 years since TABOR was voted into the Constitution, our state population has increased by 50 percent,” said House Speaker KC Becker, D-Boulder, who introduced the bill with Rep. Julie McCluskie, a Democrat whose district includes the eastern half of Delta County.

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Apr 17

Colorado House passes plan asking voters to give up their TABOR-driven taxpayer refunds

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Editor’s note: Don’t just vote NO but vote HELL NO on this….

Colorado House passes plan asking voters to give up their TABOR-driven taxpayer refunds

Colorado House votes on TABOR referendum bill
Image courtesy of The Colorado Channel
The Colorado House on Tuesday passed two bills that would ask voters if the state could keep their taxpayer refunds provided by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), sending the bills to the Senate for consideration.

House Bill 1257 is a referendum asking voters to allow the state to keep and spend excess revenues that would otherwise be refunded to taxpayers. If approved, the referendum would be on the November ballot.

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Apr 13

Colorado lawmakers want to ask voters to drop gas tax, increase sales tax to fund roads

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Colorado lawmakers want to ask voters to drop gas tax, increase sales tax to fund roads

FILE - Colorado roads interstate
Interstate I-70 near Denver in Colorado

Natalia Bratslavsky | Shutterstock.com

Two Colorado lawmakers hope to ask voters to nix the state’s gas tax in order to bump up sales and use taxes in an attempt to generate sustainable revenue to fund transportation.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 3, proposed by Sen. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, and Rep. Matt Gray, D-Broomfield, would ask voters permission to amend the state’s constitution to replace “state excise taxes on gasoline and other liquid motor fuel with an additional state sales and use tax.”

The new revenue would exclusively fund road construction and maintenance.

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Apr 09

Colorado Democrats look to pass more progressive legislation with four weeks left in session

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Colorado Democrats look to pass more progressive legislation with four weeks left in session

FILE - Colorado State Capitol
The Colorado State Capitol in Denver, Colorado.

Shutterstock photo

With four weeks left in Colorado’s legislative session, Democrats in the legislature hope to pass several more pieces of key progressive legislation. 

The Democratic-controlled legislature has had little trouble passing several controversial bills, leading to Republicans and grassroots groups calling for voters to recall some of the lawmakers behind the pieces of legislation that opponents say don’t represent the views of citizens.

Democrats control both chambers of the General Assembly, and Democratic Gov. Jared Polis supports a vast majority of legislation Democratic lawmakers have passed or plan on passing.

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Apr 09

BRITAIN ISN’T THE ONLY PLACE WHERE ELITES TRY TO UNDO BALLOT MEASURES

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NATELSON: BRITAIN ISN’T THE ONLY PLACE WHERE ELITES TRY TO UNDO BALLOT MEASURES

Robert Natelson | Senior Fellow, Independence Institute

When British citizens voted to leave the European Union, I doubted the British political establishment would allow that decision to stand. Today that establishment is doing everything it can to undermine the Brexit referendum.

Such conduct is not limited to Britain. In the United States also, government officials have a long history of sabotaging ballot measures they don’t like.

Similarly, in 2015 SCOTUS reversed 30 statewide votes reaffirming — generally by landslide margins — the traditional definition of marriage.

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Apr 08

This is now the best state for job seekers

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Colorado Rising Action@CORisingAction
 
Colorado makes #1 on another list as best state to find a job. Our state’s economy is so strong thanks in large part to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (#TABOR) which Democrats are working to dismantle.

This is now the best state for job seekers

By Jade Scipioni

But according to a new study, that’s not really the case.

Personal finance website GoBankingRates.com found that some states are actually flourishing more than others when it comes to job creation.

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Apr 02

Amid broader budget debate, a modest proposal for more Colorado school funding advances

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Amid broader budget debate, a modest proposal for more Colorado school funding advances

PHOTO: Erica Meltzer/Chalkbeat
Colorado State Capitol

A bill that would ask voters to let Colorado keep more tax revenue — with a third of the money going toward schools — moved forward Monday, even as backers stressed that it is not a “cure-all” for the state’s broader fiscal challenges.

That uncertainty has education advocates watching nervously even though the proposed budget includes a major policy win: an $185 million set-aside to fully fund kindergarten starting this fall. If lawmakers and Gov. Jared Polis do put a lot more money into transportation, other K-12 programs could feel a pinch.

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Mar 11

Opinion: TABOR has united Coloradans

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Opinion: TABOR has united Coloradans

PUBLISHED ON MAR 10, 2019 5:00AM MDT

Michael Fields@MichaelCLFields

Special to The Colorado Sun

In a growing partisan culture, there’s still something Coloradans ranging the political spectrum can agree on: the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).

In recent public polling, when given the simple, unbiased definition, 71 percent of registered voters in Colorado support TABOR, while only 28 percent oppose the law.

What’s the secret to this overwhelming popularity? First, Coloradans love being able to vote on tax increases. It’s simple: the government has to make the case to voters in order to get more of their hard-earned money.

Michael Fields

Second, TABOR provides guardrails for the size of government. The state budget still grows every year, but the growth is limited. TABOR keeps the government truly serving the people.

Over the past several years, voters have sent a message to state lawmakers by voting down the last six statewide tax increases on the ballot — most by huge margins.

But this hasn’t stopped lawmakers and progressive special interest groups from developing workarounds in the form of fees, enterprises, and lawsuits to allow the state to spend more taxpayer money. Continue reading →