Category Archives: Colorado Legislature

Oct 09

Legislators Point To Abuse: Proposition HH

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August 2023

Dear Voters and Taxpayers:

Proposition HH is NOT what proponents say it is.  It is a huge tax increase.  It takes your tax refunds already owed back to you but is disguised as a small amount of property tax relief to local governments.  It raises State taxes by billions of dollars.

You should be outraged by how it came to get on the ballot.  A great thing about the General Assembly is that it allows for views to be shared, citizens to testify in committee, and for important changes to be thoroughly debated.  That’s not what happened.  The legislation did not go through a proper Committee of Reference, like the Finance Committees in both chambers, as it should have.  Also, it was introduced almost at the end of session.  Further, reasonable debate was cut off in both chambers so that minority voices were silenced!

Legislators had a duty to follow the right process.  Instead, they disrespected the rules and damaged democracy.  What they did instead was sneaky and dictatorial.  Don’t let them get away with violating your rights!  Insist on a new session that conforms to an honest and open process!

PLEASE VOTE “NO” ON PROPOSITION HH this November

Send the legislature back to work for a real solution.

Current legislators:

Rod Bockenfeld  HD 56

Rose Pugliese   HD 14 Scott Bottoms   HD 15 Don Wilson   HD 20
Mary Bradfield    HD 21 Ken DeGraaf   HD 22 Brandi Bradley    HD39
Anthony Hartsook    HD 44 Lisa Frizell   HD 45 Ty Winter    HD 47
Gabe Evans   HD 48 Ron Weinberg  HD51 Matt Soper  HD54
Rick Taggart   HD 55 Marc Catlin   HD 58 Stephanie Luck   HD 60
Richard Holtorf    HD 63 Ryan Armagost   HD 64 Mike Lynch   HD65
Paul Lundeen  SD 9 Byron Pelton  SD 1 Mark Baisley  SD 4
Perry Will  SD 5 Janice Rich  SD 7 Larry Liston   SD 10
Bob Gardner  SD 12 Kevin Van Winkle  SD 30 Rod Pelton  SD 35

 

Past legislators

Penn Pfiffner  1993 – 2000

Steve Acquafresca   1991 – 1997 John Andrews   2003 -2005 Barry Arrington  1997 – 1998
Greg Brophy   2003 – 2014 Perry Buck  2013 – 2020 Mark Cloer  2000 – 2006
Phil Covarrubias  2017 – 2018 Mary Dabman  1983 – 1989 Doug Dean 1995 – 2002
Frank DeFilippo  1978-1984

Tim Fritz  1999 – 2003

 Cliff Dodge 1976-1988

Dorothy Gotlieb  1996 – 2000

 Robert Fairbank  1998 – 2004

Bill Jerke  1989 – 1996
Bob Kirscht  1971 – 1987 Don Lee   1999 – 2004 Shawn Mitchell  1999 – 2013
Pam Nagel Rhodes   2000 – 2004 Lori Saine  2013 -2021 Mike Salaz  1992 – 1999
Jeff Shoemaker   1987 – 1992 Ron Teck  1999 – 2006 Mark Waller  2009  –  2014
Brad Young 1996 – 2004 Pat Grant  1985 – 1992 Terri Carver  2015-2023
Patrick Neville  2015-2023 Lola Spradley  1997-2003 Vickie Agler  1991 – 1998
Ben Alexander  1995 – 1998 Kay Alexander  1997-2002 Don Beezley  2011-2013
Jeanne Faatz  1979-1998 Sally Hopper  1987-1998 Eric Prinzler  1995-1998
Andy Pico  2021-2022 Carol Taylor  1983-1991  

Oct 09

Colorado Special Districts Association Opposes Proposition HH

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The TABOR Committee is celebrating the decision by the Colorado Special Districts Association to oppose Proposition HH!

Special districts are local governments that provide services such as fire protection and rescue, water, sanitation, hospitals and libraries.  The Association represents about 2,600 of the 3,300 plus districts throughout the state.

The Association developed a template for its members to urge a No vote on the November 7th ballot.  The template observes that “… Proposition HH will increase the State’s TABOR spending limit, allowing the State to spend billions of dollars more than it did before,” and continues with the alarming note that, if HH passes, then Special Districts will only receive “reimbursements (that) are a small percentage of the billions of dollars more that the State will retain.”

 The Association’s statement ends with a clarion call to reject Proposition HH by concluding that “Proposition HH diminishes the ability of (a special district) to provide the vital services, facilities, and infrastructure that the public needs, expects, and demands.  Vote NO on Proposition HH at the statewide election on November 7, 2023.”

Aug 28

Thanks to TABOR, Colorado works for everyone

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GUEST COLUMN: Thanks to TABOR, Colorado works for everyone

  • Jesse Mallory
  • Aug 27, 2023

Legislative Democrats have been scheming to kill Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, since before it was added to the state Constitution in 1992. Hardly a year goes by without a bill, proposal, “listening tour,” or lawsuit hatched to enable state legislators to spend money TABOR denies them. Now, they’re at it again.

This time, they’ve proposed a Rube-Goldberg ballot initiative called Proposition HH. Some of its superficial details might seem novel — like lipstick on the proverbial pig — but it’s only the latest gambit in a political long-con that has gotten very, very old.

That’s why the bill creating Prop HH was only passed in the last hours of the 2023 legislative session — to avoid public scrutiny and debate. That’s why Prop HH’s fans, including Gov. Jared Polis, are so cagey about what it would actually do, talking up property tax relief while pretending to know nothing about the redistribution of TABOR revenue to Democrat priorities.

And it’s why Americans for Prosperity and Americans for Prosperity-Colorado Issue Committee have joined up with more than a dozen citizen groups in a new coalition to protect TABOR and fight Prop HH at the ballot box and in state court this year.

What politicians and their special-interest allies are not telling you about Prop HH is that it will eventually eliminate TABOR refunds.

Those are the same refunds they expedited last year to ensure they arrived before the last election — saying that citizens desperately needed the money.

To add insult to injury, Prop HH will also allow local governments to keep money owed to you without voter approval. Now politicians at the local level can now vote to keep your money. Prop HH removes you from this conversation.

For all the excuses, pretenses, and shiny objects politicians offer up to distract Colorado voters, there is only one reason they want to “update” or “tweak” or “modernize” TABOR: It works at holding them accountable. TABOR limits the annual growth of state government spending to population growth plus inflation. It’s a padlock on the state treasury that big-spending politicians have been trying to pick, break or dynamite for a generation.

Since TABOR was passed, and government spending capped, the state’s economy has consistently outperformed the nation as a whole. Between 1997 and 2022, for instance, Colorado’s real gross domestic product grew 109% while the country’s rose only 73%, increasing our share of national GDP by 18%.

Not surprisingly, TABOR is very popular — garnering 77% support in a 2022 survey. And perhaps even more to the point, since TABOR passed, so many Americans have relocated to Colorado that we’ve gained two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives over the last three censuses.

At a certain point, one has to ask whether Colorado has succeeded so spectacularly over the last three decades in spite of our politicians’ limited control over taxpayers’ money — or because of it.

After all, the big-government states that Democrats want to emulate — New York, California, Illinois — are the ones that new Coloradans escaped here from!

Under TABOR, when the state raises more money in taxes than it is permitted to spend, the money is returned to taxpayers — period, end of story. Under our state Constitution, that money is Coloradans’ right, not doled out at the discretion of politicians or the influence of special interests.

Prop. HH’s sole purpose is to gut that right and seize the cash — not for Colorado, but from it.

Gov. Polis and legislative Democrats are certainly right that the government should take measures to lower the high cost of living in the state. But they’re the ones driving it up! If property taxes are too high, they can cut the rates. If education and health-care programs need reforming, other states — including two of our “Four Corners” neighbors — have shown that market-oriented consumer choice and less government control lower costs and improve quality.

Contrary to the elite narrative, TABOR is not an obstacle to opportunity and prosperity in Colorado; it is a wellspring of both. AFP-Colorado and the new TABOR coalition are going to make that case until politicians remember that they work for us, not the other way around.

Jesse Mallory is state director for Americans for Prosperity-Colorado.

https://denvergazette.com/opinion/columns/guest-column-thanks-to-tabor-colorado-works-for-everyone/article_9a246a41-21fc-5cd0-b99a-16fa793c79a8.html

Aug 17

Menten: Honest voter guide needed to counter Proposition HH deception

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Menten: Honest voter guide needed to counter Proposition HH deception

August 15, 2023 By Natalie Menten

 

In October 2023, Colorado voters are going to get a ballot information guide, nicknamed the Blue Book (it literally has a blue cover page) in the mail prior to the arrival of their actual ballots.

This year the Blue Book will cover the two statewide tax increases – Proposition II and HH.

Common questions during the election include who phrases the ballot questions and who writes the Blue Book. This is especially true when ballot questions are deceptively worded like Proposition HH, which paints pictures of pies in the sky without disclosing the real intent to screw you out of your Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) refunds for at least the next 10 years, and likely forever.

The Blue Book is where you can make a difference. You get to participate and no expertise is needed. There’s a special reason that you’re especially needed this year.

Slick politicians wrote the Prop HH ballot language and rushed it through the state legislature without responsible notice to the public. A recent survey indicates 2/3 of voters will vote for Proposition HH if they read only the deceptive and misleading ballot question that state Representatives Chris deGruy Kennedy and Mike Weissman, and Senators Steve Fenberg and Chris Hansen cunningly wrote.

It’s up to us to ensure content in the ballot guide provides a full and clear picture to voters. Otherwise, the majority of the players at the table are the very politicians who hate spending limits and TABOR, like the sponsors of Prop HH (Senate Bill 23-303). Continue reading →

Aug 03

David Flaherty CEO of Magellan Strategies Talks About Proposition HH

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David Flaherty is CEO of Magellan Strategies, a CO-based public opinion polling and survey research firm. He recently did an interesting poll about Proposition HH, a measure on this November’s ballot which will slightly lower property tax rates while all but eliminating (over several years) TABOR refunds. It’s a disgusting and cynical ploy which I will work hard to defeat. The poll’s findings are interesting: in short, people like HH until they understand it. The implications are obvious.

Colorado Proposition HH Opinion Survey | Magellan Strategies

Colorado Proposition HH poll shows mixed support, opposition (denverpost.com)

I also want to know: How do pollsters inform respondents about an issue, to test uninformed vs informed, without injecting bias into the question?

Click  the following link to hear a recording of the show:

#DontBeFooled
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#VoteNoOnPropHH
#TABOR

Aug 03

Voters Polled On Proposition HH

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It’s important to educate the voter on Prop HH.  44% of people will vote against it if they know enough about it.

2 key takeaways that every voter should know:

  • Prop HH will take away your TABOR tax refund.
  • Local governments will be able to keep money owed to you without asking your permission.

 

Here are the results of Magellan’s Polling survey: https://magellanstrategies.com/proposition-hh-survey/

And the Polling presentation: https://magellanstrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Colorado-Proposition-HH-Voter-Opinion-Survey-Presentation-071223.pdf

Here are some stats at a glance:

Prop HH Familiarity

  • 41% of total voters are unfamiliar with the proposal
  • 42% of men are not familiar at all with the proposal
  • 41% of women are not familiar at all with the proposal
  • 48% of Democrat voters are not familiar at all with the proposal
  • 38% of Unaffiliated voters are not familiar at all with the proposal
  • 38% of Republicans are not familiar all with the proposal
  • 47% of Latinos are not familiar at all with the proposal
  • 44% of Blacks are not familiar at all with the proposal

 

Uninformed Ballot (of people who don’t understand what HH will do).

  • 68% of Democrat voters approve
  • 50% of Unaffiliated voters approve
  • 44% of Republican voters approve

 

Losing TABOR refunds and letting the state retain the money

  • 26% of Democrats voters reject
  • 55% of Unaffiliated voters reject
  • 75% of Republican voters reject
  • 44% of Latino voters reject
  • 52% of Black voters reject

 

Participatory Taxation *

  • 61% of men reject the proposal
  • 54% of women reject the proposal
  • 52% of voters 18 -34 reject the proposal
  • 63% of voters 35 – 44 reject the proposal
  • 44% of Democrat voters reject the proposal
  • 61% of Unaffiliated voters reject the proposal
  • 67% of Republicans reject the proposal
  • 54% of Hispanic voters reject the proposal
  • 69% of Black voters reject the proposal

 

* If Prop HH is approved, a new process called “Participatory Taxation” or “Truth in

Taxation” would be created for local governments to consider. This process would allow a

majority of local government elected officials to vote to retain property tax revenue that

would otherwise be refunded to taxpayers. To clarify, elected officials, rather than voters,

would decide to keep property tax revenue.

#DontBeFooled
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#VoteNoOnPropHH
#TABOR

 

Jul 13

Protecting Colorado Taxpayers and Preserving TABOR: Jonathan Williams on American Radio Journal

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ALEC Executive Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist Jonathan Williams discusses an upcoming Colorado ballot measure that would expand government spending and weaken Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), the nation’s strongest taxpayer protection.

The progressive push to undermine common sense checks on government spending is never-ending. It’s evidenced recently by the debate over the federal debt limit in Washington DC. The latest push is happening in Colorado as progressives are once again attempting to undermine the taxpayers’ Bill of Rights or TABOR, which is the gold standard of a state constitutional limit on overspending and overtaxing. It was adopted by voters as a state constitutional amendment back in 1992. It has helped restrain the growth of government and return billions of dollars to Colorado taxpayers.

However, the upcoming ballot measure in Colorado if approved, would gut TABOR in exchange for small, short-term cuts to property tax. Known as Proposition HH, this proposal tempts voters with the allure of a property tax cut with its real purpose is to clearly to water down TABOR’s tax and spending limits. My friend Ben Murray, Director of fiscal policy at the Independence Institute, described the package as a boondoggle of a property tax plan. The attacks on TABOR aren’t new. The property tax cut quote unquote, is the only latest gimmick to attempt to unleash the leviathan of big government on hardworking Coloradoans.

As the ALEC team explained in the National Review on the recent 30th anniversary of TABOR, TABOR has seen no shortage of progressive attacks which serves as an acknowledgement of the danger it presents to those that would like no constraints on the government’s ability to grow. Though all states except Bernie Sanders of Vermont have some sort of a balanced budget requirements in state law or their constitution, most don’t have robust protections such as that what TABOR offers.

https://alec.org/article/protecting-colorado-taxpayers-and-preserving-tabor-jonathan-williams-on-american-radio-journal/

Jun 20

Coloradans can expect another TABOR windfall. How much depends on voters in November

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Coloradans can expect another TABOR windfall. How much depends on voters in November

Story by Nick Coltrain, The Denver Post • 5h ago

Gov. Jared Polis signed SB23-303, Reduce Property Taxes and Voter-approved Revenue Change and SB23-304, Property Tax Valuation in front of the home of Joe Lloyd Medina, 78, in Commerce City on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.

Gov. Jared Polis signed SB23-303, Reduce Property Taxes and Voter-approved Revenue Change and SB23-304, Property Tax Valuation in front of the home of Joe Lloyd Medina, 78, in Commerce City on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.© Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

Colorado economic forecasters predict another tax refund windfall next spring — though how Coloradans receive the excess collections depends on how they vote this November.

Forecasters for both the legislative and executive branches expect tax collections subject to Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, caps to exceed $3.3 billion. That would be near the prior year’s record that lawmakers refunded through direct checks last fall. Following year forecasts still show excess collections, though not nearly as eye-popping.

The excess collections will surely become a point of leverage in a looming ballot box battle over state tax policy. Voters will decide this November on Proposition HH, a multi-faceted proposal aimed to blunt the sharpest edges of rising property taxes while also allowing the state to keep more tax dollars than currently allowed under TABOR.

Opponents are arguing its passage would lead to a long-term vacuuming of tax dollars that would otherwise be returned to taxpayers. Supporters, including Gov. Jared Polis and many lawmakers, argue the measure is necessary to backfill local governments and services whole while saving property owners hundreds of dollars a year in higher taxes driven by skyrocketing property values.

As an additional carrot, lawmakers attached a one-year, flat TABOR refund to the proposal passing. Economic forecasters with the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting predict individual taxpayers would receive $873 per filer — if HH passes. Forecasters for the legislative branch, who estimate a slightly lower breach of the TABOR cap, predict it would be about $854.

If Proposition HH doesn’t pass, the state would revert to the six-tier refund mechanism that gives lower-income taxpayers lower refund amounts, and higher-income taxpayers higher refunds, under the philosophy that higher-income taxpayers paid more into the overcollected taxes.

Continue reading →

Jun 20

Coloradans have voted on 36 TABOR-related ballot measures since 1993, rejecting 69% of them

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Coloradans have voted on 36 TABOR-related ballot measures since 1993, rejecting 69% of them

By Jackie Mitchell
In Ballot measures
June 19, 2023 at 9:57 PM

Coloradans have decided on 36 statewide ballot measures that were designed to increase revenue for the state, which required voter approval under TABOR. Of the 36 measures, 11 (30.56%) were approved and 25 (69.44%) were defeated.

Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), adopted in 1992, was designed to require statewide voter approval of all new taxes, tax rate increases, extensions of expiring taxes, mill levy increases, valuation for property assessment increases, or tax policy changes resulting in increased tax revenue.

Of the 36 measures, 17 were referred to the ballot by the state legislature and 19 were placed on the ballot through citizen initiative petitions. Of the 11 approved measures, 10 were referred to the ballot by the state legislature and one was a citizen initiative.

Highlights:

 

  • 14 of the measures were designed to increase a tax. Of the 14 measures, two were approved and 12 were defeated. In 2004, voters approved an initiative to increase the tobacco tax to fund educational and healthcare programs. In 2020, voters approved a measure placed on the ballot by the state legislature to increase tobacco taxes and create a tax on nicotine products to fund health and education programs.

Continue reading →