Category Archives: Fiscal Policy

Apr 25

Coloradans may face 4 spending questions this year. Will new nicotine tax measure overload the ballot?

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Michael Fields@MichaelCLFields Tweeted:
The state budget went up by $1.6B again this year. Government has enough money already.
 

Coloradans may face 4 spending questions this year. Will new nicotine tax measure overload the ballot?

The proposal, announced Wednesday by Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic state lawmakers, would set a uniform nicotine tax at 62 percent. That would lift the taxes on a package of cigarettes to $2.49 from 84 cents.

The Colorado Sun — jesse@coloradosun.com

If an 11th-hour Democratic effort to raise nicotine taxes debuted Wednesday makes it to the ballot, Coloradans could face as many as four consequential spending questions when they vote in November.

How those efforts could interact remains unknown, but discussion is already underway about the potential consequences of asking voters to make so many revenue-generating decisions at once and whether questions might counteract each other.

Also top of mind: Colorado voters in 2018 rejected tax increases aimed at paying for transportation and education, two of the most cash-poor and motivating issues in the state. So the question is, what’s different now?

“Not only are there the statewide (revenue-increase questions), but once you get into the municipalities, there are going to be even more,” said Courtney Sievers, pollster with the Republican firm Magellan Strategies.

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Apr 18

Fiscal conservatives see priority problem in Colorado’s new budget

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Fiscal conservatives see priority problem in Colorado’s new budget

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

Shutterstock photo

Colorado lawmakers last week approved a $32.5 billion budget to fund the government, but not everyone is cheering. 

The new budget includes $300 million for road funding, which took much negotiating between majority Democrats and minority Republicans. It also includes $175 million for full-day kindergarten, less than Gov. Jared Polis requested, and a 3 percent raise for state employees.

Budget writers also had to pull $40 million from some state reserve funds.

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Apr 17

TABOR Repeal Bill Passes Colorado House of Representatives without Single Republican Vote

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202-380-7114 – MBLyng@NovitasCommunications.com

TABOR Repeal Bill Passes Colorado House of Representatives without Single Republican Vote

House Democrats’ attempt to permanently pocket taxpayer refunds advances on party-line vote

 DENVER, April 17, 2019 – Yesterday, Democrats in the Colorado House of Representatives voted to pass House Bill 1257, a measure that would require state taxpayers to permanently forego tax refunds in any year in which they overpay the state.

“Colorado Democrats claim that their proposed theft of taxpayers would fund critical services like education and transportation, but Speaker K.C. Becker admitted in a committee hearing that they couldn’t provide any assurances as to how this supposed ‘excess’ revenue would be allocated in the future,” said Amy Oliver Cooke, Independence Institute Executive Vice President and TABORYes coalition member. “This isn’t even the government’s money in the first place. It’s money that hardworking Coloradans overpaid into the system, as codified by our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Continue reading →