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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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
Vote NO on this attack on your Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights
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.
It’s been nearly a year since Colorado lawmakers first discussed the possibility of legal sports betting in public, and the time for action has come.
This week, casino operators had the chance to offer feedback on preliminary language for a new CO sports betting bill. Reviewed by Legal Sports Report, the draft being circulated includes provisions for both physical sportsbooks and statewide mobile betting under a manageable tax structure.
Considering the bill has yet to be introduced, however, time is running a bit tight. The legislature adjourns for the year on May 3.
Editor’s note: Don’t just vote NO but vote HELL NO on this….
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.
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.
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.
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.