Category Archives: Kerr vs. Polis Lawsuit

Apr 14

If you’re reading this, pause and send a letter to your CO Rep/Senator in opposition to HJR25-1023

Posted on by

Priscilla Rahn @RahnforDougCo

If you’re reading this, pause and send a letter to your CO Rep/Senator. Here is my letter on Res 1023 (Lawsuit to eliminate TABOR.) Can you believe Democrats want to use our public tax dollars to sue “WE THE PEOPLE?” HANDS OFF TABOR!
—-
To the Honorable Members of the Colorado General Assembly,

I write to you in opposition of House Joint Resolution 25-1023, which seeks to challenge the constitutionality of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution.

This resolution proposes a lawsuit alleging that TABOR violates the Guarantee Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Colorado Enabling Act by limiting the legislature’s authority over taxation and spending.

The claims against TABOR are constitutionally unsound and ignore both the sovereign will of the people of Colorado and foundational principles of federalism and state constitutional self-determination.

1. TABOR Is a Legitimate Exercise of Constitutional Amendment Power
The Colorado Constitution, Article V, Section 1, enshrines the power of the people to legislate through initiative and referendum, a principle established since our state’s founding. This power includes the ability to amend the Constitution directly — as was done with the adoption of TABOR in 1992.

2. The Guarantee Clause Does Not Prohibit Direct Democracy
The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently treated claims under this clause as nonjusticiable political questions. The presence of direct democracy in a state — such as ballot initiatives — has never been held to violate the republican form of government. Many states, including Colorado, have long utilized ballot measures as an enhancement to representative democracy, not a threat to it.

3. TABOR Reinforces Accountability and Fiscal Restraint
TABOR was adopted after years of public concern over unchecked government spending and tax increases. It does not abolish the legislature’s power — it simply requires consent from voters before taxes are raised or new debt is incurred.

TABOR protects Coloradans by ensuring:
• Transparency in budgeting and taxation
• Taxpayer control over fiscal expansion
• A clear and predictable structure for government finance.

4. TABOR Reflects the Ongoing Will of the People
TABOR has survived multiple attempts at repeal or revision, and the voters have repeatedly affirmed its core protections. Any legislative attempt to sue the people’s will out of existence — without first repealing TABOR through democratic means — risks undermining public confidence in both this body and our constitutional process.

Instead of litigating against the will of the people, I urge you to honor our voices.

#HandsOffTABOR
#DontBeFooled
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#TABOR
#FollowTheLaw
#FeesAreTaxes
#VoteOnFees
#ReplaceThemAllForNotFollowingVotersWishes

https://x.com/RahnforDougCo/status/1911082221416349714

Apr 08

Colorado Dems push resolution to sue over TABOR

Posted on by
FNF Colorado State Capitol, Denver, dome
Colorado State Capitol in Denver
Photo by Paul Moody on Unsplash
(The Center Square) – Colorado Democrats are looking to challenge the constitutionality of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in court again.

A joint resolution introduced this week, if passed, would require the Committee on Legal Services to hire legal counsel and file a lawsuit over TABOR on behalf of the General Assembly.

TABOR, which was added to the state constitution after voters passed it in 1992, requires voter approval for all proposed tax increases. It also reins in state spending by limiting revenue growth to inflation plus the rate of population growth. Any revenue surplus must be refunded to taxpayers under the constitutional amendment.

Democrats have long pointed to TABOR for the state’s budget woes. Joint Budget Committee Chair Jeff Bridges, D-Greenwood Village, on Thursday pointed to TABOR after the Senate passed the state’s $43.9 billion budget bill and dealt with a $1.2 billion deficit.

“This is a budget that no one is happy with but that everyone can be proud of,” he said in a statement. “Thanks to the rationing equation in TABOR, the Joint Budget Committee faced difficult decisions that resulted in painful tradeoffs. But unlike Washington, we made these cuts thoughtfully, strategically and with bipartisan support. We eliminated dozens of programs and invested those savings in public education and public safety and public lands.”

“It’s not a perfect budget, but it’s responsible and responsive to our TABOR constraints while keeping our commitment to the people of Colorado,” Bridges added.

Conservative advocacy groups and defenders of TABOR point to the majority Democrats’ bloated spending as the issue.

“The problem isn’t that people are taxed too little. The problem is that state government is spending too much,” Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, a Republican on the JBC, said on the Senate floor Thursday. “It is our moral duty to justify every dollar that we spend. So the first step needs to define our priorities because if you think everything should be funded, if you think everything is a priority, you essentially have no priority.”

To continue reading the rest of this article, please click (HERE) to go to The Center Square

Apr 07

ICYMI Over The Past 31 Years, This Has Been Part Of Their Colorado Democrats Party Platform

Posted on by

#HandsOffTABOR
#DontBeFooled
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#TABOR
#FollowTheLaw
#FeesAreTaxes
#VoteOnFees
#ReplaceThemAllForNotFollowingVotersWishes

Apr 07

Stop Trying To Kill TABOR. No Means NO!

Posted on by

CALL TO ACTION: Protect TABOR Here we go again… Lawmakers are once again trying to silence Colorado voters and gut TABOR with HJR25-1023. Apparently, letting taxpayers decide on taxes is just too much democracy. We said no to Prop 66, Prop 120, and Prop HH. The courts have dismissed this exact argument once before. NO MEANS NO. The resolution will be heard in the Finance Committee on Monday. Sign up to testify against this foolish waste of our money. Sign up to testify at: leg.colorado.gov/content/commit #ProtectTABOR #HandsOffMyVote

Apr 05

URGENT: Colorado Legislators Want to Sue the People, Reverse TABOR, Biggest Tax Increase Ever?!

Posted on by

This Monday, April 7th, we need you to speak out in defense of your rights, your paycheck, and your family’s finances.

That’s when HJR25-1023: Require General Assembly TABOR Constitutionality Lawsuit will be heard in Committee.

This latest scheme is to sue the people of Colorado with the purpose of repealing the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).

If successful, this would be the largest tax increase in Colorado history. Your TABOR tax refund would disappear, taxpayers would lose their right to approve tax increases, and governments across Colorado would be able to steal more money from hardworking Colorado families.

In this video, Natalie Menten provides the background on this measure, talking points you can use during testimony, and information on the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

Please speak, in-person or remote in defense of TABOR by opposing HJR25-1023.

Testimony information:

Bill info: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hjr25-1023

Hearing time: Monday, April 7th in the House Finance Committee at 1:30 pm in House Committee Room 0112, first floor of the State Capitol.

Sign up here: https://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2025A/commsumm.nsf/NewSignIn.xsp

Easiest to find: “By Committee and Hearing Item”

Committee Name: House Finance

Meeting Date and Time: 04/07/2025 01:30 PM

Hearing Item: House Finance: HJR25-1023 (Require GA TABOR Constitutionality Lawsuit)

Talking Points:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

URGENT: Colorado Legislators Want to Sue the People, Reverse TABOR, Biggest Tax Increase Ever?! – Free State Colorado

Apr 02

10th Circuit dismisses lawsuit challenging validity of TABOR

Posted on by

We just wanted to remind you that the premise of this case was settled in December, 2021 but the political party on the left doesn’t learn. Here’s the headline and story:

10th Circuit dismisses lawsuit challenging validity of TABOR

FILE PHOTO: The Byron R. White U.S. Courthouse in Denver, which houses the Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

MICHAEL KARLIK/COLORADO POLITICS

The federal appeals court based in Denver has dismissed the long-running lawsuit seeking to void Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, finding in a 7-2 decision that a collection of local governments has no basis to challenge the 1992 constitutional amendment.

Chief Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich, writing for himself and six of his colleagues, concluded that the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners, a handful of school districts and one special district failed to show that the 1875 Enabling Act that guaranteed to Colorado a “republican” form of government had also given the local government entities the ability to challenge TABOR’s taxing and spending restrictions.

“Looking at the Enabling Act’s language, we conclude the plaintiffs cannot state a claim under the Act’s promise of a republican constitution. Neither the Enabling Act’s text nor structure supports the political subdivisions’ arguments. The clause promising a constitution republican in form has no clear beneficiary,” Tymkovich wrote in the Dec. 13 decision.

The ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit represents a blow to opponents of TABOR, who argue that it has starved governments of revenue and made crucial funding obligations, such as education and transportation, more difficult through the imposition of tax increases only at the permission of voters.

Continue reading →

Apr 01

Democrats roll out tax and TABOR reform plan

Posted on by

Democrats roll out tax and TABOR reform plan to remake state finances, calling for “a reckoning”
Colorado lawmakers float legal challenge that, if successful, could kill TABOR outright

A group of Colorado lawmakers has unveiled a plan to fundamentally change state tax policy and attempt to eliminate the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR.

The plan, announced Monday afternoon by Democratic legislators, includes reclassifying chunks of Colorado highway funding so it doesn’t fall under the TABOR spending cap, which would free up money for other things. They also hope to end Colorado’s flat income tax and replace it with a system in which higher-income taxpayers pay higher rates than low-income filers.

Lawmakers also introduced a resolution Monday that seeks to launch a lawsuit challenging the legality of TABOR, which was passed by Colorado voters in 1992, under the U.S. Constitution.

“The state is coming to a reckoning on whether we can sustain ourselves,” said Sean Camacho, a Denver Democrat. “And all of these measures are critical to figuring that out.”

The lawsuit resolution has attracted a roster of co-sponsors, including some top legislative leaders. The proposals come as Colorado faces a budget hole of more than $1 billion because of the cap set by TABOR.

TABOR limits how much state spending can grow based on inflation and population growth. Certain sectors of government spending, chiefly mandatory Medicaid costs, have far outstripped the pace of consumer inflation, effectively eating into how much the state can spend on nonmandatory programs.

To read the rest of this article, click (HERE) to go to the Denver Post.

Jul 22

Menten: Jeffco commissioners want voters to hand them a blank check

Posted on by

Jefferson County is one of more than a dozen counties in Colorado that still enjoys the protections of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). This constitutional amendment requires voter approval for tax increases and debt.  It also modestly limits how fast government can grow. The formula for automatic tax increases is the prior year’s budget plus adjustment for inflation and local growth.

Jefferson County government is presently allowed to grow 3.9% annually under the formula as described in a Board of County Commissioners agenda for July 19 (page 171).  That’s a reasonable amount for government growth – compare it to your household. Have you gotten nearly a 4% increase in your income?

Yet, the county commissioners have spent the last few years claiming they have insufficient revenue to maintain operations. Now they blame the revenue problem on the pandemic, yet the county received close to a couple hundred million in COVID relief money.

That pile of federal money still didn’t calm down the county commissioners’ quest to get rid of our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

To continue reading the rest of this story, please click (HERE) to go to Complete Colorado

#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#ThankGodForTABOR
#VoteOnTaxesAndFees
#FeesAreTaxes
#TABOR
#FollowTheMoney
#FollowTheLaw

May 18

Menten: Jefferson County ‘listening’ tour leaves out inconvenient facts

Posted on by

Jefferson County is one of more than a dozen counties in Colorado that is still enjoys the protections of government revenue caps under the state’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) amendment. In years of excess revenue collection, the taxpayers traditionally benefit from this TABOR feature by a temporary property tax reduction. Unfortunately, County Commissioners Lesley Dahlkemper, Andy Kerr, and Tracy Kraft-Tharp didn’t want to issue the 2020 refunds in an efficient way, instead, they chose to spend $200,000 in postage to send $1.5 million dollars in rebate checks to residents.

The commissioners chose to unnecessarily spend that money so that they could then introduce a recently concluded promotional tour gauging feedback on whether they would be successful in eliminating all or parts of the TABOR revenue caps.  County voters decidedly said no to a similar effort in 2019.  In addition, they are polling meeting participants about an alternative sales tax increase.

The problem is that those who have read the county promotional literature and attended the meetings haven’t been given all the facts.

Click (HERE) to go to Complete Colorado to continue reading this story.