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
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.
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.
The gold dome of the state Capitol is seen in Denver.
The Associated Press File
Headlines from the state Capitol might cause a reader to believe Colorado is in a deep recession. Legislators say they must cut more than $1 billion in spending to balance the 2025-26 budget.
Still, state government has $687 million more to spend than last year in a $19 billion budget. So why all the histrionics about a budget “crisis”?
Because Colorado lawmakers practice fiscal tailgating.
Tailgating on the highway is dangerous because when drivers travel too fast and follow too close to the car ahead, the tailgating driver doesn’t have time to react if the lead driver unexpectedly brakes or swerves.
Fiscal tailgating is much the same. Lawmakers spend money as fast as it comes in, then when the economy slows, they face much harder choices than if they had tapped the brakes when awash in money.
After COVID, Congress inflated the money supply and passed out trillions to states. Colorado raked in billions, which lawmakers knew would someday run out.
Not long ago, veteran members of the Joint Budget Committee, regardless of party, would stand firmly against spending one-time funds for ongoing programs because they knew they’d ultimately be forced to cut the new program or cut something else.
Ending a program people have come to rely on is never popular.
But for the past few years, the Democrat-controlled legislature has done the opposite. As one local news organization reported, “The budget has actually been out of balance for years.
To continue reading the rest of the story, please click (HERE).
Despite Colorado’s $1.2 billion budget deficit, increasing regulatory woes, and a souring economic outlook, the state legislature continues to proliferate new legislation that promises to increase government size and spending.
The 120-day 2025 legislative session is beyond the halfway point, and Colorado’s 35 senators and 65 representatives have introduced over 500 bills so far, with several containing significant fiscal impacts.
Using data from the Legislative Council Staff’s Fiscal Note Reports, I consolidated bills into interactive charts to display the proposed legislation’s impact on government employment, the General Fund, and the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) in FY2025-26. .
Growing government
According to the data, all proposed legislation thus far in 2025 would add over 300 full-time equivalent (FTE) hires to the state’s payroll, reduce General Fund revenue by over $900 million, and reduce funds subject to TABOR by over $1.3 billion.
Of course, legislators will not pass all these bills, and some bills with significant fiscal impacts have already been rejected.
As previously reported in Complete Colorado, the lack of political competition in Colorado’s legislature has ushered in an unprecedented era of ballooning government expansion, and that extraordinary growth is now coming home to roost.
But this year’s budget shortfall did not appear out of thin air.
In short, the government spent one-time federal money for COVID relief on ongoing programs, inflation continues to cool (slowing government growth as allowed by the state constitution), the cost of Medicaid continues to increase, and the legislature continues to expand special interest tax breaks.
This is while resisting transparency and accountability and instead deflecting blame onto TABOR, which progressives blame for holding back the state’s ability to offer essential services.
In reality, TABOR just reasonably limits the growth of government, forcing the state to be more efficient, effective, and responsible when spending Coloradans’ money.
Click (HERE) to read the rest of this article at Complete Colorado!
After years of overreach and unchecked government growth, Colorado lawmakers are now scrambling to plug a $1.2 billion hole in the state budget — a crisis largely of their own making.
Colorado budget writers voted Wednesday night to finalize a 2025–26 budget plan that slashes transportation funding, eliminates programs, and kicks key decisions down the road — all while Medicaid spending surges out of control.
Despite the so-called “cuts,” the budget still grows to over $16 billion. But massive increases in Medicaid — particularly long-term care for seniors and the disabled — are eating up the budget at an unsustainable pace. Democrat lawmakers admit the problem is only getting worse. “Next year, I see our fiscal challenges compounding,” said Rep. Shannon Bird, vice chair of the Joint Budget Committee (JBC), during a hearing.
Conservatives argue this crisis is a direct result of failed progressive governance: endless new programs, expensive mandates, and refusal to address structural overspending.
TABOR Targeted Again
Once again, the state’s taxpayer protections — the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) — are being blamed by Democrats for the budget woes. TABOR limits government growth to population plus inflation, requiring refunds to citizens when revenue exceeds the cap.
Instead of thanking taxpayers for Colorado’s booming economy, JBC Chair Sen. Jeff Bridges (D-Greenwood Village) criticized TABOR: “When the economy is booming and the state is tightening its belt, that just doesn’t make sense,” he told The Colorado Sun. “It’s like, ‘why are you making these cuts?’ And the answer is TABOR.”
But to fiscal conservatives, it makes perfect sense. TABOR keeps the government from ballooning during economic highs and forces legislators to prioritize. That’s not dysfunction — it’s accountability.
Governor Jared Polis delivers his 2025 State Of The State address Thursday January 9, 2025 at the State Capitol.
Special to Colorado Politics/John Leyba
Colorado’s state budget is on an unsustainable path.
Unlike the federal government, the state is constitutionally mandated to produce a balanced spending plan each year.
That red flag warning from the chief economist of the Legislative Council and the director of the Joint Budget Committee staff in February signaled the problems ahead for the budget writers, as they tried to figure out not only how to cover a $1.2 billion general fund shortfall but also deal with a “structural deficit” that could affect future spending.
The structural deficit as defined in 2021.
The structural deficit appears when state spending reaches the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights cap. Despite a relatively healthy economy, according to recent forecasts, once the budget reaches the cap, without changes approved by voters, such as those made with Referendum C in 2005, lawmakers would be required to cut spending.
Joint Budget Committee members acknowledge that a structural deficit exists, but they differ on its causes and how to address it.
The panel had to come up with $1.2 billion in cuts from the general fund, which is the discretionary part of the state budget. The other two pots of money in the state budget are cash funds from fees and other sources, as well as federal dollars. The largest portion of federal funding, approximately $9 billion, is allocated to the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, with the majority dedicated to Medicaid.
The budget panel “closed” the budget on Wednesday evening, March 26. It is now preparing to introduce what’s called the Long Appropriations Bill and possibly as many as 80 “orbital” bills that make the statutory changes needed to balance the budget. That’s a record, and by a long way; most years, the JBC offers no more than 30 orbitals.
“This is the most complicated budget that we have had,” said JBC Chair Sen. Jeff Bridges, D-Greenwood Village. “The complexity in this budget stems from our thoughtful, strategic, and bipartisan approach.”
Panel delays budget introduction as it scrambles to find solutions
On March 21, Bridges, recognizing that the budget would not be ready on time, sought and obtained permission from the Senate to delay it by a week, from March 24 to March 31. While it’s a week later than initially scheduled, it shouldn’t affect lawmakers’ ability to present the finished — and hopefully balanced — budget to the governor before late April.
The other decision the JBC made during the week of March 17 was to use the slightly more optimistic forecast presented on Monday by the Office of State Budgeting and Planning, which provided them with approximately $168 million more breathing room under the TABOR cap. That decision was adopted on a 4-2 vote, with the committee’s Republicans objecting. The latter preferred to use the more conservative numbers from the Legislative Council forecast.
The week’s delay bought the JBC time to tackle the most difficult decisions it faced in crafting the 2025-26 state budget — funding for higher education, Medicaid and specific programs within K-12 education, although the dollars for public schools will take place through the School Finance Act, a separate measure expected to be introduced shortly after the budget.
The most drastic cuts would be painful, budget drafters warned.
Colorado’s Budget Gap Myth! How Anti-TABOR Legislators are Laying the Groundwork to Raise Your Taxes & How you can Fight Back! You’ve probably seen the headlines… “Lawmakers stare down long-term cuts as Colorado runs into TABOR’s hard spending cap,” and “Food banks, kids’ therapy and diapers: What Colorado lawmakers have cut from the state budget so far,” are just two recent examples.
It’s becoming more obvious that the “budget gap” is going to be used as an excuse to attack the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), and raise our taxes!
Thankfully, we have Natalie Menten, a Liberty Leader and Taxpayer Advocate who is standing up for TABOR.
In this video, Natalie and Brandon talk about the reality of Colorado’s budget and explain how TABOR has helped Coloradans keep more money in their wallets.
