Former President of the Independence Institute and former Colorado State Senate President John Andrews gives a brief history of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR), how it’s been altered through the years, and what the future holds.
Patrick Gleason, Contributor
I cover the intersection of state & federal policy and politics.
Dec 15, 2023,05:40am EST
Colorado Governor Jared Polis (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
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If Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) were to coauthor a New Republic column with Paul Krugman or another famous progressive economist touting the benefits of greater government spending, that would surprise many. Yet the ideological analog to that occurred recently, with Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) coauthoring an article with economist Arthur Laffer, in which they tout the benefits of reduced tax rates. Governor Polis and Dr. Laffer also contend that the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), Colorado’s thirty one year old constitutional amendment that prevents state spending from growing faster than population growth plus inflation and requires tax hikes to receive voter approval, is flawed.
In their op-ed, published in National Review on December 7, Polis and Laffer lament that tax limitation measures “such as Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, that focus on tax payments rather than tax rates totally miss the opportunity to address the damage done by high tax rates.” Polis and Laffer bemoan the fact that TABOR surpluses are not automatically refunded in the form of tax rate reductions and instead go out as rebate checks.
“If there is an excess in tax revenues above population growth and inflation, as defined by TABOR, that means tax rates should have been lower but were not,” write Polis and Laffer. “The law serves as a signal that tax rates have been too high. The proper response to this signal is not to have it keep signaling, but to get the message and cut tax rates permanently.”
What’s more, Governor Polis’s stated desire for tax rate reductions is belied by his enactment of a bill that will make it more difficult to pass income tax cuts in the future by ballot measure. That new law, which was signed by Polis in 2021, mandates that citizen-initiated income tax cuts feature poison pill ballot language claiming the measure will reduce funding for education, healthcare, and other priorities, even when that’s not true.
Colorado House Minority Leader Mike Lynch (R) and Senator Byron Pelton (R) introduced a bill during last month’s special legislative session that would have reduced Colorado’s income tax rate from 4.4% to 4.0%. Governor Polis acknowledges the economic benefits of lowering income tax rates in his recent column, yet he did not support that bill, which was killed in committee along party lines.
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The Internal Revenue Service headquarters building appeared to be mostly empty April 27, 2020, in the Federal Triangle section of Washington, D.C.
Coloradans don’t have to worry about paying taxes on their Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds this year.
A spokesperson for Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said he confirmed in a meeting with Gov. Jared Polis and Internal Revenue Service leadership Tuesday that TABOR refunds will not be taxed this filing season.
Only tax INCREASES have to go on the ballot.
Tax DECREASES do not.
Prop HH is on the ballot. . . .
Don’t be fooled by Leftist smoke and mirrors.
This is one of the biggest money grabs in Colorado history.
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#DontBeFooled
#VoteNoOnPropHH
#TABOR
We didn’t need an election this November to receive a modest property tax reduction. The legislature can cut taxes anytime; it doesn’t need voter approval.
But with Coloradans facing the largest property tax increase of our lifetime due to soaring home prices, the legislature chose to put a massive expansion of government on the ballot disguised as a property tax cut.
Remember this: even if Proposition HH passes, property taxes will still increase. If property values double in the next 10 years, so will property taxes.
The deceptive ballot question asks: “Shall the state reduce property taxes for homes and businesses…” That sounds good, so voters may not read much further. Even if they do, the ballot never explains voting “yes” is agreeing to give up refunds under the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) and to permanently increase the cost of state government. Continue reading
#DontBeFooled
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#VoteNoOnPropHH
#TABOR
The TABOR Committee welcomed the campaign by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) to oppose Proposition HH.
The organization is the nation’s leading group that represents small business, which includes individual retailers, independent professional practices and others that keep our country’s economy humming. Colorado’s state chapter is at the forefront of the opposition. The NFIB must have a supermajority of its members in order to take a position and all NFIB surveys and ballots must be statistically valid before release. This vote was 9 to 1 to defeat Prop HH! “It’s hard for any group to get such unanimity about even the time of day,” observed TABOR Committee Chairman Penn Pfiffner. “It’s wonderfully overwhelming to see that strong vote from businesses across the state.”
The NFIB has been speaking out against Proposition HH and running radio ads. You can listen to those ads by clicking here.
“We’re calling out Proposition HH for what it really is, a bait-and-switch, offering a temporary property tax cut but undoing TABOR refunds,” said Tony Gagliardi, the Colorado NFIB state director.
You can find more information at NFIB’s web page that covers its assessment of Proposition HH at https://www.nfib.com/refund-colorado/
#DontBeFooled
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#VoteNoOnPropHH
#TABOR
The Colorado Legislature is legally required to get your vote if they want to RAISE taxes. They can LOWER taxes at any point and without your vote.
#DontBeFooled
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#VoteNoOnPropHH
#TABOR
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!
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 |
