Category Archives: TABOR Refunds

Apr 21

Threats to TABOR are threats to democracy | CALDARA

Posted on by

TABOR simply means voter consent.
TABOR is democracy.
Weakening TABOR is weakening democracy.

Every couple of years the spending lobby orchestrates an assault on our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. They are testing another onslaught likely for next year.

I was around for the fights to pass TABOR in the early 1990s. Then-Gov.Roy Romer famously declared if it passed, it will put a “going out of business” sign on the entrance to Colorado.

Oddly, our population has nearly doubled since then, and state spending has ballooned from just more than $6 billion to roughly $44 billion.

Read that headline again. Since TABOR, our population grew one-fold, state spending grew 7-fold. Predictable tax and spending policy helped create a boom.

The opposite of Romer’s scare is true. If we mess with our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, then we might as well put a “going out of business” sign on the entrance to Colorado.

Like telling tales of the boogeyman around the campfire to frighten children, those who feed on unconstrained spending want to scare the kids too. The young in this case are those who weren’t in Colorado before we demanded simple voter consent over our own money.

Get ready for a new batch of stories on how this Chupacabra of fiscal restraint is somehow making our lives worse, and the only way to slay the monster is to attack democracy and take away our right of consent. Continue reading →

Apr 18

Hillman: TABOR is the people’s law—Democrats want to sue it out of existence

Posted on by

By Mark Hillman | Colorado Politics

Lawmakers and special interests routinely ask Colorado voters to raise taxes so they can spend more of our money. Most often, voters say, “No!”

Now certain “progressive” Democrat lawmakers plan to use our own tax dollars to sue us for limiting their power to raise our taxes.

That’s disgusting even by the gutter standards of this legislature.

Having demonstrated their contempt for the rights of law-abiding Coloradans to exercise freedom of speech and to keep and bear arms as protected by the U.S. Constitution, Democrats at our State Capitol now want us to believe they care about respecting that same Constitution.

Led by Reps. Sean Camacho (D-Denver) and Lorena Garcia (D-Adams County) and Sens. Lindsay Daugherty (D-Arvada) and Iman Jodeh (D-Aurora), Democrats have proposed a resolution (HJR 1023) to order the state to initiate a lawsuit challenging the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (aka TABOR) in our state constitution.

Defending TABOR is the state’s responsibility, but no one currently holding statewide elected office publicly supports TABOR, so Colorado taxpayers have a right to believe the deck is stacked to screw us.

READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT COLORADO POLITICS

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 05

Colorado without TABOR? Higher taxes. No refunds. No vote.

Posted on by

Colorado without TABOR? Higher taxes. No refunds. No vote. Watch video: youtu.be/4AXTCw698ew?fe The bill to overturn TABOR is Monday, April 7 in the House Finance Committee. (HJR 1023) Testify from home—no need to miss work. Sign up: leg.colorado.gov/testimony #ProtectTABOR #copolitics 

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

 

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.

Mar 30

OPINION: ‘Fiscal tailgating’ caused Colorado’s budget woes

Posted on by

OPINION: ‘Fiscal tailgating’ caused Colorado’s budget woes

  • By Mark Hillman
  • Mar 27, 2025 Updated Mar 28, 2025

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).