By Sandra Fish, Chalkbeat Colorado
An anti-tax group wants to overturn a law allowing local governments to create special districts to pay for early childhood education.
The Colorado Union of Taxpayers received approval Friday to gather signatures to try to repeal House Bill 1052.
That bill allows local governments to ask voters to approve special districts and seek voter approval for taxes to provide services from birth to age 8. Services could include early care, education, mental health, health, prevention, intervention, and more.
The bill passed the House 50-13 and the Senate 23-12, with bipartisan support. Gov. Jared Polis signed the bill April 3, but it includes a clause allowing citizens to petition to bring it to a vote. That hasn’t happened since 1932, when voters overturned a tax increase on oleomargarine.
Karl Honegger, a former Broomfield City Council candidate and board member of the taxpayer group that filed the petition, said the idea was to raise awareness among taxpayers about the measure. “We really want to elevate the discussion before the implementation of such a policy,” he said.