This year, an oil and gas tax break is expected to grow so large — and gas prices drop so low — that many of Colorado’s oil wells would owe the state $0 in severance taxes. Consider it the $308 million elephant in the room as Colorado lawmakers reassess the state’s crumbling fiscal picture amid […]
Brian Eason
Special to The Colorado Sun
Twitter: @brianeason
Posted inBusiness, Crime and Courts, Energy, Environment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Colorado issues, like fracking and marijuana, divide the Democratic candidates for president
The race for the Democratic presidential nomination focuses on the big issues: health care, education, climate change — and who is best positioned to take on President Donald Trump in November. Ahead of the March 3 primary, Colorado voters also will weigh the candidates’ views on the issues that are uniquely important here: public lands, […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Voter guide: Where the Democratic presidential candidates stand on Colorado issues
Click here to use our interactive presidential primary voter guide here!
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Colorado progressives have a new target in their pursuit of a tax overhaul: the rich. Here’s why.
In the Colorado tax code, it pays to be rich and it’s expensive to be poor. For decades now, that’s been the stark takeaway buried inside the 286-page report on Colorado’s tax system the state Department of Revenue releases every two years: The less you make, the more you spend on taxes, as a percentage […]
Posted inBusiness, Politics and Government
The tax fight continues in Colorado as liberal group files 35 more ideas for the 2020 ballot
If the fight over Colorado tax policy were a sporting event, half the stadium might have emptied out by now. With the November defeat of Proposition CC, the score has become so lopsided in favor of fiscal conservatives, the outcome of any given skirmish over the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is starting to feel like […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
With Proposition CC’s failure, Colorado Democrats face a budget crunch in 2020. Here are their 4 options to address it.
With the defeat of Proposition CC, voters ensured two features of Colorado state government are here to stay: Taxpayer refunds and the periodic legislative exercise in avoiding them. The 2020 budget cycle is shaping up to be no exception. The legislative session is still weeks away, and Colorado budget writers already face a daunting list […]
Posted inUncategorized, Water
Here’s what you need to know about Colorado’s water plan before voting on Proposition DD
When then-Gov. John Hickenlooper set out to create Colorado’s first comprehensive water plan in 2013, he called the chasm between the state’s water supply and its demand “real and looming.” Colorado’s water supply is already struggling to meet the demands of a growing state today. By 2050, Colorado is expected to add another 3 million […]
Posted inEducation, Politics and Government, Transportation
Proposition CC explained: What it means to end the spending caps in TABOR and the money at stake
In one of the most significant potential changes to state fiscal policy in decades, Colorado voters this November will be asked to permanently eliminate a revenue cap that has both restrained and reshaped state government since 1992. The ask of voters is relatively modest: Forgo the occasional refund under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights — […]
Posted inCulture, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government, Water
Prop. DD explained: What sports gambling would mean in Colorado and how much (or little) it would generate
Voters will be asked in November to make Colorado the 19th state with legal sports betting — and, policymakers hope, generate a small pot of new tax revenue in the process. It comes in the wake of a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a federal prohibition of sports gambling in most of the […]
Posted inBusiness, Education, Growth, Politics and Government
TABOR faces a reckoning with Prop. CC. Here’s what you should know about its impact on state spending
In 1992, Colorado voters decided state government should stop growing. But that didn’t stop them from demanding more public services and spending from their elected officials. That’s the tension at the heart of Proposition CC, this November’s ballot measure to eliminate the state’s revenue caps. It’s the single biggest test to the Taxpayer’s Bill of […]