Posted inNews, Politics and Government

Rising inflation is on a collision course with Colorado’s TABOR cap. And the state budget is in the middle.

The lawmakers who write Colorado’s budget are preparing to pare back some capital projects in the coming months as they contend with inflation straining a budget capped by the state’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. The TABOR cap, a key component of Colorado’s 1992 constitutional amendment limiting government growth and spending, is calculated by adding together […]

Posted inNews, Politics and Government

Colorado voters will decide whether to further decrease the state income tax rate

Colorado voters will decide next year whether to further reduce the state’s income tax rate. The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Thursday that supporters of Initiative 31 collected enough signatures to get their question before voters in 2022. They needed at least 124,632 signatures to qualify for the ballot. The measure is being pushed […]

Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government

Colorado Republicans aren’t winning many elections these days, so they’re turning to ballot questions instead

When Democrats in the Colorado legislature this year unveiled their marquee bill to enact new transportation fees to pay for road and transit projects, the measure’s conservative opponents had a quick, confident response: See you at the ballot box.  The opposition wasn’t necessarily talking about trying to unseat Democrats, however. They were vowing to bring […]

Posted inNews, Politics and Government

Some Colorado Republicans want to forgo their party’s 2022 primaries. Others think that’s “insane.”

Top Colorado Republicans will vote next month on whether to abandon their party’s statewide primaries in 2022, a move that some in the GOP warn could alienate unaffiliated voters, who make up 43% of the electorate, and solidify Democratic control. Under the proposal, a fraction of registered Republicans would select general election candidates for U.S. […]

Posted inBusiness, Election 2020, Politics and Government

Proposition 116 explained: Colorado must decide whether an income tax cut is worth a hit to state budget

A measure on the 2020 ballot in Colorado proposes a permanent cut to the state’s income tax rate that would give the average taxpayer a $37 break annually. The limited-government conservatives and Republican lawmakers backing Proposition 116 say the tax relief comes at a crucial moment amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus. The […]

Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government

Now that Colorado lawmakers have put Gallagher repeal on the ballot, will they actually be able to pass it?

When the General Assembly two years ago agreed to study the state’s dysfunctional property tax code, reform advocates were optimistic that years of warnings would finally lead to action. A bipartisan panel came up with a variety of options to repeal and replace the Gallagher Amendment, the constitutional measure that for decades has squeezed essential […]

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 inSun Investigation

Gov. Jared Polis recall effort mired by infighting and legal questions about donors, review finds

A committee to recall Gov. Jared Polis has raised more than $100,000 since March, but its reports are littered with errors and its online donors don’t always match the information it gives the state. Nearly 120 of the 1,337 itemized individual donations to the Official Recall Colorado Governor Jared Polis committee don’t have the required […]