Legislative Sleight of Hand: How SB-135 and Initiative 282 Reveal a Double Standard on the Ballot
Independence Institute President Jon Caldara and Policy Analyst Nash Herman recently appeared before the Title Board to expose the deceptive ballot language for Senate Bill 135. They received title approval for Initiative 2025-2026 #282, a near-carbon copy of SB-135, this year’s attempt by the legislature to eliminate TABOR refunds and permanently alter the state’s spending […]
Colorado’s Budget Setting Reality Belies Sky-Is-Falling Rhetoric
Colorado’s legislature is in the midst of debating and finalizing the budget for the coming 2026-27 fiscal year. Before introducing this year’s long bill (the budget bill) and orbital bills (64 additional bills as part of the budget package), analysts told the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) that Colorado be approximately $914 million below the Taxpayer’s […]
Senate Bill 135: New Fiscal Note Makes Bad Legislation Worse
Senate Bill 135, legislation that could permanently end the refund of overcollected tax dollars, as well as radically raise revenue limits under Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) amendment, just received a new fiscal note predicting an even bigger blank check for the legislature than before. This follows the updated revenue forecast presented to the […]
Colorado Progressives Shift Budget Blame to TABOR and Taxpayers
Karl Marx, co-author of The Communist Manifesto, once wrote “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.” We’re watching a version of this play out at the Colorado State Capitol Like thousands of enlightened technocrats who came before them, Colorado’s progressive legislators believe that they are uniquely endowed to once and for all fix […]
Senate Bill 135: Blank Check Forgives Chronic Colorado Overspending
Claims that Senate Bill 26-135 could permanently eliminate the refund of overcollected revenue under Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) amendment may at first blush sound hyperbolic, but they are not. Let me explain. Beyond handing progressive legislators a blank check to cover up their own overspending, the new TABOR revenue limit creates a perverse […]
Nash Herman’s Testimony on SB26-135
On Thursday, March 12, Policy Analyst Nash Herman submitted testimony for Senate Bill 135 to the Senate Finance Committee. If passed, the bill would refer a ballot measure to voters in the 2026 election that would ask them to approve a new TABOR revenue and spending limit and could end TABOR refunds forever. However, SB-135 […]
Rep. Sean Camacho Gets Colorado’s TABOR Wildly Wrong
Democrat State Representative Sean Camacho recently penned a guest commentary for the Denver Post packed with false claims about Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR. Camacho argues that TABOR is a “Frankenstein’s monster” that grew beyond its noble intentions and its creators’ ability to contain it, and that it allows for corporate loopholes at […]
Alcohol ‘Fees’ Another End-Run Around Colorado Voter Consent
State legislators have introduced yet another end-run around the voter say-so on taxes guaranteed by Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), this time with House Bill 1271. While the bill’s TABOR-bypassing scheme is not new, it’s a fresh slap in the face to Coloradans who are tired of seeing state government dig deeper into their […]
Gov. Polis Eyes Taxpayer Refunds as Budget Wound Band-Aid
Colorado’s structural budget challenges continue to collide with wishful thinking and a lack of accountability. What’s more, Joint Budget Committee (JBC) analysts disagree with Governor Polis’ office on how best to address the state’s fiscal challenges. The JBC recently held a hearing with analyst Craig Harper, during which they discussed one of Polis’ primary revenue-raising […]
Medicaid’s ‘Perverse Incentives’ Tanking Colorado’s Budget
Colorado’s ongoing budget-gap struggles are the predictable result of structural problems with Medicaid. Paragon Health Institute, a non-partisan research institute, recently published a new report, Preserve and Improve Medicaid, which explains the program’s inherent challenges and how states such as Colorado can take advantage of One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) reforms to improve outcomes. However, […]
Colorado Lawmakers Cry Poverty, Give Handouts to Hollywood
In the latest edition of “why care about Colorado’s budget shortfall if our legislators won’t,” statehouse representatives recently voted to cut almost $750,000 from the Colorado Office of Film, Television, and Media, only to reverse their decision later in the day. It’s that time of the year when the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) presents supplemental […]
Senate Bill 42: Latest Legislative Workaround to Revenue Limits
Similar to last year’s Senate Bill 173, legislative Democrats are returning this year with another effort to bypass Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) by reclassifying certain state revenue streams. While Senate Bill 26-042 may have some plausibility under specific TABOR terms, it raises broader concerns about the runaway growth of Colorado’s state government, and […]
