As decision day for Colorado’s Amendment 66 approaches, senior education policy analyst Ben DeGrow talked with national reporters about the serious challenges of persuading voters to adopt a billion-dollar tax increase. Associated Press reporter Kristin Wyatt quoted his “confident” reaction:

“They’re starting out with a huge financial advantage, but they are pushing a boulder uphill convincing people to support a huge tax increase,” said Ben DeGrow, an education analyst for the Independence Institute, a right-leaning think tank.

The article also notes that if 66 fails, Coloradans could be faced with new tax increase initiatives to fund the school finance formula changes through 2017. DeGrow also talked to Chris Kardish from Governing magazine for his story about “Colorado’s $950 million plan to fix education”:

“There are a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of uncertainty, but I think the few basics about how the tax rates will hit families and the small businesses, that hits directly home, that’s pretty clear,” said Ben DeGrow, a policy analyst with the Independence Institute.

Results from Colorado’s mail-in ballot election will be available after polls close at 7:00 PM on November 5.