By Carolyn Martin (CHEC’s Director of Government Relations)

Prepare to Vote

The November 2023 election is fast approaching. Now is the time to start preparing to vote wisely!
 
Generally, ballot initiatives on odd-years deal with tax spending and revenue, along with any measures dealing with TABOR (The Taxpayer Bill of Rights) refunds. The state produces and mails to each household what is called a “Blue Book” which details each statewide initiative on the ballot. While it can be a useful tool, be leery of its analysis of the issues. The Legislative Council committee of the legislature is charged with finalizing the wording in the booklet. The committee consists of 11 Democrats and 7 Republicans. The final wording reflects this membership. Listen to the meeting where they discussed the deceptive wording and the attempts to change it.
 
This year, the two statewide initiatives on the ballot were put forth by the legislature.

• Proposition HH (SB23-303). I recommend a NO vote. See my blog post for more information.
• Proposition II (HB23-1290). I recommend a NO vote. It will allow the state to keep your TABOR refund and instead use it fund the universal preschool program.

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By Carolyn Martin (CHEC’s Director of Government Relations)

Proposition HH — Don’t Be Fooled It’s All About TABOR

A transformational ballot initiative will be on the ballot this November and every voter should be well-informed before marking their ballots. Though it will be sold to voters as a reduction in property taxes, the reduction will be minimal (around 0.065%). Not only that, but the legislature doesn’t need to ask the voters to reduce taxes, they could just do it and they have done it in the past. So, why don’t they just lower them? Because the real goal of Proposition HH is to get the voters to neuter the single most powerful constitutional tool citizens have to reign in government taxation and spending.

In 1992, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) was placed in Title X of the Colorado Constitution by the people. Through a formula outlined by TABOR, the government is basically only permitted to expand in line with the growth in population of the state and inflation. If the government collects more money through taxes than the formula dictates, the government must ask the people if they can keep any amount they overtaxed us. [When you see the wording “without raising taxes” on your ballot, it’s usually because the government is asking you if they can keep the monies they collected above the TABOR limit.] Proposition HH will allow the government to essentially overtax every person in the state to the tune of at least $11 billion over the next ten years and keep it to fund their pet projects without asking we, the people.

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By Carolyn Martin (CHEC Director of Government Relations)

Don’t Fall for the Rhetoric

They knew. Elected official across the state and lawmakers at the Capitol knew every property owner in Colorado would see a substantial increase in property taxes this year. A slew of bills to tweak property valuations and address housing problems were introduced in this year’s legislative session, but it wasn’t until the last week of the session that a bill (SB23-303) to address property taxes, heavily supported by the governor, was strong-armed through the system. The policy outlined in the bill was so contentious and the majority pushing it so deaf to the opposition, the minority in the House walked out in protest just before the vote was called.
 
SB23-303 passed the Senate on a party-line vote and passed the House with seven Democrats voting against it. Because SB23-303 contains provisions around TABOR (Taxpayer Bill Of Rights), the people of Colorado must vote for its enactment. It will be on the November 2023 ballot as Proposition HH. To make matters worse, a companion bill (HB23-1311) was rammed through in the last three days of session which alters the distribution of the estimated $2.4 billion-dollar 2024 TABOR refund and will go into effect if voters approve Proposition HH. TABOR refunds will not be distributed according to your tax burden but will be distributed “equitably” with every resident receiving the same amount.
 
The bottom line is this: Proposition HH is an attempt to neuter TABOR. TABOR is a constitutional provision that limits the growth of government and its ability to raise taxes beyond a certain threshold without first asking the people. If Proposition HH passes, there will be no stopping the growth of the state government.

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By Carolyn Martin (Director of Government Relations)

Summer is generally the time when you start to see people hanging outside of the local grocery store or library asking you to sign a petition to get an initiative on the ballot. (Yes, it’s that time again!) Depending on where you live, you might see some candidates on your ballot for school board or other local races, but mostly you will see initiatives dealing with taxes or amending the state Constitution.

Some people choose to sign the petitions with the attitude of putting everything on the ballot so “the people can decide.” While that might sound good, in practice, it is harmful. The turnout in odd year elections is usually lower than other elections, and the power of the vote is consolidated in fewer people — usually those who have a stake on either side of the issue. Ultimately, the vote comes down to who has the most money to convince the largest number of people to get out and vote the way they want them to vote.

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By Carolyn Martin (CHEC Director of Government Relations)

Praising God in the Storm

The rising storm that began well over two decades ago with a group of multi-millionaires whose goal was to take over Colorado (read The Blueprint or watch The Rocky Mountain Heist for more information) culminated this year with the most radical socialist policies ever seen at the Capitol. In the four previous years of their reign, the foundation was being laid through policies that created the exact crisis needed to push us in the direction of ever more government control. The most recent crisis is the astronomical rise in property taxes. The destruction of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) is the target.

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