Latest news with #Taxpayer'sBillofRights
Axios
6 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Effort to transform Colorado politics by 2030 takes shape
The question sounds innocuous: "When you think about having more courageous and representative politics in Colorado, what does that mean to you?" Yes, but: It's the precursor to much more. The organizers who asked the question just finished a statewide listening tour called Courageous Colorado, the start to an overhaul of the state's elections and campaigns to make them less partisan. The goal is to implement policy changes at the local or state level by 2030. The big picture: The effort is the outgrowth of Proposition 131, a failed 2024 campaign to institute all-candidate primaries and ranked choice voting. Unite for America, a national democracy reform group that pushed Prop. 131, paid in part for the tour, Axios Denver has learned. The League of Women Voters, CiviCO and Veterans for All Voters, all civic engagement groups, are co-hosts. Between the lines: A similar statewide listening tour ahead of the 2016 election led to a ballot initiative to roll back the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, known as TABOR. What they are saying: "We have to also transform the way campaigns are run," Landon Mascareñaz, the lead organizer of the tour told us, lamenting their "divisive nature." State of play: Courageous Colorado organized 20 town halls across the state through late May to spur the conversation and generate a 2030 agenda. At each stop, attendees — ranging from a handful to more than a dozen — discussed and ranked their support for 23 pre-generated ideas to boost "courage and representation." The list included overhauls of campaign finance, civic education, a citizens' assembly, minor party ballot access, term limits and new methods of voting. The top ideas from the tour, Mascareñaz says, were campaign finance reform, better civic education, open political primaries, ranked choice voting and term limits for local leaders. Inside the room: The stop in Boulder drew 10 people. Mascareñaz started the hourlong conversation by outlining how representation is short-cut in Colorado because of noncompetitive seats in the state Legislature and Congress — a parallel talking point from the Prop. 131 campaign. Attendees expressed cynicism about the ability to change the status quo, but Mascareñaz urged them to stay engaged. "We didn't get into this challenge overnight. We're not going to solve it in one listening session," he said. What's next: This week, organizers are hosting a retreat in Leadville for advocacy groups to evaluate the data from the listening tour and consider a path forward.
Axios
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
TABOR lawsuit fails to gain traction in Colorado
The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights emerged intact from the legislative session despite a late challenge from its critics. State of play: Democratic lawmakers introduced a resolution to authorize a lawsuit challenging the voter-approved 1992 constitutional amendment but abandoned the effort in the final days of the session. The legal challenge sought to declare TABOR unconstitutional because it amounts to direct democracy, rather than the republican form of government outlined in the U.S. Constitution. TABOR restricts state revenue to inflation plus population growth, essentially taking the power of budget-setting out of lawmakers' hands, the sponsors argued. What they're saying: The resolution cleared a committee vote but languished on the House calendar. Democratic supporters blamed their party for lacking the political will to push ahead, even though 31 of the 43 Democrats in the state House — including the speaker — signed the resolution as co-sponsors. The other side: House Republican leaders counted the resolution's demise as one of their top accomplishments. If it came to a vote in the chamber, the party's members planned a prolonged debate that would have stalled lawmaking for hours as the clock ticked toward adjournment. Between the lines: This is the third high-profile attempt in seven years to challenge TABOR — each a failure. The other two came at the ballot box with voters rejecting Proposition CC in 2019 and Proposition HH in 2023. Both referendums sought to allow the state to keep more revenue than TABOR allowed. What to watch: The setback won't deter Democrats. The resolution's sponsors say they plan to give it a shot next session.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Here are 5 key bills the Colorado Legislature passed this year
Colorado House Majority Leader Monica Duran speaks with Rep. Alex Valdez on the House floor during the last day of the 2025 legislative session on May 7, 2025 at the Colorado Capitol. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline) The 2025 regular lawmaking term in Colorado wrapped up Wednesday evening after 120 days of policy proposals. Lawmakers grappled with a year of financial strain — an extraordinarily tight budget situation prevented new programs or many new spending attempts — and an ever-changing federal landscape as President Donald Trump began his second term in office, two themes that colored much of the session. Democrats controlled both chambers of the Colorado Legislature with a 43-22 majority in the House and a 23-12 majority in the Senate. Those margins, combined with Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, allowed Democrats to pass most of their priority bills, though not all. A bill supported by Polis that would allow churches to build affordable housing on their land could not pass the Senate, and a resolution to direct the Legislature to sue over the constitutionality of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights did not get a debate. Here are five of the biggest bills to pass this year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Senate Bill 25-3 was introduced as a ban on the sale of semiautomatic firearms that accept detachable magazines, a description that includes a huge portion of guns sold in the state. The idea was to bolster enforcement of the state's large-capacity magazine law, passed in 2013, by allowing in gun sales only fixed magazines that accept no more than 15 rounds. But pushback from the governor's office resulted in a major change in the Senate — the addition of a permit-to-purchase program to access the otherwise-banned firearms. The bill passed the Legislature with entirely Democratic support, and Polis signed it into law on April 10. Starting in August 2026, anyone who wants to buy most semiautomatic guns with a detachable magazine will need to complete either a four- or 12-hour safety training, depending on whether the person already has a hunting license. Course completion will result in a five-year purchasing ability. Colorado joins a handful of states with similar training requirements. Supporters see the law as a way to reduce accidents and injury, because people who buy the powerful weapons will have education about how to use them safely. Opponents say it is an additional hurdle in Colorado to exercise Second Amendment rights and worry about a lengthy wait time to get into a necessary safety course. A coalition of Republican lawmakers and gun rights advocates recently asked the U.S. attorney general to review the constitutionality of the new law. It is also possible opponents will attempt a legal challenge in court. Though it was announced last year and became one of the first bills introduced this year, Senate Bill 25-5 didn't pass until the penultimate day of the session, after months of negotiations between labor and business groups broke down. The bill now heads to a likely veto from Polis. The bill would repeal a second election that's required for union formation in Colorado. The first election, governed by federal law, requires a majority vote to form a union. Colorado's unique second election requires a 75% vote for a union to negotiate union security, the term for compelling all workers to pay into the representation a union provides, regardless of membership. Bill supporters say the second election creates an opportunity for employers to intimidate workers and represents a barrier to forming strong unions. Supporters immediately faced a call from Polis to rework the bill around a compromise that both labor and business advocates could agree to. That deal never came to fruition, and an unamended version of the bill passed through the Legislature on party-line votes, with Democrats in favor of the measure. House Bill 25-1312, dubbed the Kelly Loving Act after a transgender woman killed in the Club Q shooting, adds more legal protections for transgender Coloradans. It would make it discriminatory for a person to intentionally not refer to a transgender person by their chosen name in places of public accommodation. It would also make it easier for a person to change their gender marker on a driver's license and other government documents. It would require schools to be more flexible in chosen-name policies and dress code requirements. Some of the bill's most controversial original provisions were amended out, including a section that would have made courts consider a parent's treatment of their child's transgender identity during custody decisions. Another removed section would have enacted a shield provision against other state's custody laws. The original bill would have also added legal definitions for 'misgendering' and 'deadnaming' into the state's anti-discrimination act. Polis has not yet taken action on the bill. As the Trump administration began ramped-up deportation efforts, Democrats moved to protect the civil rights of Colorado's immigrants. Senate Bill 25-276 would prohibit public employees, like those in local governments, from sharing data about immigration status with federal immigration enforcement authorities. It would also repeal affidavit requirements for immigrants without legal status seeking in-state tuition and driver's licenses. The bill would also limit where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can access within schools, hospitals, libraries and child care facilities without a signed warrant. It would clarify and strengthen existing law that prevents local law enforcement from holding someone in jail on behalf of immigration authorities after their release time. Republicans opposed the bill and argued that it could jeopardize federal funding to the state. As it passed, the Department of Justice sued Denver and the state over so-called 'sanctuary policies,' which the bill is seen as expanding. Polis has not yet taken action on the bill. The start of the legislative session was packed with vacancy committees after three state senators resigned shortly following the 2024 election. That prompted calls for reform on how vacancies are filled in the Legislature, as the current system permits a small number of party insiders to decide on new lawmakers. The bipartisan House Bill 25-1315 would change the vacancy process by adding elections for the seat in question into an already-planned November election. A vacancy committee would pick a replacement, but that person would need to run in the newly created vacancy election, where voters of the same party and unaffiliated voters could participate. Polis has not yet taken action on the bill. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs $44B state budget
Sen. Jeff Bridges speaks before Gov. Jared Polis signs the budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year on April 28, 2025. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline) Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed the state's $43.9 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year on Monday, culminating nearly a year's worth of work to craft a spending plan that appropriately funds public education and Medicaid while cutting enough program spending to fill a billion-dollar gap. 'A lot of hours and time went into writing this document. This balanced, bipartisan budget holds strong reserves for an uncertain future. It makes smart investments to protect what matters most, including education, public safety and health care,' Polis said during a signing ceremony at the Governor's Residence in Denver. The budget includes about $16 billion in general fund spending, the portion of the budget over which the Legislature has the most control. The new fiscal year begins in July. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The tight budget conditions were partially a product of ballooning Medicaid costs within the state's Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and slowing inflation, which impacts how much tax revenue the state is allowed to retain and spend under the state constitution. A cap set by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights will increase by about 3.6% next year but will be outpaced by health care costs. That means the six bipartisan members of the powerful Joint Budget Committee had to figure out what to cut in order to create the constitutionally-required balanced budget. 'This is one of the most complicated budgets we have ever put together,' JBC Chair Sen. Jeff Bridges, an Arapahoe County Democrat, said. Over 60 companion bills ran alongside the primary budget bill, known colloquially as the 'long bill,' to shift spending and change state law to balance everything. Polis signed those last week. The budget makes spending reductions in about a dozen state departments. One move delays about $70 million this year and $56 million next year in planned transportation spending. Another eliminates about $7 million for the Revitalizing Main Street program and over $70 million in awarded, though not under contract, grants for small-scale infrastructure improvements. The budget also cuts or reduces many recently enacted programs, such as a Kidney Disease Task Force, free phone calls for incarcerated people, and a bullying-prevention effort in the Department of Education. There are also instances where the budget bumps funding, including $150 million more to public schools and $21.7 million to the Child Care Assistance Program. It includes a 2.5% across-the-board salary increase for state employees and a 1.6% increase in the state reimbursement for Medicaid providers. The budget funds the state's universal free school meal program, approved by voters in 2022, until the end of the year. After that, the program's financial future could be left to voters again if the Legislature refers to the fall ballot a measure asking to keep additional tax money to pay for the unexpected demand. Lawmakers expect the difficult budget circumstances to continue in the upcoming years. Some attribute that to the constitutional limit of how much tax revenue the state can keep, and others say it is a spending problem that leads to a structural issue. 'You don't get out of a structural deficit in a one-year budget. This is a two-, three- and four-year cycle that we have to work on and make sure that we are doing our due diligence,' said Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, a Weld County Republican. 'We had over $351 million of one-time spending again this year. That's not good,' she said. This year's budget constraints left little room for any new programs and legislation that included spending. The House voted 44-21 and the Senate voted 22-11 to approve the budget. The JBC's two Republican members joined Democrats to vote in favor. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Axios
28-04-2025
- Health
- Axios
Healthy school meals program in jeopardy
Colorado offers every student a free breakfast and lunch at school — a two-year-old initiative so popular that it's now running short on money. Why it matters:"Kids who are hungry are also more likely to struggle with academic performance due to irritability, depression, anxiety and difficulty with concentration," Sandra Hoyt Stenmark, a clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, said in a statement. By the numbers: The state is serving 194,000 breakfasts and 451,000 lunches at 1,805 sites a year, according to the Colorado Department of Education, which oversees the Healthy School Meals for All Program. The number of breakfasts and lunches served grew at least 30% last year and continues to rise. The latest: To keep the program alive, state lawmakers crafted two November ballot measures that ask voters for more money. One seeks voters' permission to keep $12.4 million state tax revenue that exceeded initial estimates, which otherwise must be refunded under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, TABOR. The second ballot question expands the program by curtailing tax deductions for those making more than $300,000 a year. It's expected to generate more than $95 million a year to make the program solvent. Friction point: If the referendums fail, authorities plan to shrink its scope and offer it to only the neediest schools. Catch up quick: Colorado voters approved Proposition FF in the 2022 election, making permanent a pandemic-era program. The program is powered by a tax hike on those who make $300,000 or more a year. It tallied a deficit in its first two years and expects to fall $42 million short next year. The tight budget year meant lawmakers couldn't cover the gap as they succeeded in doing the first two years. What they're saying: In an interview, state Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet (D-Commerce City) touted the program's popularity and how it has "completely changed lunch culture. … There's no more lunch shaming."
