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Colorado’s new insurance fee enterprise can lower or stop collecting to stay under Proposition 117
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s new insurance fee enterprise can lower or stop collecting to stay under Proposition 117

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The signed law says the enterprise will collect less than $100 million in five years. The Legislature's fiscal note puts the figure at $99.6 million. New Colorado enterprises that want to collect more than $100 million in their first five fiscal years have to ask voters first. That's what voters approved in 2020 with Proposition 117. One created this year is projected to collect $99.6 million. The fee that funds it gets cut by more than half after the first year. Premiums grow every year in the state's own projection. The rate drops anyway. Gov. Jared Polis signed SB26-155 into law on June 4. The measure creates the Strengthen Colorado Homes Enterprise within the Division of Insurance and takes effect Aug. 12. Sens. Kyle Mullica...
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If more education spending works, why not require proof?
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

If more education spending works, why not require proof?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project This coming November voters will be deciding on Proposition NN and possibly Initiative 195, the former being a referred measure by our state legislature and the latter a ballot initiative which as of this writing was out for signatures with no definitive answer on whether it will be on the ballot yet. Both measures are of the type I like to label with “won’t someone think of the children?!” That is, both of them are geared emotionally to tap into the completely natural desire to help children. The thing is, there are some problems with the reasoning in both. To demonstrate, I will lean heavily on the well-written op ed about education funding from one of the interns at the Independence Institute (as well a...
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Colorado Health Care Costs Keep Climbing Despite Growing State Subsidies
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Health Care Costs Keep Climbing Despite Growing State Subsidies

By: Nash Herman | Commentary, Complete Colorado In economics, it is well understood that the larger a business becomes, the more cheaply it can produce goods or services due to lower relative fixed costs, more technical know-how, and increased specialization.  Why then is Colorado’s largest industry in terms of employment–health care–only becoming more expensive?  Subsidies inflate costs Let’s back up. In 1990, Colorado’s largest industry by employment was retail, which also dominated most of the rest of the country’s employment as well, along with manufacturing.  Along the way retail and manufactured goods became cheaper for consumers, as expected, relative to inflation.  READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT COMPLETE COLORADO ...
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Colorado Taxpayers Face Billion-Dollar TABOR Refund Money Grab Under Proposition NN
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Taxpayers Face Billion-Dollar TABOR Refund Money Grab Under Proposition NN

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A coalition that includes the state teachers’ union on Tuesday launched a campaign for a ballot proposal that would reduce more than $1 billion in taxpayer refunds and spend the money on education. The measure is among several campaigns taking shape this year over state revenue. Broadly speaking, one side has long sought to raise more money, arguing what the state collects is insufficient to pay for services and programs. The other side counters that current revenues are sufficient but used unwisely, and what policymakers need is fiscal discipline. Referred to the ballot by the state legislature via Senate Bill 135, the average Colorado taxpayer would lose about $7,300 in TABOR refunds between the 2026-27 and 2036-37 fisca...
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What Would Colorado’s Declaration Of Independence Say Today?
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

What Would Colorado’s Declaration Of Independence Say Today?

By: Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado Happy 250th Birthday, America! You look fabulous. As all the cool countries are saying, “250 is the new 230.” The Declaration of Independence wasn’t merely an announcement of war against a tyrant. It was the most revolutionary political document ever written. The Declaration was a landmark in human development, perhaps the landmark of all human history. For the first time government was no longer affirmed sovereign. The individual was. That simple idea changed the world. You rule yourself. Your life belongs to you. Your liberty belongs to you. Your happiness is yours to pursue as you define it. Your property belongs to you. Government exists not to rule over you, but to secure your&n...
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Initiative 195 would raise taxes on Colorado’s top earners. A new report asks whether they’d stay.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Initiative 195 would raise taxes on Colorado’s top earners. A new report asks whether they’d stay.

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The income tax on a Colorado household earning under $25,000 would fall by $9 a year under Initiative 195. A filer reporting between $2 million and $5 million would pay about $13,914 more. Both figures come from the measure's certified ballot title. The Common Sense Institute, a free-market policy group in Greenwood Village, says that second household is also the one most likely to pack up and leave Colorado, and that the state would lose part of the revenue the tax is supposed to bring in right along with it. Initiative 195 would end Colorado's flat income tax. The state taxed income on a graduated scale for its first 50 years, then switched in 1987 to a single rate, now 4.4 percent, that applies to every earner.  In its place, 1...
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Colorado Voters To Decide Whether Road Taxes Stay On The Road
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Voters To Decide Whether Road Taxes Stay On The Road

By Mike Krause | Complete Colorado DENVER — Colorado voters will have the chance this November to constitutionally guarantee that revenue intended for building and maintaining the state’s highways actually goes to fixing the roads, after proponents of Initiative 175 submitted enough valid signatures to earn a spot on the 2026 statewide ballot. The Colorado Secretary of State’s office on Tuesday announced that of the 189,355 total petition signatures submitted, 143,112  were deemed valid, easily clearing the 124,238 threshold required of all citizens’ initiatives. Because 175 amends the state Constitution, signatures from at least two percent of registered voters in each of Colorado’s 35 state senate districts were also required. They cleared that hurdle as well...
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Colorado’s budget keeps growing. Florida just cut spending again
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s budget keeps growing. Florida just cut spending again

By Nash Herman | Commentary, Complete Colorado While Colorado’s majority Democrats lament the state’s persistent budget challenges, Florida’s Republican majority just celebrated reducing spending for a second consecutive year in another business-as-usual state budget.  Colorado legislators have plenty of lessons they could learn from Florida, instead, they are more likely to double down on more tax and spend, economy-wrecking policies.  How the states compare  Governor Jared Polis recently signed a $46.8 billion state budget, an almost 7 percent increase over last year’s $43.9 billion in spending, this despite legislators’ constant catastrophizing about Colorado’s “budget shortfall.”  That amounts to approximately $7,800 for every Color...
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Property taxes up, TABOR refunds nearly gone: El Paso County data reveals the real cost of Colorado’s tax system
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Property taxes up, TABOR refunds nearly gone: El Paso County data reveals the real cost of Colorado’s tax system

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice The first-half property tax payment is due every year by the end of February. The number on the front has gone up again. Somewhere near the bottom, a small credit appears: "TABOR credit."  El Paso County Assessor Mark Flutcher provided RMV with six years of certified tax data for two El Paso County properties: one in downtown Colorado Springs, one in Lorson Ranch, a newer subdivision south of the city.  The numbers show what has happened to Colorado homeowners.  The property tax bill for the downtown home rose from $1,165.61 in 2022 to $1,472.82 in 2025. The Lorson Ranch bill went from $3,369.39 to $4,933.31 over the same period.  The TABOR credit on both statements, which peaked a...
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If Polis vetoed it, maybe Colorado should take a closer look
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

If Polis vetoed it, maybe Colorado should take a closer look

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I guess we can’t say Polis never vetoes, it’s just rare. I wanted to share a couple of articles (one by Complete Colorado linked first below and the second by CPR) detailing some vetoes from Governor Polis this legislative session. I’ll leave it to you to poke around in either or both articles, but there are a couple of notable things I wanted to mention. There are some non-surprises such as modifications to the Labor Peace Act. No one figured he’d sign it; he’s been a vocal opponent of such efforts. The legislative Democrats are just biding their time for the next governor anyway. There was one that is an update to an earlier post. HB26-1418 would have put a fee on video game transactions to provide m...
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