While the 2024 legislative session will close in less than 36 hours, we are still waiting on a property tax relief bill. After the resounding defeat of Prop HH at the ballot box last November, and the lackluster special session specifically called to remedy property tax increases, we still don't have a lasting resolution. Sure, we passed bills to raise taxes...sorry, fees, but we still haven't had a bill passed that provides tax relief. Our legislators don't prioritize money staying in our pockets, only going out.
Next week's newsletter will recap the legislation passed this session and what we should look for next session. Remember: bad ideas don't die; they reinvent themselves.
With less than 36 hours to go until sine die, the Colorado General Assembly still has dozens of bills to wade through, making it likely that several policy priorities will be left on the cutting room floor. Unfortunately, a few bad energy bills escaped that fate and are now on their way to Governor Polis’s desk for signing.
Senate Bill 230 received final passage on Monday. This extremely cynical bill will impose new per-barrel fees on oil and gas production in the state beginning in 2025. This fee (read tax designed to circumvent the democratic process required by TABOR) will be used to help pay for state transit projects, including the boondoggle-in-waiting that is Front Range Passenger Rail. In exchange, consumers get more expensive energy and a less competitive extraction industry as smaller producers are saddled with costs they are less able to bear than the oil majors.
Keep in mind that this same legislative body was attempting to put the oil and gas industry out of business for good less than two months ago. Now, in a move that would make Don Corleone blush, the state’s progressive majority has agreed to pause those efforts in exchange for the industry’s protection payments fee revenue.
Senate Bill 218 also passed on Monday. This bill creates a new legislative mandate for Xcel Energy to make extensive and expensive upgrades to its distribution system to support the progressive majority’s goals of 100% electric vehicles and home heating. Those upgrades will be funded on the backs of captive ratepayers, something the bill’s sponsors openly admitted after introducing it. To learn more about how this bill stands to enrich Xcel and raise your energy bills, be sure to read this new op-ed from Independence Institute’s Amy Cooke.
In Complete Colorado, Ari Armstrong takes a look at legal liability in Colorado.
Dave Larison pens a guest op-ed that makes the case for Front Range residents to reject the latest passenger rail tax.
With less than 36 hours to go in the legislative session, a piece of good policy looks destined to make it into law.
Senate Bill 228, which has the backing of Governor Polis and enjoys bipartisan sponsorship, would reinstate income tax rate reductions as a viable TABOR refund mechanism for the next 10 years.
The size of the tax cuts would vary based on the state’s TABOR surplus totals from year to year, but it is projected to effectively cut the income tax rate from 4.4% to 4.25% when the surplus is greater than $1.5 billion, as it is currently. That translates into a tax cut of more than $480 million in the 2025 tax year.
While it would not create a permanent tax cut of the kind Independence Institute has successfully achieved at the ballot in past years, its basic mechanism of using the TABOR surplus to buy down the income tax rate is one the Fiscal Policy Center has championed for years. It is a good step in the right direction on the state’s eventual path to zero income tax.
SB 228 cleared the state Senate Monday and appears on its way to passage in the House.
Unfortunately, it isn’t all good news under the gold dome. A slew of additional bills remain under consideration by lawmakers that would draw substantially from the TABOR surplus to create new tax credits. House Bills 1311, and 1134 alone are projected to draw nearly $1 billion per year from future surplus dollars. The amount of TABOR money that would be diverted for these and similar measures risks reducing, or even canceling out, the new tax cuts that would be created by Senate Bill 228.
The Governor and SB 228’s sponsors were right to push for broad-based tax relief. Hopefully, they don’t undermine that progress before time runs out.
Last week Kathleen Chandler attended an event in Larimer County. Over 200 people engaged in the Citizen Involvement Project class. It was well received. Many learned how to get involved and why partnering with the Independence Institute can help the citizens navigate the many policy decisions in Larimer County.
Larimer County citizens want to put a ballot measure out this fall changing the county charter to home rule. This is a big change and will allow the citizens the right to petition their county government. The moral of the story: understand your local government and get involved! Connect with Kathleen Chandler for more information.
Podcasts *Available on all major platforms*
Did you know 46% of the voters in Colorado are unaffiliated? Have you ever wondered why? Hear from the experts at Independence Institute talk about the issues important to Colorado and how to bring some sanity to this increasingly leftist state.
Devil's Advocate with Jon Caldara is a current events show not to be missed. Each week it features lively - and sometimes heated - debates between elected officials, journalists, activists, concerned citizens, subject-matter experts, and hard-pressing host Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute. Jon is not afraid to express his "free-market" views, and his guests are not afraid to take on those opinions. It all makes for an informative, lively public affairs program.
This podcast includes several series of commentaries about the Constitution. Each series will cover a different aspect of the document. This series thumbnails the lives of 14 American Founders and their specific contributions to the Constitution. It covers both well-known Founders, such as James Madison, and those who are lesser known, but who exercised an out-sized influence.
PowerGab focuses on unique energy issues facing Colorado. Hosted by Amy Cook, Independence Institute's Energy and Environmental Policy Center Director, and Jake Fogleman, Director of Policy, PowerGab tackles the complexities of energy policy and solutions for a broad audience to educate and illuminate all while having a few laughs along the way.
It’s Teacher Appreciation Week! The Education Policy Center supports teachers by advocating for paycheck protection, informing them of their professional membership options, educating school board members about collective bargaining reforms that benefit teachers, and promoting school choice, which allows teachers to choose a school that matches their philosophy of education. Also, our K-12 Policy Roundtable supports future teachers while they are university students studying to become educators.
We use numerous avenues to support teachers. Every fall, we run a social media campaign to inform union-member teachers of how they can receive a refund after the union takes their hard-earned income out of their paychecks and channels it into campaign coffers of candidates whom all teachers may not support. Our IndependentTeachers.org website provides teachers with information about refunds and their membership options, like PACE, an alternative to the union. We published the Education Labor Handbook: A Guide to Collective Bargaining in Colorado, which includes several pro-teacher reforms, including allowing teachers to choose who represents them during a dispute. Our SchoolChoiceforKids.org website assists teachers in learning about the school programming in all the private and public schools in the state. We partner with Colorado Christian University’s Undergraduate Education Department by going into classrooms to discuss both sides of controversial education policy issues to equip students better when they enter the politically charged K-12 education environment.
If you know a teacher, please tell them they are appreciated and point them to the Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center.
The Regional Transportation District, RTD, is one of the largest governments in the state of Colorado, so of course the state legislature wants to rip away its elected board so they can place their minions in control. This doesn't sit well with Kathleen Chandler, who runs the Citizens Involvement Project at Independence Institute.
On this episode of PowerGab, Amy Cooke, Director of Energy and Environmental Policy, and Jake Fogleman, Director of Policy, find out the real costs of Colorado's migration to renewable energy. To say it is more expensive than what was promised is the understatement of the century.
Upcoming Events
NEXT CLASS Date: Thursday, June 27, 2024 Time: 5:00pm – 7:30pm
Location: Koelbel Library 5955 South Holly Street Denver, CO 80121 Click here to register
We will be whining about session bills and enjoying a wine pairing/tasting with a selection of appetizers. Contact Harry Paul for more information.
Date: Thursday, May 16th, 2024 Time: 5:00pm - 8:00pm Location: Independence Institute 727 East 16th Avenue Denver, CO 80203
