{"id":19097,"date":"2019-10-06T11:03:18","date_gmt":"2019-10-06T17:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=60681"},"modified":"2019-10-06T11:03:18","modified_gmt":"2019-10-06T17:03:18","slug":"colorado-proposition-cc-budget-relief-or-a-blank-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/colorado-proposition-cc-budget-relief-or-a-blank-check\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Proposition CC: budget relief or a blank check?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Proposition CC would exempt the state government from one of the requirements of the TABOR amendment, which limits tax and spending increases across state and local governments. TABOR also requires voter approval for any tax increases.<\/strong>
Andy Cross, The Denver Post<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

EDWARDS \u2014 There are only two statewide ballot issues this year, both of which are asking voters for more money. One is relatively simple; the other isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The Vail Symposium and Vail Valley Partnership on Thursday held a presentation that focused on three of the state\u2019s sometimes-conflicting constitutional amendments \u2014 1982\u2019s Gallagher amendment, 1992\u2019s Taxpayers Bill of Rights amendment, or TABOR, and 2000\u2019s Amendment 23, which mandates school funding.<\/p>\n

The session focused in large part on the complicated issue, Proposition CC.<\/p>\n

That proposition would exempt the state government from one of the requirements of the TABOR amendment, which limits tax and spending increases across state and local governments. TABOR also requires voter approval for any tax increases.<\/p>\n

According to the amendment, revenue collected in excess of its limits must be returned to voters. At the state level, revenue only occasionally exceeds TABOR limits. When it does, those refunds \u2014 often $50 or less per taxpayer \u2014 are generally given as credits on the following year\u2019s taxes.<\/p>\n

Keeping the money<\/h3>\n

Proposition CC would allow the state government to keep that money and put it equally into three pots: Public schools, higher education and transportation.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s session speakers included Scott Chase, who spoke in favor<\/a> of the ballot measure, and Luke Ragland, who is opposed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both had detailed slide shows to make their cases.<\/p>\n

Chase called TABOR one of the \u201cmost restrictive government spending limits in the country.\u201d He added that the proposition is a chance to address funding shortages brought about by the fact that when revenues shrink due to economic downturns, TABOR\u2019s limits prevent revenues from matching economic growth.<\/p>\n

And, he said, Proposition CC is offered in the spirit of TABOR, since voters will have the chance to remove the amendment\u2019s revenue limits.<\/p>\n

Since TABOR was passed, voters in most of the state\u2019s school districts, counties and towns have passed similar measures to Proposition CC. In fact, 96% of the state\u2019s school districts have asked for, and received, voter permission to keep revenue in excess of TABOR limits.<\/p>\n

If voters pass Proposition CC, Chase said state revenue can grow at the same rate as the economy does.<\/p>\n

Fast-growing spending<\/h3>\n

Ragland countered that Colorado\u2019s budget over the past decade has grown by an average of $1.35 billion per year. In fact, he said, only North Dakota\u2019s state spending has grown faster than Colorado\u2019s through 2018. Spending in half of the 50 states is lower than it was in 2008.<\/p>\n

Ragland noted that previous ballot issues asking for relief from TABOR limits were temporary. Proposition CC is permanent.<\/p>\n

And, he added, while Proposition CC\u2019s spending is defined in the ballot language, it\u2019s a law, not a constitutional amendment. \u201cThe (state) legislature always has the authority to change statutes,\u201d Ragland said.<\/p>\n

Both Chase and Ragland acknowledged the other made good points in parts of their presentations.<\/p>\n

But, Chase said, Proposition CC opponents are making \u201cthe perfect the enemy of the good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ragland noted that while Proposition CC isn\u2019t technically a tax increase, it does take as much as $1.7 billion next year out of the state\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

One audience member asked how Colorado\u2019s state spending grew as fast as it has over the past decade.<\/p>\n

Fees, Ragland responded. While TABOR requires voter approval of all tax increases, it does allow fee increases.<\/p>\n

Chased noted that during many of the years the state\u2019s spending grew, Republicans controlled at least one house of the legislature.<\/p>\n

One audience member noted that Proposition CC seems \u201clike a small band-aid for a large wound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chase responded that Proposition CC can help state spending recover faster after a downturn. He said the recession that began in 2008 shrunk state revenue while prison populations, Medicaid recipients and schools all required the same amount of money.<\/p>\n

Voters on Nov. 5 will make the ultimate decision who has the better argument.<\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Proposition CC would exempt the state government from one of the requirements of the TABOR amendment, which limits tax and spending increases across state and local governments. TABOR also requires voter approval for any tax increases.Andy Cross, The Denver Post EDWARDS \u2014 There are only two statewide ballot issues this year, both of which are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 19:42:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19097\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}