TABOR lawsuit fails to gain traction in Colorado
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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.
- "We need to start having these real, honest conversations on how our fiscal policy is, in fact, bad for Colorado," the resolution's prime sponsor Rep. Lorena Garcia told reporters.