Colorado's 2026 ballot is packed with big policy fights
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Colorado voters will decide more than a dozen ballot measures this November, from remaking the state's tax system to banning gender-affirming surgery for minors.
Why it matters: Beyond the candidates, voters will have a direct say on major changes to taxes, immigration, criminal justice and other hot-button issues.
State of play: The marquee measure would scrap Colorado's flat 4.4% income tax in favor of a graduated system that would raise taxes on those making $500,000 or more a year.
- Legislative fiscal analysts estimate the Democratic-led measure would generate an additional $2 billion a year, with the money reserved for education, health care and early child care.
The other side: A countermeasure backed by conservatives would cap the income tax at its current level.
- "The tax cap is the better answer for anyone who believes Colorado should be more affordable for everyone," Michael Fields, president of conservative group Advance Colorado, said in a statement.
Between the lines: Many of this year's initiatives came from conservative advocacy groups using the ballot-box route to advance policies unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
Zoom in: Other ballot measures would:
🚨 Increase the criminal penalties for the possession and sale of fentanyl and other opioids.
👮♂️ Require that state law enforcement officers report to federal authorities when an immigrant in the country illegally is charged with a crime or has a prior felony conviction.
⚖ Elevate human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude to a first-degree felony and impose life in prison without parole if convicted.
⚽️ Prohibit transgender youth from joining sports teams that don't align with their biological sex.
🏥 Ban gender-affirming surgery for minors.
🍳 Create a constitutional right to use natural gas for heating and cooking.
🤓 Require ballot measures be written at an eighth-grade level.
📍Forbid congressional redistricting in between decades.
🎣 Add the right to hunt and fish to the state constitution.
🌲 Divert sales taxes on sporting goods to conservation efforts.
🗳️ Require voters who submit mail ballots to include the last four digits of their Social Security number or driver's license number.
🤑 Increase the cap in the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights to allow the state to retain more money, rather than issue refunds for excess revenue.
What's next: Friday is the deadline for advocates to remove measures from the ballot.