We called it!
Well, pretty much everyone called it. Colorado is having a special legislative session to balance its checkbook to make up for Trump’s budget cuts. Don’t ask questions if you see me pulling my hair out.
These cuts put states on the line for paying AND/OR cutting programs the federal government won’t fund. The problem? Since our state is still broke, the only solution is a continuation of more cuts that will harm Coloradans.
The people of Colorado deserve better than this, and we have the power to rewrite our tax code. We’ll never be able to balance the budget without closing tax loop holes for the wealthy and passing a graduated income tax (which inevitably means TABOR reform) to demand the ultra-wealthy invest back into our state and defend ourselves from the federal government’s attacks on our livelihoods.
Take action now to get legislators talking about reforming TABOR’s inequities.
WTF is this special session you speak of?
Every year, the normal legislative session (when state lawmakers pass policies) goes from January through May. But the Governor has the power to call for an extra session in the other months to address emergencies.
We passed our state budget in April (remember the earlier $1 billion dollar hole?!) but since the federal cuts passed in July, we have to go back and balance the checkbook. We still don’t have any money in the state budget to make up for what the feds cut, which means we will be cutting future spending from programs that people rely on to live.
Colorado Public Radio reported that this special session will start on Aug. 21.
WTF is a graduated income tax, and how will it solve our budget crisis?
We dream of a graduated income tax system that would cut taxes for anyone making under $500k each year. For top earners, we want tax rates to increase as their income increases.
TABOR, or the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, currently creates a regressive tax system, where the middle class pays a third more of their income in taxes than the top 5% of earners. The only rights TABOR is protecting right now are billionaires’, and it’s the reason we cannot fully fund the things we care about.
Once we reform our tax code, we can all live our daily lives without worrying about health insurance, affording groceries, and deciding if we can afford to live in Colorado. We can fully fund education and fix all of the potholes on our roads (and let me tell you, the 1% hate potholes just as much as we do… and their cars are more expensive to fix).
Our tax code needs to be decided by the people, especially the 99% of us who have been shouldering the burden for decades. We deserve to thrive, not just survive.