Democrat State Representative Sean Camacho recently penned a guest commentary for the Denver Post packed with false claims about Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR.
Camacho argues that TABOR is a “Frankenstein’s monster” that grew beyond its noble intentions and its creators’ ability to contain it, and that it allows for corporate loopholes at the expense of Coloradans. Let’s unpack those claims.
Per TABOR’s language, the constitutional amendment was passed by voters “to reasonably restrain most the growth of government.” It does so by limiting growth of an ever-shrinking portion of the state budget to a modest formula that combines population growth and inflation. TABOR also requires, among other things, voter approval of new or increased taxes.
So, if we take Camacho’s claims seriously–that TABOR has grown beyond that intent–we might conclude that TABOR has prevented Colorado government from reasonable growth, or even shrunk the size and scope of the state.
However, recent research by Independence Institute shows that Camacho’s claim is demonstrably false.
Colorado’s government has actually grown well beyond what was ever intended by TABOR, and voters now have much less direct say in their taxation than when TABOR was passed in 1992.
For example, whereas voters once had a say over two-thirds of the state budget, they now enjoy meaningful consent over only a third of it. Voter-approved general fund revenue continues to grow slowly, while...
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