This November, Colorado voters will be asked to weigh school funding against Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) refunds, after Democratic lawmakers passed a bill early Tuesday morning to put the question on the statewide ballot.
The proposal will ask voters to significantly increase school funding by letting the state keep more tax revenue instead of giving it back to taxpayers as TABOR refunds. If it wins at the ballot box, the proposal would start to reverse what backers describe as a decades-long pattern of draining money from Colorado schools.
“Colorado’s public schools are chronically underfunded, leaving students in overcrowded classrooms, stretching educators thin and limiting the programs and supports that kids need to thrive,” said Democratic Rep. Meghan Lukens of Steamboat Springs, one of the bill’s main sponsors. “We cannot continue asking our schools or the educators who hold them together to do more with less.”
Opponents dismissed it as a back-door attack on TABOR.
“This bill is about control,” said Republican Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer of Weld County. “It’s about whether hard-working Coloradans keep more of what they earned or whether politicians at the Capitol get a permanent blank check.”
Republican Sen. John Carson of Douglas County said it would amount to “the largest tax increase in Colorado history.”
“A measure of this nature is going to further damage the Colorado economy and its ability to create jobs,” Carson said.
Last year, an independent study commissioned by the state’s education department found that Colorado needs to increase school funding by $4,600 a year per student to achieve statewide educational goals. That amounts to about a $4 billion annual shortfall on education spending.
Supporters of the initiative blame Colorado’s constitutionally mandated TABOR spending cap, which limits how much tax revenue the state is allowed to keep each year.
“Colorado Democrats have worked tirelessly to increase funding to our K-12 schools,” said Democratic House Assistant Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, another main sponsor. “But TABOR forces us to ration spending on core priorities. This bill allows Coloradans to weigh in and decide if they want to drive more funding to their local schools.”
The proposal would let the state keep a revenue above the TABOR cap each year — up to $4.6 billion, or enough to double current education spending — and it specifies a tiered system for how the state would spend those funds. The first priority would be increasing K-12 funding by 2% each year for the next ten years, to boost teacher pay and retention, lower class sizes and expand career and technical education.
In years when the surplus is big enough, additional money would be spent on services for students with disabilities, and other child-centric programs, including full-day preschool.
The measure is expected to increase K-12 spending by roughly $500 million over the next two years, although the precise amount will vary depending on economic conditions.
Opponents say the money belongs to taxpayers and that the proposed ballot language is misleading because it doesn’t spell out that it would cut into TABOR refunds.
“The government is already collecting more revenue than ever,” said Brandon Wark, a blogger and former Greeley City Council candidate associated with Libertarian organizations, who testified against the bill at a committee hearing at the Capitol. “Colorado schools are losing students. This bill is not only irresponsible and dishonest, but it is a massive increase in government — pulling a billion dollars out of the economy each year.”
Historically, TABOR has been popular with voters. Several past ballot measures seeking to increase the spending cap have failed, and according to a recent poll from the Colorado Polling Institute, which included likely voters from across the political spectrum, more than 60% had a favorable view of it.
But backers of the initiative have done their own polling, which they say suggests the measure stands a good chance of winning voter approval. They say the specificity of the proposal — all the funds must be spent to support children and education — and the built-in accountability of required audits it includes will be enough to overcome voter hesitation.
But even if voters approve the ballot proposal, it likely wouldn’t have a meaningful impact in the short term. Current economic projections expect the TABOR surplus will be modest over the next couple of years, which will limit the amount of money available for increased school spending.
“It’s not an immediate solution,” said Democratic Sen. Cathy Kipp of Fort Collins, another sponsor. “But I think long-term it will help us.”
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