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Colorado Changes to Tax Policy Initiative (2020)
| Colorado Changes to Tax Policy Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Taxes | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Colorado Changes to Tax Policy Initiative (#179) was not on the ballot in Colorado as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.
The initiative would have amended constitutional tax policy to state that taxpayers "are entitled to a fair and just tax system" and require that each taxpayer shall pay an equal percentage of income in taxes.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title and submission clause for the initiative is below:[1]
| “ | Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning the establishment of constitutional principles to guide the state tax system, and in connection therewith, declaring that taxpayers are entitled to a fair and just tax system; establishing a policy goal that each taxpayer pay the same percentage of income in total state and local taxes; and requiring the tax system to be predictable, flexible, and competitive with other state tax systems and to generate sufficient revenue to fund priorities specified in the amendment?[2] | ” |
Full text
The full text of the initiative is available here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Colorado, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 5 percent of the total number of votes cast for the office of Colorado secretary of state in the preceding general election. For initiated constitutional amendments, signature gathering must be distributed to include signatures equal to 2 percent of the registered voters who live in each of the state's 35 senate districts.
State law provides that petitioners have six months to collect signatures after the ballot language and title are finalized. State statutes require a completed signature petition to be filed three months and three weeks before the election at which the measure would appear on the ballot. The Constitution, however, states that the petition must be filed three months before the election at which the measure would appear. The secretary of state generally lists a date that is three months before the election as the filing deadline.
Constitutional amendments in Colorado require a 55% supermajority vote to be ratified and added to the state constitution. This requirement was added by Amendment 71 of 2016.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 124,632 valid signatures
- Deadline: August 3, 2020[3]
The secretary of state is responsible for signature verification. Verification is conducted through a review of petitions regarding correct form and then a 5 percent random sampling verification. If the sampling projects between 90 percent and 110 percent of required valid signatures, a full check of all signatures is required. If the sampling projects more than 110 percent of the required signatures, the initiative is certified. If less than 90 percent, the initiative fails.
Details about this initiative
- Steve Briggs and Executive Director of the Colorado Fiscal Institute Carol Hedges filed the initiative. A ballot title was issued for it on February 5, 2020.[1]
- Proponents did not submit signatures by the deadline on August 3, 2020.[1]
See also
External links
- Colorado Secretary of State: Initiative Filings, Agendas & Results
- Initiatives filed with the Legislative Council Staff
- Initiative 179 full text
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Colorado Secretary of State, "2019-2020 Initiative Filings, Agendas & Results," accessed February 7, 2020
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ On May 17, 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) signed Executive Order D 2020 065, which temporarily suspended the state law requiring signatures to be submitted six months after ballot language finalization. Under the order, signatures for 2020 Colorado initiatives were due by August 3, 2020.
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