Colorado Graduated Income Tax Initiative (2020)

Colorado Graduated Income Tax Initiative
Election date November 3, 2020
Topic Taxes
Status Not on the ballot
Type Amendment & Statute	Origin Citizens
List of Colorado measuresColorado Amendment 76Colorado Amendment 77Colorado Amendment BColorado Amendment CColorado Proposition 113Colorado Proposition 114Colorado Proposition 115Colorado Proposition 116Colorado Proposition 117Colorado Proposition 118Colorado Proposition EESubmit

The Colorado Graduated Income Tax Initiative was not on the ballot in Colorado as a combined initiated constitutional amendment and state statute on November 3, 2020.

Measure design

The initiative would have repealed the flat tax and create a graduated income tax rate. The initiative would have resulted in an increase in state revenue. The individual income tax rates under the initiative would have been as follows:

• decreased from 4.63% to 4.58% for income up to $250,000;
• increased from 4.63% to 7% for income from $250,001 to $500,000;
• increased from 4.63% to 7.75% for income from $500,001 to $1,000,000; and
• increased from 4.63% to 8.90% for income over $1,000,000.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title and submission clause for the initiative would have been as follows:

“

SHALL STATE TAXES BE INCREASED $2,000,000,000 ANNUALLY BY AN AMENDMENT TO THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION AND A CHANGE TO THE COLORADO REVISED STATUTES CONCERNING A GRADUATED STATE INCOME TAX FOR ALL INDIVIDUAL TAXPAYERS, INCLUDING JOINT FILERS, ESTATES, AND TRUSTS, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, REPEALING THE CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR A SINGLE RATE INCOME TAX; DECREASING THE INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX RATE FROM 4.63% TO 4.58% FOR INCOME UP TO $250,000, INCREASING THE INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX RATE FROM 4.63% TO 7% FOR INCOME FROM $250,001 TO $500,000, FROM 4.63% TO 7.75% FOR INCOME FROM $500,001 TO $1,000,000, AND FROM 4.63% TO 8.90%FOR INCOME OVER $1,000,000; ANNUALLY ADJUSTING THE INCOME BRACKETS BY THE PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN COLORADO PERSONAL INCOME; ALLOWING THE STATE TO KEEP AND SPEND THE ADDITIONAL TAX REVENUE GENERATED BY THE TAX RATE CHANGES; REQUIRING AT LEAST 50% OF THE ADDITIONAL REVENUE TO BE USED FOR PRESCHOOL THROUGH TWELFTH GRADE PUBLIC EDUCATION AND THE REMAINDER TO BE USED TO ADDRESS THE IMPACTS OF A GROWING POPULATION AND A CHANGING ECONOMY; AND REQUIRING THE CREATION OF A CITIZEN’S OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE TO ASSURE THAT THE ADDITIONAL REVENUE IS USED AS REQUIRED AND A TAX REVIEW COMMISSION TO REPORT ON THE EFFECTS OF THE INCOME TAX RATE STRUCTURE ON OR BEFORE 2031?

”

Full text

The full text of the initiative is available here.

Sponsors

Fair Tax Colorado sponsored the measure.

Path to the ballot

See also: Signature requirements for ballot measures in Colorado and Laws governing the initiative process in Colorado

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

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 versions 183-195 of the initiative on January 24, 2020. Ballot titles were issued for them on February 5, 2020.
• Briggs and Hedges filed versions 251-256 and 267-272 on February 7, 2020. Ballot titles were issued for them on February 19, 2020.
• Version #271 was approved for signature gathering on March 6, 2020.
• Fair Tax Colorado announced on July 31, 2020, that the measure would not qualify for the ballot. The group said, "Even under the best circumstances, qualifying for the Colorado ballot is a difficult task, and a lack of big funders makes it that much harder given today’s emphasis on paid signature gathering. Add a global pandemic and well-funded opponents, and an already-difficult task proves to be even more challenging."
• Changes to Colorado ballot initiative process due to COVID-19: On May 17, 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) signed Executive Order D 2020 065, which authorized the Colorado Secretary of State to establish temporary rules allowing for ballot initiative petitions to be signed through mail and email. The order also 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. Legal challenges were filed against the order, specifically challenging the mail and email signature gathering provisions. Those provisions of the order were ultimately struck down by the Colorado Supreme Court on July 1, 2020, meaning proponents needed to collect signatures in person.

See also

2020 measures

• 2020 ballot measures
• Taxes on the ballot
• 2020 petition deadlines

Colorado

• Colorado ballot measures
• Colorado initiative laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls
• Ballot measure signature costs

External links

• Colorado Secretary of State: Initiative Filings, Agendas & Results
• Initiatives filed with the Legislative Council Staff
• Initiative 271 full text