Caldara: Government board agrees, Prop HH lies
This is the story of how deviously written the ballot language for the tax increase Proposition HH is, and how normally good public technocrats are too terrified to shine a light on it.
Colorado has a citizen’s initiative process, meaning people like you and I can bring forward ballot questions to get around lawmakers at the Capitol to change state laws. I’ve done this several times, including twice lowering the state income tax.
When I bring an initiative forward, I don’t get to write the summary of it you see on your ballot, the ballot question. Instead, a governmental board of three people, called the Title Board, read my initiative and then create the “ballot title.”
But when the legislature refers a question to the ballot, they get to write its ballot title and don’t have to go through the board process. Meaning they get to lie and omit to tempt you to vote for what they want.
On Prop HH they start by saying, “Shall the state reduce property taxes,” (you had me at hello) and don’t even mention it will rob you of your tax refunds, causing the largest tax increase in Colorado history.
So, I went on a quest to find out what a fairer ballot title for HH would be if the self-serving legislature had to play by the same rules.
I took the language of Senate Bill 303, which created HH, and submitted it as a citizen’s initiative, meaning the Title Board would write a ballot title for it.