DAY ONE: Urgency Missing In Colorado's Special Session
Today marks the opening of Colorado's special legislative session which was called by Governor Jared Polis to address the state's dire need for tax relief.
The problem is, for all the urgency Colorado legislators expressed in the words during the opening hours of the “extraordinary” special session, none of that same urgency has appeared in their actions or in their proposed legislation.
Even House Speaker Julie McCluskie’s opening remarks to the Colorado House on November 17th are disingenuous as she calls for bipartisan support for “urgent” legislation during this “extraordinary” special session.
The truth is: Nothing being proposed during this expensive three-day special session couldn’t have been accomplished during last session. The only reason it wasn’t was – Democrats and Governor Polis wanted TABOR refund dollars to backfill their mistakes.
Even today, during open remarks, Democrats are proposing backfills with a TABOR magic show that will likely end with a court challenge.
Which again begs the question, why can’t Democrats leave taxpayer refunds alone? They truly can’t help themselves.
Despite promising to provide the maximum amount of tax relief possible, Democratic leaders are introducing a limited, one-year property tax relief package that aligns with Proposition HH, which was rejected by voters in this month's election by a 20-percentage point margin.
The proposed legislation only offers relief for residential properties, with no breaks for commercial properties. It increases state spending on rental assistance, but this doesn't address the root problem of high property taxes.
House Minority Leader Mike Lynch.
According to House Minority Leader Mike Lynch, this is all just one big math problem. But the proposed solutions only target those who need it the most while protecting funding for schools and communities.
Governor Polis has expressed support for tapping into surplus money and the state's reserves to provide larger tax relief. However, Democratic leaders reject this idea as "irresponsible."
In addition to the property tax relief, Democrats will also push for an increase in the earned-income tax credit for low-income residents and a legislation to issue flat TABOR refunds to all taxpayers in the spring.
This means lower-income taxpayers will receive a larger proportional rebate compared to higher earners, even though they already receive more under current law.
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Overall, the special session appears to be more of a political show than a genuine effort to provide much-needed tax relief to Colorado residents. And with the refusal to use available reserves, it seems that Democrats would rather play budget games than truly help those in need.