Stand up for TABOR

Dear Editor:

Taxpayers are again under assault in Colorado. A group of 33 people recently filed a lawsuit in federal court to try to declare the voter-approved Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) provision in the Colorado Constitution unconstitutional.

TABOR, which limits the growth of government and requires that all tax increases be voted on by the citizens rather than just pushed through a legislative body in the dark of night, has been the single-most important law that has protected Colorado from an even worse financial crisis. As other states such as New York have hit budget shortfalls, their legislatures passed massive tax increases on everything from cell phone usage to professional sporting events. Colorado’s TABOR provision is designed to prevent such abuse by over-spending politicians.

The group of tax and spenders that have filed the lawsuit will stop at nothing to get more money out of your pocket. Their argument, as laughable as it may seem, is that TABOR limits the legislature’s power in violation of the U.S. Constitutional guarantee that states have a “republican” government, in which the authority to govern is given to elected officials. Never mind they don’t make the same argument that Amendment 23, which requires the legislature to increase spending on K-12 education every year, doesn’t also violate the Constitution. They let that one slide because it takes more of your hard earned money and gives them more to spend. Another interesting aspect is that 24 of the 33 are from the Denver/Boulder area. Eight of the remaining nine are from Colorado Springs or Pueblo. They’d like to raise taxes all over the state so they have more to spend in the big cities on the Front Range.

Attorney General John Suthers is expected to defend TABOR in federal court – but we need to make sure that he knows how we feel. Please take a moment to send an email, write a letter or make a phone call to AG Suthers’ office expressing your support of his efforts to defend Colorado’s TABOR provision.

Hal Brown

Americans for Prosperity, Collegiate Peaks area director