Federal tax cuts are a win-win for Colorado

Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis is attempting to pull the rug out from under hardworking Coloradans by repealing the recent federal tax reform. His “Students Over Special Interests Act” supposedly would use the money from the tax cut to cancel federal student loan debt. Yet, it would raise Coloradans’ federal taxes and slash Colorado’s state budget revenue. That’s because the tax reform could add as much as $300 million to Colorado’s state budget, according to the Colorado Fiscal Institute.

As Linda Gorman with the non-partisan think tank The Independence Institute explained, the recent tax cuts help individual Coloradans. But these tax cuts help our state collectively too. Initial estimates from the Colorado Legislative Council staff suggest these federal tax cuts will increase Colorado tax revenues by over $4 billion over the next seven years.

The increased state revenue could finance a tremendous amount of projects that improve the lives of all Coloradans. We could add a lane to I-25 in each direction from Broomfield to Fort Collins and pay for over five years of state infrastructure maintenance. Xcel Energy Inc. is even trimming energy bills in Colorado by an estimated $20 million a year as a result of the tax reform. The economic activity that could result from these benefits, besides the improved quality of life, will create jobs, grow the state’s economy even further than these projections, and decrease the cost of living.

There are rational arguments that Democrats may use against the tax cuts, but Polis isn’t using them. Even House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., while critical of the overall tax plan, introduced a proposal that would eliminate a tax cut only for the top 1 percent of earners.

The recently passed tax cuts are a win-win for both individual Coloradans and the state as a whole. Polis’ bill, though, is a lose-lose for Coloradans, and it should cost him credibility and Coloradans’ trust.

Jonathan LockwoodPortland, Oregon

(The author, a Colorado native and communications consultant, is former press secretary for the Colorado House Republicans and campaigned for businessman Eric Weissmann in his bid to unseat Jared Polis in 2012.)

Rein in rates for natural gas

Just read Kelly Sloan’s May 25 column,  “A federal tax cut begets – at last – a local utility rate cut.” Perhaps he can follow up with an article discussing Colorado Natural Gas’s requested rate increases for their mountain region customers. I just received a notice in the mail indicating they requested an increase to the monthly connection fee from $14 to $25 per month.

Thanks for the great reporting!

Randall ProughBailey

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