In Colorado, our big problem isn’t Russia. It is Vermont.

Twice in less than a week, Vermont socialists have lectured Coloradans on how they should vote. If enough people take their advice, the result will be a long-term regional recession and financial devastation for public schools, fire departments, law enforcement and more.

Leading Democrats – namely Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Jared Polis – should denounce out-of-staters for trying to influence Colorado outcomes.

Our first taste of Vermont meddling came a week ago Saturday, when radical environmentalist Bill McKibben encouraged a small gathering in Colorado Springs to pass Proposition 112.

He vowed to celebrate back home on election night, drinking a Fat Tire 2,000 miles from the political wreckage.

Prop 112 would impose 2,500-foot setbacks on oil and gas operations, forbidding production on most Colorado land. Passage means the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in revenues for public schools over time.

Hickenlooper and Polis each oppose Prop 112 because they live here and are sane. They should invite McKibben to leave, sending him off with a case of Bump It On Ale from Hickenlooper-founded Phantom Canyon Brewery.

Things got crazier Wednesday when Vermont Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders popped into Boulder and Fort Collins to endorse Polis for governor – and Amendment 73 – after berating superrich Americans like Polis.

Here’s the big problem with Sen. Sanders endorsing Polis and Amendment 73: Polis opposes 73, a soak-the-middle-class-and-rich tax increase that will purportedly help classrooms, teachers and schoolchildren. The poorly written measure would allow politicians to misuse the proceeds, which they would likely do.

The top tax rate in 73 nearly matches the top rate in Vermont, which has among the country’s worst economies and the eighth slowest wage growth of all 50 states. Colorado has the best economy in the country, as ranked this year by U.S. News & World Report. Bernie wants us more like Vermont.

If 73 passes, expect an abrupt halt to executives moving good companies to Colorado that provide high-wage jobs. They won’t want to live here under the law’s oppressive multitiered tax brackets that confiscate the rewards of success. We can expect some of our best and brightest professionals to leave Colorado for good.

The Gazette’s editorial board discussed this dilemma recently with our longtime friend Hickenlooper, a likely 2020 presidential candidate, during a 90-minute meeting about a variety of topics.

“I have a lot of very highly compensated people whose taxes would go up dramatically,” Hickenlooper told us, regarding 73. “The ones I know wouldn’t leave Colorado. They’ll bitch, and they’d put more money into political campaigns for sure, but they wouldn’t leave.”

“But would they have come here?” a board member asked. “Who won’t come here?”

“I think that’s fair,” Hickenlooper responded.

The governor would not have written Amendment 73 as is, and said he could publicly support the measure only if “it was a bit more modest.”

“So you are against it?” The Gazette asked.

“I’m trying to figure out whether I am going to come out against it,” the governor said. “It’s hard to come out against it when you have made your career lobbying to pay teachers more.”

We discussed with Hickenlooper our shared concern about low wages for teachers, but explained Amendment 73 is so poorly written it will starve fire districts, police departments, and all assortment of local tax-funded services. It does so by carelessly tweaking property tax assessments, as explained by county assessors, police chiefs, mayors and more.

“If you find out that’s true, does that move the needle to where Gov. Hickenlooper says don’t vote for this thing?” a board member asked.

“Probably,” the governor said.

The board encouraged Hickenlooper to contact Larimer County Assessor Steve Miller, who first discovered the math that proves Amendment 73 would choke local governments. Last we checked, the governor and assessor had not talked.

For anyone paying attention, this should be the scariest election in decades. Not because of the governor’s race, or any other statewide contests for political office. None of the candidates are monsters.

We stand on the brink of an economic downfall because of multiple amateur policies proposals that could pass without the scrutiny of legislative process. They are promoted by far-left activists who won’t live with the fallout. They should stay in socialist Bernie’s Vermont and stay out of our elections.