Colorado taxpayers recently received great news: our economy has rebounded to the point that state tax revenues are significantly higher than projected. That not only ensures ample funding for budget priorities, it also means that under the state constitution, citizens are due a tax rebate. Gov. Jared Polis and lawmakers in our state should make sure they receive it.

Last month, state legislative budget experts released data on our improved fiscal situation. For the current fiscal year, tax collections are nearly 12% higher than a year ago, and the General Fund will end the term with an ample reserve – $1.9 billion above the constitutional cap. For the next budgetary year, an additional revenue increase of nearly 21% is expected.

One state senator recently described what that means in practice: “In a typical year we might have $300 million or $400 million of discretionary spending decisions to make. This year we basically have $4 billion.”

For workers in our state who’ve gotten accustomed to the constant call to absorb new tax increases, this is a welcomed change. And you might think any lawmaker would be content with this unexpected inflow of funds to allocate. But despite a gusher of our tax dollars, Democrats on the Joint Budget Committee have signaled they may try to “rearrange” state funds to reduce or eliminate those taxpayer rebates.

That would be a stunning slap in the face to working families who are still trying to deal with the effects of the ongoing pandemic. People have lost jobs and income. Businesses have shuttered for good. Education has become unpredictable and costly, as families have struggled to adapt to schools that shift operating status with little warning.

The toll has been especially severe on the Hispanic community. More than half of Colorado’s Latino families report having had a hard time paying bills during the pandemic. And nearly half say they’ve lost a family member or friend to coronavirus.

Under the Colorado constitution, they at least can count on a small tax refund. The voter-approved Taxpayer Bill of Rights amendment sets a clear limit to the amount of revenue state legislators may keep. Beyond that limit, the surplus must be refunded to the workers who pay the bills.

People can anticipate receiving rebates that total as much as $2 billion annually over the next few years, with hundreds of dollars returned to individuals and families each year, allocated according to income and filing status. They can expect those rebates unless lawmakers suddenly change the rules.

Knowing that the state government has far greater resources than anticipated, people should be entitled to the opportunity to use their earnings how they see fit. Maybe it will go toward relaunching a small business they were forced to close. Maybe it will buy textbooks, or pay for medical care that was skipped, or go to college savings. Keeping those dollars in the hands of private citizens is not only the legal and fair thing to do, it will also help revive an economy that is still struggling.

Colorado taxpayers deserve to receive the refund that our state’s constitution provides them, and lawmakers would be wrong to use chicanery and legislative tricks to deny it. Polis and leaders in the state Senate and House of Representatives should make clear that they will not try to evade constitutional guarantees in place for decades. That’s the right thing to do, and working families who have struggled through the pandemic are entitled to it.

Jesse Mallory is state director of Americans for Prosperity-Colorado. Angel Merlos is strategic director for The LIBRE Initiative-Colorado.