Come January, 30 years will have passed since the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights went into effect. Passed resoundingly by Colorado voters in 1992, for decades it’s been a godsend for taxpayers and served as a stopgap against runaway government.

There’s much to celebrate about TABOR, with its two different yet equally significant protections for Coloradans. It constitutionally mandates a vote of the people on all tax increases (unless legislators call it a “fee”) and caps how much taxpayer money Colorado governments can keep from us.

This is the real reason why Coloradans received our average $750-per-person TABOR refunds earlier this year: TABOR requires it.

At its most fundamental level, the Taxpayers Bill of Rights is a check on state and local government – one which directly addresses taxpayer money that first belongs to Coloradans. TABOR is a way to restrict how much government can sap our economy by returning OUR money back to us. It limits government’s size and growth, and it reminds our leaders that government belongs to the people.

In this way, TABOR directly clarifies the relationship between the People of Colorado and our government – ensuring an important power to the people in fitting with the “deeply independent” tradition of the Westerners who framed Colorado’s Constitution.

The very existence of TABOR restricts government’s ability to take our money and spend it without limit. Consequently, it’s a crucial check and balance intended to promote fiscal responsibility and restrain government power.

Let’s be real: Coloradans are extraordinarily fortunate to have the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Without it, the pending unbridled reign of Democrats under the Golden Dome – notorious for their so-called “ambitious” (insatiable) big-spending programs – might be a lot more troublesome than it is.

As Democrats seek new health care and social programs, propose expansive climate and housing initiatives and take other expensive and wide-ranging actions, TABOR will be there to hold back a lot of it. They will be forced to work within the confines of our sacrosanct taxpayer protections against rampant tax-and-spend policies.

We don’t have to look too far to see how much of an impediment this thing is for Democrats. It really does get in the way of their agenda. I mean, just think about how often they’ve tried taking an axe to TABOR both at the ballot box and in the courts.

In 2019, voters resoundingly rejected Proposition CC, which was put on the ballot directly by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly and thoroughly backed by Gov. Jared Polis. It would have effectively eradicated TABOR – and taken away the refunds of our money that it guarantees.

Voters were wise to decline the blank check that Democrats requested. TABOR forces legislators to come on bended knee to ask the people for our blessing on both raising taxes and overriding spending caps. There is nothing else like it in the country, making it a unique protection which ensures that We the People retain our status as a check and balance on the legislature’s innate desire to tax us more or spend more of our money.

TABOR also maximizes prosperity for Coloradans, letting us keep more money in our own pockets for whatever purpose we feel is best. Finally, it promotes greater government accountability. When elected officials must ask their constituents for permission to do something, it forces them to be more responsive to our needs and wishes.

The mere fact that Polis, State Treasurer Dave Young, Senate President Steve Fenberg and other prominent Democrats found it politically advantageous to contemptuously embrace the amendment and rename the TABOR Refund into the “Colorado Cashback” – just in time for the 2022 elections – shows how much people really like keeping their money. Sometimes, unless you parse Polis’s tax talk, you might even think he’s all-in TABOR and tax cuts.

But what about when the voters won’t go along with you – and you even feel the need to go along with them instead – how about a judge? For years, Democrats challenged TABOR’s constitutionality in federal court, arguing it violates the U.S. Constitution’s “Guarantee Clause” (this provision guarantees “to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government”).

Of course, as I discussed last December, the argument is silly and absurd – one which, if bought by the courts, would inevitably undo the very idea of voter-approved constitutional amendments and ballot initiatives altogether.

Thankfully, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put the kibosh on this legal challenge in 2021, two years after Proposition CC failed to pass voter muster. Yet again, this effort demonstrates the lengths TABOR opponents will go when they can’t win over voters who – let’s be real – love the Taxpayers Bill of Rights.

As we get ready to ring in the New Year, let’s take a moment to celebrate 30 years of Colorado’s unique protection against government overreach. As another new year begins, at least some important things will continue to stand the test of time.

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and host of “The Jimmy Sengenberger Show” Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on News/Talk 710 KNUS. Reach Jimmy online at JimmySengenberger.com or on Twitter @SengCenter.