One top-priority bill that was introduced in the 2023 legislative session was SB23-303. This bill, in part, effectively changes the structure of property tax payments to lower the price for homeowners.

This policy was one of the most contentious this legislative session, with the House Republican caucus walking out to avoid taking a final vote on the bill. This policy is also currently facing a court challenge from a group called Advance Colorado that argues this bill violates the state Constitution, which requires ballot initiatives can’t contain more than one subject, also referred to as the single-subject rule.

Prop HH is ridiculous | COUNTERPOINT

So, what is TABOR? We hear about it constantly, and it often drives very contentious reactions from differing voices across the political spectrum. In short, TABOR, or the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, was approved in 1992 and it “allows the state to retain and spend an amount based on the prior fiscal year’s actual revenue or limit, whichever was lower, grown by Colorado inflation and population growth and adjusted for any ‘voter-approved revenue changes.'” Because SB23-303 is asking to reduce and alter the state’s property tax structure, Coloradans are being asked to decide if this is something they would like to see.

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What I would like you to focus on is the language “voter-approved revenue changes.” TABOR so often is cited with the implication that no changes/increases in taxes can happen in Colorado because TABOR is law. What is consistently left out is the fact that changes in our tax policy just need to have the approval of us, the voters. In the case of Proposition HH, it does not say we can’t alter property tax payments to be lower by adjusting our current structure. It simply says voters are the ones to decide.

Whether Proposition HH is approved should ultimately be the choice of the voters and not be stifled by those who disagree with the policy who have the resources and access for legal challenges to silence our vote and decision. For me, limiting our ability to make decisions about our own tax policy by those who disagree with the method is immensely more of a violation of TABOR than if the language violates single-subject. If we are going to continue to live under TABOR, then, frankly, more policy questions should be decided by the people, not those weaponizing Colorado’s constitution because they disagree with the policy.

Lisa LaBriola is a principal at Husch Blackwell Strategies and was a Senate Democrat staffer for close to a decade. She served as chief of staff to former Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman and former Senate President Leroy Garcia. Opinions expressed here are her own and do not reflect the opinions of any other organizations.