A Senate panel on Thursday voted along party lines to move forward with a bill that would ask voters for permission to eliminate Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds and redirect those dollars to K-12 public education.

The 6-3 vote in the Senate Finance Committee sends Senate Bill 135 to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further review.

The referral, which would go to voters for the November general election, would allow the state to keep surplus revenue above the current Referendum C cap. That surplus would go into an Excess State Revenue Account, created under the bill, that would direct the dollars to K-12 education.

The funding is tied to the state’s current K-12 education spending.

For example, if the state spends $4.8 billion on K-12 in 2026-27, the amount the state could keep above the Ref C cap would be equal to that amount.

The fiscal analysis for SB 135 said that the state could collect $22.01 billion in general fund revenue, subject to TABOR, in fiscal 2027-28, based on the December 2025 revenue forecast.

That would be about $817 million over the Ref C cap, so the state would keep and spend that money, instead of refunding it to taxpayers. Any dollars over that would go into the Excess State Revenues Account, which would put extra dollars into K-12 education.

The fiscal analysis estimates K-12 schools would get about $200 million more per year over the next 10 years, for a total of about $2 billion more.

After 2036-27, the excess revenue would be unrestricted, meaning the General Assembly could spend it as it sees fit.

Those who testified on SB 135 on Thursday argued against the bill because it takes away TABOR refunds. Those in support said it would help fund higher teacher pay and reduce classroom sizes.

Every public school student in Colorado is underfunded at $4,000 per student, said Kevin Vick, president of the Colorado Education Association.

SB 135 would allow voters to raise the state’s revenue cap and make “meaningful and desperately needed investments in public education without raising taxes or spending a dollar out of their pocket,” he said.

Vick noted that during the years of the budget stabilization factor, roughly 2010 to 2024, schools lost about $10 billion, which he attributed to the revenue cap. While the state’s “debt” to K-12 has now been paid, that still leaves Colorado public schools underfunded by $3 billion to $4 billion, he claimed.

Candice Mozer, who leads the Poudre Education Association, told the committee what it’s like to be in schools struggling to keep teachers and help students.

“It is awful to feel helpless when you see an 8-year-old who just needs a little extra help, and yet there is no one there to deliver it,” Mozer said.

She said she’s sat with colleagues as they cried after losing their position due to funding cuts and recounted when she has to think about telling a student teacher that they might want a “Plan B.”

Mozer said SB 135 “offers a practical way forward that allows Colorado to invest revenue the state already collects into our public schools so we can better support students and the educators who serve them, all without raising taxes.”

Those opposed to the bill claimed the ballot measure would mislead voters.

Education deserves honest funding debates, instead of a policy that redirects taxpayer refunds into permanent government spending, according to Jody Nickerson.

She pointed out that Colorado voters created TABOR to control government growth, but SB 135 steps around that protection.

“There is no voter-friendly transparency in this bill,” she said.

She also took issue with the claim that the measure wouldn’t raise taxes. When the government keeps surplus revenue instead of returning it, that’s not a refund anymore — that’s a tax increase, she told the committee.

Natalie Menten, who represents the TABOR Foundation, took issue with what she claims is the real intent of both the bill and the ballot measure.

The ballot question should clearly disclose that TABOR refunds would be eliminated forever, she told the committee.

Sen. Marc Snyder, D-Colorado Springs, in an exchange with Nickerson, said taxpayers have gotten exactly one TABOR refund check since 2005 — the refunds went out in 2022. In all other years, the money has been refunded through various refund mechanisms, he said.

This bill does not raise taxes, insisted Marlene De La Rose, a member of the Denver Public Schools board. The revenue already exists under the constitution, and SB 135 simply allows voters to decide whether the surplus should be invested in education funding, she said.

She noted the enrollment declines many school districts are facing, noting that her district alone has lost 400 students, the equivalent of one elementary school. She called SB 135 a helpful step forward and not a solution to the state’s K-12 education funding problem.

As for teacher pay, several testified they’re working two or three jobs and cannot afford to live in the communities where they teach.

That included Benjamin Wells, who teaches at Stanley Lake High School. He loves teaching and his students, but he also works two part-time jobs, he said, adding he lives in public housing, while his wife is disabled. One medical crisis could destroy them, he said.

“I wake up at night terrified,” he said, adding he is afraid of potentially choosing between his family’s survival and a career he loves.

A report from the Common Sense Institute from October 2025 identified several major trends in Colorado’s K-12 system, offering a counterpoint to the narrative that schools have been starved. First, enrollment has been declining. Second, student performance had declined, reversing the previous year’s momentum. Third, school funding has, in fact, been trending up by significant amounts.

The report also said that as spending grew — expenditure rose to $18.12 billion in 2024, an all-time high representing an increase of $4.2 billion (30%) since 2019 — the share instruction spending had shrank over the decade from 45.9% in 2014 to 41.6% in 2024.

SB 135 is sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bridges, D-Greenwood Village, who serves as vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins.