2015.02.

06 Denver Post Article by John Frank -

With taxpayer refunds in view,

Colorado lawmakers debate
TABOR
By John Frank
The Denver Post
POSTED: 02/06/2015

The last time Coloradans debated the question of refunds came in 2005, when the state
faced massive budget cuts and voters approved a time-out period, known as Referendum C.
The state kept $9.8 billion that would have gone toward tax breaks.
The new era of refunds is adding pressure to once again address TABOR. Democratic Gov.
John Hickenlooper endorsed refunds in his budget plan, but he is emerging as an outspoken
critic of how TABOR works.
Hickenlooper recently disclosed he is working to craft a 2016 measure to address what he
sees as a conflict in the state constitution regarding TABOR spending caps and education
spending mandates. He didn't offer any details of the proposal.
Republican lawmakers support refunds. Democrats want to spend the money if a
community initiative allows it.
Greater Education Colorado, an advocacy organization, just launched the first communitydriven effort, a petition to "Keep the surplus for kids." Addressed to Hickenlooper and
lawmakers, it asks them to support a ballot measure to get voters' permission to keep the
money for education. The organization wants the state to fully fund a constitutional
provision known as Amendment 23 that requires per-pupil spending to increase every year
by at least the rate of inflation.
Lisa Weil, the group's policy director, said the state still owes $890 million to districts, or
roughly $1,000 more per pupil.

This week, Democratic state Sen. Andy Kerr of Lakewood pushed a bill to direct the TABOR
surpluses to education, essentially a trial balloon on the issue.
Kerr's bill would ask voters in 2015 to use excess money to pay for full-day kindergarten
statewide by 2021 and direct the rest toward the education spending gap. It would eliminate
all future TABOR refunds.
"I'm tired of all of us ducking behind the excuse that, 'Well, because of TABOR the
legislature can't do anything about funding schools,' " said Kerr, who is also part of a lawsuit
challenging the validity of the caps.
The legislation drew support from Campaign for a Strong Colorado, a liberal group that
produced a Web video featuring a 4-year-old boy on the 16th Street Mall offering a $20 bill
to strangers and asking, "Do you want this, or can I go to all-day kindergarten?"
Other interests in the discussion for the money include transportation, health care and
economic development. But the business community vital to the success of Referendum C
remains uncommitted.
The revenue projections have "brought this back to the forefront from a discussion
standpoint, but what it means ... is still cloudy," said Tamra Ward, president of Colorado
Concern, a group of influential business leaders.
Gloria Higgins, president of Executives Partnering to Invest in Children, another business
organization, testified on Kerr's bill to encourage the discussion but took no position.
"People are not willing to go out and debate the TABOR logic, so it's hard to make a
decision," she said in an interview.
Jon Caldara, the president of the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank that
advocates for TABOR, said the current conversation is a veiled effort to get rid of the
spending caps.
"I wish they would be honest and say, 'We want a way to weaken or destroy TABOR and put
more money into K-12,' which we put a lot of money into over the last two decades and
hasn't given us any improvement," he said. "I think Colorado families can spend that money
much more wisely than any legislator."
John Frank: 303-954-2409, jfrank@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ByJohnFrank