I am a tireless supporter of TABOR. In fact, seems like everyone is this year, even the Democrats. Colorado families will get $1500 of their hard earned dollars back in a TABOR refund. This is because of the hard fight we bring to budget discussions and the pressure to keep government in check. 

One of the foundational considerations for Republicans is that government does have a job to do but it should be limited and efficient. The taxes that the citizens pay should always be considered as the fair cost of providing the service that only government can provide. As Larimer County Commissioner Steve Johnson used to say, “Government should only do what you cannot find in the yellow pages.” Colorado is fortunate to have the Taxpayers Bill of Rights enshrined in Article X of the State Constitution. That gives the authority to the voters to approve tax increases. What we have seen in recent years, however, is a game of words. What were once “taxes” are now called “fees” and there seems to be no end to them in the last several years. There are now “fees” on your Amazon deliveries, on your Uber rides and when someone delivers food from GrubHub. There was an increase to the gas “tax” but it was specifically called a “fee” to get around the voters consent until the Governor made a little mistake in a press conference and talked about delaying that “tax”. Words matter and playing tricksy with the will of the voters is never ok. The State Constitution makes it very clear that government must ascertain the consent of the voters to raise their taxes. It is only proper for the financing of the public institutions to be this kind of an agreement between the people and their government.