Colorado's Democratic Nominee for Governor Breaks With His Party on Graduated Income Tax

Colorado's Democratic Nominee for Governor Breaks With His Party on Graduated Income Tax

A frontrunner's late break, hours after the courts cleared the ballot

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, the Democratic nominee for governor, announced on the evening of October 30 that he opposes Amendment 87, the graduated income tax question on the November 3 ballot. Weiser had refused for weeks to take a position, citing pending litigation over whether the measure belonged on the ballot in a case his own office was involved in. Hours after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on October 30 that the question stays on the ballot and votes will be counted, he made his opposition public.

Lawsuit ends, clearing the way for a position

The ballot fight turned on a challenge to the petition signatures behind the measure. On October 21, a Denver District Court judge dismissed the lawsuit seeking to throw out the signatures, and on October 30 the state Supreme Court affirmed that order in a short unsigned ruling, with a full opinion to follow. Supporters noted that courts had twice upheld the signatures of more than 130,000 voters. The ruling removed the reason Weiser had given for staying silent, and he issued his statement the same evening.

Six brackets, a $500,000 dividing line, and $2 billion a year

Amendment 87 would scrap the flat-rate requirement in the state constitution — currently a flat 4.4% for everyone — and write a six-tier marginal rate schedule into state law: 3.7% on the first $25,000 of income, 4.2% on income from $25,001 to $100,000, 4.4% on income from $100,001 to $500,000, 7.4% on income from $500,001 to $750,000, 7.9% on income from $750,001 to $1 million, and 8.4% on income above $1 million. The $500,000 mark is the dividing line: households and businesses above it pay more, those below it pay less. Backers estimate the change would raise about $2 billion a year for healthcare, K-12 education, and childcare.

A few hundred saved at the bottom, tens of thousands more at the top

State analysts estimate taxpayers earning under about $500,000 would pay up to $325 less per year — someone earning $25,000 would save about $175. Above the line the burden climbs: a taxpayer earning $550,000 would owe about $25,375, about $1,175 more than today, while one earning $2 million would owe about $143,925 versus $88,000 now, about $55,925 more. Supporters say more than 95% of Coloradans would get a tax cut; conservative and business opponents argue the top rates would hurt the economy and cost jobs.

Two objections: a $600 million collision and an unclear spending plan

Weiser stressed that he favors a progressive income tax in principle but called Amendment 87 the wrong vehicle, giving two reasons. First, he warned of a collision with Proposition 136, a rival measure that would cap the income tax at the current 4.4%: if voters pass both, the state could face a roughly $600 million hole in the budget, harming the very people Amendment 87 aims to help. He said he firmly opposes Proposition 136 as well. Second, he said a revenue increase must come with a clear picture of how the money will be spent, which the amendment lacks. He pledged that if it passes he will implement it effectively, and if not, he will as governor build support for a better-designed progressive tax measure.

A bipartisan wall of opposition days before November 3

Weiser now stands alongside his rivals on this question: Republican nominee Victor Marx and independent Greg Lopez both oppose Amendment 87. If approved, the measure would be one of the biggest changes to the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights since voters added it to the constitution in 1992. Both tax measures need only a simple majority to pass, and if both pass, the legislature or a court would have to resolve the conflict. Weiser, heavily favored to win the governorship on November 3, has now put his name on the opposition days before voters decide.