Because of our cumbersome method for enacting tax increases, Coloradans have developed an undeserved reputation as being “anti-tax.”
Colorado’s Constitution creates many barriers to this state having a tax code where the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share, but recent polling conducted in Colorado by Hart Research and ALG Research on the Biden administration’s economic agenda from nationally recognized research firms shows strong voter support for investing in workers and families by enacting a fairer tax code.
TABOR (the so-called Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights), adopted in 1992, requires voters to approve any state or local tax increase. But because it also requires confusing and incomplete ballot language that doesn’t mention who would pay or how the money would be used, it’s not surprising voters have rejected more tax measures than they’ve approved.
However, federal tax increases proposed in the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better plan, the framework for which the Senate approved last week, are broadly popular with Colorado voters. That’s because it’s clear the tax increases will be paid by corporations, the wealthy, and no one making less than $400,000 a year, and the taxes will be used to lower family costs for things like health care, housing, education, and child care.
As popular as those investments are, they’re not the only reason Coloradans support the plan. Nearly 40% of the 400 voters polled said the goal of ensuring the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share in taxes alone is “extremely important.”
It’s easy to guess why ending tax dodging by the rich and corporations is a top priority for Coloradans. It’s not fair that 39 big firms–including FedEx, T-Mobile, and Salesforce—paid zero net federal income taxes over the last three years, even though they collectively made over $120 billion in profits. It’s not fair that the two richest people on the planet, billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, avoided paying any federal income taxes at all in several recent years. Coloradans support efforts to make the tax code fairer.
Two-thirds (66%) of voters back raising taxes on those making over $400,000 a year, including almost three-quarters of unaffiliated voters (72%). Almost 60% support raising the corporate tax rate to 28%, which would still be lower than it was just four years ago.
Far from being anti-tax, Coloradans were more likely to support the tax-and-investment agenda increases when they learned it “would raise nearly $4 trillion [in taxes] from corporations and the wealthy.” That includes two-thirds of unaffiliated voters.
The poll also shows that by a margin of 60% to 33%, Colorado voters want the top tax rate on investment income (currently 20%) to be raised to match the top rate on wage income for those making more than $1 million a year. Coloradans are, in fact, willing to go even further than the White House’s proposal, and support taxing wealth in other ways. There’s no reason the tax rate on income generated from wealth–like selling stock—should be taxed at a much lower rate than the rate on money earned through work. Rewarding work, not wealth, is just common sense.
Like most Coloradans, I know what our taxes pay for. I sent my kids to Colorado public schools, and I love to spend time on public lands enjoying the natural beauty of our home. While our outdated, misleading, and incomplete ballot language leads many to oppose state revenue measures, Coloradans enthusiastically support a fair-share tax agenda like the one currently being proposed in Washington when they have all the facts.
I hope Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper keep in mind when casting their votes that their constituents here in Colorado don’t just support these investments, they support a fair tax system to pay for them.
Carol Hedges is the executive director of the Colorado Fiscal Institute.
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