This November, Colorado voters will decide two measures that the Colorado Union of Taxpayers (CUT) opposes. Both would let the state take and keep more money from individuals and businesses, and CUT urges a no vote on each.
Vote No on Proposition NN
The state legislature referred Proposition NN to the ballot through SB26-135, which passed the Senate 23-12, cleared the House 42-21, and was signed into law on May 20, 2026. No Republican voted for it, and CUT rated the bill a no the week of March 9, 2026. The measure is complex and convoluted, and that alone is reason to defeat it. We as voters should not approve any measure we cannot clearly understand.
Prop NN is presented as a measure "for the children," but it is really an end run for the state to keep our TABOR (Taxpayer's Bill of Rights) refunds for the foreseeable future. Beginning in fiscal year 2026-27, the measure lets the state retain and spend revenue above the TABOR cap, directs up to a 2% annual increase in K-12 funding for ten years, and sends the remaining surplus to a "children's account" in the general fund. Our TABOR refunds are excess tax dollars the state collected above a generous formula of inflation plus population growth. Keeping this overcollection is a tax increase on individuals and businesses, yet the ballot language claims the money is retained "without raising taxes." That language is disingenuous and dishonest.
More money has not fixed the problem the measure claims to address. The Common Sense Institute reported in 2024 that over half of Colorado third graders cannot read, write, or do basic math at grade level. The fiscal note on the bill is also incomplete. It projects only two budget years, 2026-27 and 2027-28, which does not tell voters enough about the long-term effect on our refunds. Even within that short window, Legislative Council Staff estimate the state will keep $969.7 million in budget year 2027-28 that should be returned to the people of Colorado. Voters deserve the full picture before surrendering a decade of refunds. VOTE NO ON PROP NN.
Vote No on a Graduated Income Tax
The second measure, Initiative 195, would replace Colorado's flat income tax with a graduated one. It is backed by the Bell Policy Center and the "Protect Colorado's Future" coalition of 19 groups. Treating individuals and groups differently is antithetical to the American Idea that we should be treated equally under the law. A graduated income tax is one of the main tenets of Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto.
Colorado's current income tax rate is a flat 4.4%. Someone who makes $100,000 pays $4,400, and someone who makes $1,000,000 pays $44,000, the same rate for both. Initiative 195 would set graduated rates in place of that single rate. Backers say rates would dip for some lower earners, while income from $500,001 to $750,000 would be taxed at 7.4%, income from $750,001 to $1,000,000 at 7.9%, and income above $1,000,000 at 8.4%. The top rate nearly doubles today's flat rate. It would drive businesses, employers, and entrepreneurs out of the state, and when they leave, the tax burden shifts to the Coloradans who remain.
A graduated income tax penalizes creativity and innovation and rewards mediocrity and idleness. Democratic Socialists accuse individuals and businesses of greed for wanting to keep more of their hard-earned dollars. We must connect the dots: the PBIs (Politicians, Bureaucrats, and Interested Parties) are the epitome of insatiable greed, with their proposed higher taxes and their efforts to keep our TABOR refunds. Backers must submit petition signatures by August 3, 2026 to qualify for the ballot. VOTE NO ON A GRADUATED INCOME TAX.
Sources
SB26-135, "State Public K-12 Education Funding," Colorado General Assembly: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB26-135
SB26-135 fiscal note, Legislative Council Staff: https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/113088/download
