Democratic Sen. Irene Aguilar might have some ‘splaining to do to the over 425,000 self-employed Coloradans should her universal health bill make it on the ballot.  Earlier this week, the Peak reported that the SCR13-002 would foist a 9% increase in taxes on self-employed individuals.  It was evident this would be a huge increase, but it was not immediately clear just how many Coloradans this would impact.

According to a Small Business Administration profile of Colorado’s small businesses, this tax increase would negatively impact a large portion of the state.  Here are just a few numbers to consider:

• Small businesses account for 97.6% of all employers and employ 49.2% of the private sector labor force.
• In 2010, the number of non-employer small businesses (i.e., the self-employed) numbered 426,417. This is a dramatic increase from just ten years ago when small businesses were counted at 333,364.
• Colorado had 122,812 small businesses with fewer than 500 employees within its boundaries.
• Minority self-employment is the fastest growing demographic of self-employment in the state.

According to the data from the SBA, the total “proprietor income” for 2010 was $21.3 billion.  With a total of 529,229 small businesses in the state (122,812 employers plus 426,417 self-employed), the average proprietor income in 2010 was $40,227.  The average income in Colorado in 2010, according to the Denver Business Journal, was $42,802. It’s these people – who are making below average – that Aguilar thinks should pay another 9% of their income to the State of Colorado.  She’s asking them to pay another $3,600 to fund her healthcare scheme.

So, to recap, Aguilar wants to target the fastest growing minority opportunity as well as those making below average income for her liberal utopian pipedream.  Sounds like a terrible idea.