About one week after telling state lawmakers not to plan any June vacations, Governor Hickenlooper has backed down from his plans for a special session. Hickenlooper had considered calling back the legislature to address highway funding, which many believed the Governor was hoping to hammer out via a referred ballot measure to increase taxes.
Senate President Kevin Grantham made clear that a special session that included a tax increase would not be successful, and with a Republican-controlled Senate, that left the governor without a viable legislative option.
But the Governor’s failure to achieve a legislatively referred tax increase doesn’t mean that taxpayers are off the hook yet. The Denver Post is reporting that “there are several initiatives in the works or being considered for the November ballot.”
In addition to two measures alread submitted by the Independence Institute to fund transportation specifically without raising taxes, we expect activity around a tax increase to fund transportation. Proponents of the tax increase would, first, have to get the language of the ballot measure approved by the Secretary of State, and then swarm the King Soopers nearest you and 16th Street Mall collecting the requisite signatures. Remember, Coloradans rarely pass tax increases, so good luck with this one.