Sin taxes used to be levied on bad habits that could be detrimental for one’s health, like smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol, or Big Gulps.
Now the state’s progressive Democrat lawmakers want to add automotive vehicles to the list and charge an additional registration fee based on a vehicle’s weight to punish consumers who like big trucks.
The heavier the vehicle, the more Colorado residents would have to pay because Democrats came up with an idea of how to spend the annual $20 million of your hard-earned money these taxes might produce.
Their left addled thinking goes like this: “heavier and larger vehicles are more deadly to pedestrians and cyclists,” reports Colorado Public Radio.
“We would definitely be looking at a funding mechanism that would be big enough to impact consumer choice when they purchase a vehicle,” said Rachel Hultin, director of policy and government affairs for Bicycle Colorado, which helped draft the bill.
If a tax disguised as a fee is intended to pressure consumers to stop purchasing the item, it’s a sin tax.
The state transportation department operates on a $1.55 billion budget and already collects fees for buying vehicles, registering, and licensing vehicles, licensing drivers, then periodically taxes us again for licensing vehicles and drivers. Plus, there’s the additional taxes on gas and maintenance.
Matthew Groves, president and CEO of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, opposes the bill’s fee structure and suggested the legislature appropriate more money for road safety if they believe it’s a priority.
“Coloradans are just tired of getting fee’d to death,” Groves said.
Amen, brother.
Democrat state Sen. Lisa Cutter of Jefferson County is the bill sponsor who briefed a legislative review committee about the proposal last week.
Polis’s office declined to comment on whether the governor approves of the new tax.