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Home Archives for state constitution

5/6/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Sine Die

It sounds like a garbled threat, or possibly a song from the High Mass. Sine die means neither, but it is cause for high celebration: The Colorado state legislature is adjourned for 2009, at least for the regular session. (I'm hearing insiders say that the Governor very well may call a special session in the summer.) In one sense, it's a shame to see the legislature walk away from its responsibility: Democrats have kicked the state's fiscal problems a little ways down the road. But then again, the majority Democrats aren't likely to grow a sense of responsibility any time soon. So staunch the bleeding while there's still time. Because, in fact, Democrats are now openly touting a recent state supreme court decision to say they can … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Judiciary, liberty, PPC Tagged With: adjourned, approve, bleeding, capital gains, Clear the Bench Colorado, Colorado, decision, Democrats, deserving, down the road, fiscal problems, garbled threat, Governor, havoc, high celebration, high court, High Mass, insiders, majority, plain language, raise, regular session, responsibility, sense, Sine die, song, soon, special session, state constitution, state house, state legislature, state senate, state supreme court, staunch, summer, support, tax hikes, taxes, vote of the people, walk away, wreak

4/20/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

HB 1342 Hearing Tuesday: Democrats’ Latest Attempt to Bypass TABOR

We have heard Democrats in the state legislature talk out loud about exploiting a partisan Colorado Supreme Court overreach to violate the state constitution and repeal tax credits without a vote of the people. Via an emergency update from the Republican Study Committee, the Democrats' first real attempt to test their theory comes up for a hearing tomorrow: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: adjournment, Colorado Supreme Court, Democrats, Dennis Apuan, emergency update, exploiting, HB 1342, hearing, illicit, overreach, partisan, repeal, Republican Study Committee, state constitution, state legislature, tax credits, tax revenue, test, theory, tobacco, violate, vote of the people

3/16/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Undeterred by Plain Reading of Constitution, State Supremes Stick It to Colorado Taxpayers

Update, 3/17: Law student Constructively Reasonable says the decision is a cause for "outrage". A watcher says Colorado may not as well even have a constitution. The Colorado Supreme Court has done it again, showing its disdain for taxpayer protections in the state constitution. From the majority opinion:When it issued its declaratory judgment order, the district court did not have the benefit of our recent decision in Barber v. Ritter, 196 P.3d 238 (Colo. 2008), in which we held that a statute challenged under article X, section 20 must be proven to be unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court erroneously held that the relevant test of SB 07-199s constitutionality came from the interpretive guideline included in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Judiciary, PPC, property rights Tagged With: 49 states, Allison Eid, arbitrary rule, Ari Armstrong, boss, campaign issue, Cary Kennedy, clairvoyance, Colorado Supreme Court, common sense, compelling case, conservatives, constitutional sanity, constitutionality, Cory Gardner, Democrat, Denver Post, dissenting voice, downgrading, faith, fiscal restraint, forthcoming, full retreat, government, Governor, Grand Junction Jon Caldara, higher threshold, inescapable, Josh Penry, just, justice system, kudos, law, legal arena, libertarian, life support, local elections, local tax revenues, loyalist, most partisan, observation, offense, other ideas, partisan interests, plain reading, realization, reasonable, Republicans, SB 07-199, school districts, senate minority leader, simpler, state constitution, state house, state legal system, state of Colorado, state representative, state senate, state treasurer, tactical idea, tax dollars, tax policy change, tax revenue gain, taxpayer protections, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, The Colorado Index, violated, voter permission, weigh in, writer

3/3/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrats’ Anti-Taxpayer Shell Game Demands a Principled “Party of No”

The other half of Colorado Democrats' shell game rolled through the state senate last night - with one of the longest debates on a state legislative bill in recent memory. Senate Bill 228 would repeal the state general fund's 6 percent spending limit and allow additional funds to be diverted from transportation to pet government programs (now mainly supported by Democrats). It's the latest in a series of actions by Governor Bill Ritter to raise taxes and grow government without asking the people of Colorado first. So much for confidence in his own agenda. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC, transportation Tagged With: amendments, ask first, Barack Obama, Bill Ritter, children's future, Colorado Democrats, compromise, confidence, debate, debates, Democrats, diverting funds, economy, expense, funding stream, general fund, government expansion, government programs, Governor, grow government, Harry Reid, hog wild, ill, Lefty bloggers, legislative bill, longest, Nancy Pelosi, party of No, programs, raise taxes, repeal, Senate Bill 228, shell game, solve, spending limit, State Capitol, state constitution, state senate, transportation, unfettered, vision, welfare state

2/24/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Democrats and Marostica: “Forget the Constitution, California, Here We Come”

When talking politics or economics, it's usually a powerful rhetorical tactic to compare our own Colorado to California - especially these days. In that light, here's a fitting and timely reminder from state senator Ted Harvey:The lesson Colorado’s legislators must learn from this recession is clear: fiscal responsibility works. Even though the legislature collectively fell short of creating a rainy day fund, TABOR and the Arveschoug-Bird 6% spending cap forced Colorado legislators to keep spending low. Had the government enjoyed free rein in ramping up spending – which is a great temptation to many lawmakers tasked with spending other people’s money – Colorado’s budget crisis would be as serious as California’s. [emphasis … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC, transportation Tagged With: 1992, 6 percent cap, Al Jolson, Arveschoug-Bird, best case, budget crisis, California, cap, Colorado, committee, conclude, court, Democrats, Don Marostica, economics, entitlement programs, Face the State, fiscal responsibility, fitting, good idea, government, government growth, legal advisers, legislative prerogative, legislators, lesson, memo, override, politics, recession, reminder, rhetorical tactic, Senate Bill 228, state constitution, state legislature, state senator, TABOR, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, Ted Harvey, temptation, timely, transportation, voter approval, voters

1/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bill Ritter in a “Straightjacket” over Colorado’s Taxpayer Protections

Sean Paige at Local Liberty Online made a great catch, picking up on this excerpt from Bill Ritter's State of the State speech earlier today (H/T Complete Colorado):"There is also an opportunity here – a chance to address TABOR and the constitutional and statutory straightjacket* that makes modern, sensible and value-based budgeting an impossibility. Last year, former House Speaker Romanoff started the conversation, and we need to keep it alive. We need to talk about life after Ref C – whether and when to extend it. We have a chance to find a better way forward, a Colorado way forward." Bill Ritter said what? About 2 months after Colorado voters said No to a proposal to gut TABOR refunds forever and rejected two other major statewide … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: Amendment 59, Andrew Romanoff, Bill Ritter, budgeting, Colorado, comment section, Complete Colorado, creative caption, current budget mess, forward, great catch, House Speaker, Local Liberty Online, photo, politically irresponsible, rainy day fund, Referendum C, revenues, rigors, Sean Paige, silly, state constitution, State of the State, straitjacket, TABOR, TABOR refunds, tax increases, taxpayer protections, voters

12/23/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrat Rollie Heath Wants to Use Economic Downturn to Kill TABOR

It only took seven weeks after the voters of Colorado said no to a statewide proposal that would have gutted the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) - a proposal pushed by a campaign that heavily outspent the opposition - for the Democrats to be back at it again. From today's Denver Post:Rollie Heath, a Boulder Democrat elected to the Senate, said that as lawmakers grapple in the coming session with cutting as much as $600 million from the budget because of declining revenues, they should also look at TABOR, a revenue-capping provision of the state's constitution. The state is in a timeout from TABOR's tax-revenue limits, but that timeout expires in 2010, when Colorado will have to begin refunding to taxpayers any revenue it collects … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life Tagged With: Amendment 59, Boulder, budget-cutting, campaign, Colorado, Democrats, Denver Post, eventuality, flexibility, foresight, lawmakers, limit, opposition, Referendum C, revenue, Rollie Heath, shortfall, state constitution, state government, state senate, statewide proposal, TABOR, tax limits, taxes, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, taxpayers, timeout, voters

9/12/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bill Ritter’s Judicial Hubris Continues As Anti-Taxpayer Case Proceeds

Three months ago I asked the question: "What does Bill Ritter know about the Supreme Court to gamble taxpayer dollars?" Yesterday, the same sort of hubris was on display, following the oral arguments that were held before the state's highest court to hear Gov. Ritter's appeal in defense of his unconstitutional property tax hike. The Denver Post reports:Ritter's office has downplayed the need for any contingency plans in the event the high court throws out the mill-levy freeze. Evan Dreyer, a spokesman for Ritter, gave a low-key response. "This is a complex case, and it is now in the hands of the court," Dreyer said. "We appreciate that the court heard oral arguments so quickly, and we look forward to the court's decision so we can … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor Tagged With: Bill Ritter, Colorado Supreme Court, contingency plans, Denver Post, dreaming, Evan Dreyer, hubris, mill levy "freeze", partisanship, property tax hike, state constitution, statehouse, taxpayer dollars, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights

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Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

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