From The Durango Herald:
Senior legislators declined to get involved Monday in a lawsuit that claims the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights violated the U.S. Constitution.
Speaker of the House Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, wanted the Legislature’s Executive Committee to oppose the lawsuit, but his idea deadlocked on a 3-3 tie, with Democrats opposing him.
Five Democratic lawmakers are plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit, Kerr v. Hickenlooper, which claims that TABOR violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee that every state have a “republican form of government.” TABOR requires all tax increases to pass a popular vote, and the plaintiffs say that makes Colorado more like a direct democracy, rather than a republic, as the framers of the Constitution had envisioned.
McNulty is quoted in the story talking about protecting taxpayers, but he and other Colorado Republicans may find themselves on the wrong side of public opinion these days. Recent national polls have shown that the public is not opposed to tax increases and does not believe that budget problems can be solved only with cuts. Being a champion of TABOR doesn’t hold the same appeal today that it did 10 years ago.
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whether legislators favor or oppose the suit. I expect it to fail though I can hope that it will succeed.
Republicans demanded this useless vote so they could uselessly pontificate on a lawsuit they are not a party to. Oh yeah, and to make Brandon and Sal “look bad.”
Brandon and Sal just want the ability to do their constitutional duty.
Until this lawsuit, I was concerned about the GOP’s chances to retain its majority in the State House. Now I think it is a given.
Voters, who implemented and love TABOR, are not going to be thrilled at the fact that five Democratic members of the General Assembly — four of whom are in the House — are plaintiffs seeking to overturn TABOR through the courts.
Democrats, in state legislative races, could find this to be a significant issue in their respective races. Voters are not going to look kindly on candidates who think politicians are better suited to decide tax increases better than the electorate.
Tell every parent who’s kid is in an overcrowded classroom. Tell every young adult who can’t afford college. Tell every family that is turned away from community healthcare.
Yep, they’ll all agree with you that the biggest problem they face is taxes.