Guest Commentary published in the Coloradoan
By Sen. Kevin Lundberg
The Colorado state Senate recently passed nine bills that will increase taxes in Colorado for items ranging from agricultural pesticides to restaurant take-home boxes and soda pop.
Democrats in the General Assembly are taking a cue from Gov. Bill Ritter to raise taxes by $17 million in the current budget year and $306 million next year in order to close the budget gap that has resulted from lost revenues because of the economic recession.
Democrats claim these bills get rid of so-called tax loopholes and corporate giveaways, but the simple fact is that businesses and families will have to pay more in taxes. These taxes will result in thousands of lost jobs.
Far from giveaways and loopholes, these tax policies were intentionally crafted by past legislatures to keep our economy strong. In fact, the energy input exclusion for manufacturing businesses has been in place since 1937.
The tax increases not only represent a terrible piece of public policy in the midst of a recession, but they are a violation of the state Constitution. Article X Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution says the state "must have voter approval in advance for ... a tax policy change directly causing a net tax revenue gain."
But Democrats in the General Assembly have chosen to hide behind a misguided state Supreme Court decision that allowed for these tax increases without a vote of the people.
The Colorado Supreme Court got this one wrong. This is why I offered amendments to the bills seeking to put these higher taxes to a vote of the people. Allowing the citizens of Colorado to have their constitutionally guaranteed chance to weigh in on job-killing tax hikes is the least that we should do.
Unfortunately my amendments were all rejected with party-line votes.
In their end-run around the Constitution, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have engaged in spurious rhetoric, claiming cuts in K-12 education and corrections would be next on the chopping block if the tax increases don't pass.
But these claims betray reality. Republicans offered an alternative to raising taxes - cutting government spending.
Senate Bill 168, of which I am a co-sponsor, was put forward in response to Democrat cries that no alternative existed to increased taxes. Our bill would cut state spending by $17 million in the current year and $306 million in the next. These spending cuts represent just one quarter of 1 percent of the state's nearly $7 billion General Fund and a 4.4 percent reduction in next year's.
It is entirely reasonable to ask the government to make the same difficult choices and spending reductions that families and businesses across this state have already been forced to make. The underlying question remains: Why should businesses and families see their taxes increase so government can avoid such cuts and even increase their own payroll?
We owe it to the voters of Colorado to uphold the state Constitution. We owe it to businesses, families and individuals across the state to keep their tax burden from increasing at a time when everyone is already stretched to the limit.
Kevin Lundberg of Berthoud represents Senate District 15 in the Colorado Legislature.