As Coloradans and families across the U.S. struggle to pay for food, rent and healthcare, efforts to raise taxes on the richest Americans are gaining momentum.

A new bill introduced in Congress targets the nation’s 938 billionaires. Instead of taxing reported income, which often obscures their net worth, the measure would tap 5% of their total wealth, including stocks and real estate.

Lydia McCoy, CEO of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, said the nation’s tax code has always been evolving.

Image

"As the way that people make wealth is changing, the way we tax wealth has to change. As we see greater disparities in income generation, as we see increases in the cost of basic necessities, we have to make adjustments to make it more fair for the average American," McCoy explained.

Supporters said the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act would raise enough money to pay every public school teacher at least $60,000 a year, cap child care at 7% of a family’s income and restore $1 trillion stripped from healthcare under the GOP’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

For decades, some lawmakers have worked to lower taxes, particularly for higher earners, claiming if people kept more of their own money it would boost the economy. At the state level, Colorado could join Hawaii, Maine, Rhode Island and Washington in raising taxes on the ultrawealthy.

If Initiative 195 makes the ballot, voters could scrap Colorado’s flat tax and make millionaires pay higher tax rates than people earning minimum wage. McCoy added cuts in federal funding under House Resolution 1 have made it much harder for the state to pay its bills.

"That's really encouraged us to look at more creative ways that we can generate revenue to pay for the basic supports that people in the state deserve, like healthcare and K-12 education," McCoy outlined.

The top 1% of U.S. households now holds 31% of the nation’s total wealth, almost equal to the amount held by the bottom 90% combined, which also holds 75% of the nation’s debt. McCoy argued changing the tax code can help reduce economic inequality.

"It's a systemic problem. This is just a logical, practical adjustment to a system that has been built to overly benefit high-wealth individuals and to punish poor people," McCoy contended.