The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is an irrational, far-right, arguably unconstitutional handicap on Colorado’s ability to thrive and self-govern. And those detriments recently became more apparent as the state Legislature faced massive budget shortfalls.

TABOR, passed by voters in 1992, allows government revenue and spending to increase only according to inflation and population growth, and any money beyond the revenue “cap” must be returned to taxpayers. The measure also requires voter approval for tax hikes.

The problem is it’s popular. And you can see why — there’s nothing easier in politics than to win voter sympathy for refunds. But ask Coloradans if they want safe roads, good schools and reliable healthcare and you get a contradictory affirmative response. That’s what’s so insidious about it. TABOR masquerades as a good government guarantee but in fact it guarantees bad government. The blunt-force cap formula, unique to Colorado, fails to account for the rising costs of critical services and a growing need for them, and it undercuts the very people voters elect to represent their interests at the statehouse by limiting their ability to respond to changing economic conditions and crises.

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But with TABOR’s flaws becoming harder to ignore, efforts to skirt or reform it are building.

One example is an initiative proposed for the November ballot that would create a graduated state income tax. Colorado has a 4.4% flat income tax, and TABOR requires a flat rate, aligning Colorado with only 14 other flat-rate states. The initiative would change that and establish six tax brackets that range from 3.7% for people with an annual income of $25,000 or less to 8.4% for people with an annual income over $1 million.

The primary backer of the measure, the nonprofit Bell Policy Center, says only individuals and businesses that make more than $500,000 would pay more under the graduated tax system than they do now. Bell also says the initiative would mean a tax cut for 98% of Coloradans while allowing the state to collect more revenue to better fund public schools, healthcare and childcare. The initiative has the added benefit of asking rich people to pay their fair share.

This would all be done without affecting TABOR refunds, since only the extra money from the initiative, on top of what the state might collect above the present TABOR cap, would be available for state spending. But have no doubt, this would be a big TABOR workaround.

Another is a measure sent to the ballot by the Legislature. That measure would increase the TABOR cap by billions and direct whatever extra money the state collects to K-12 public education. The measure was spearheaded by the Colorado Education Association, a teachers union. During a press conference in January, CEA President Kevin Vick said, “For more than 30 years, an outdated and arbitrary revenue cap has kept our state funding tied up so tightly that we can’t invest in public education and keep up with student needs.”

A similar frustration can be found among Democratic lawmakers and challengers running in the June 30 primary election.

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“In my view, all roads lead back to TABOR,” wrote state Representative Sean Camacho of Denver in response to a recent Newsline primary election candidate questionnaire. “If we don’t finally rid Colorado of TABOR, we will continue to have to cut crucial services that my constituents rely on, especially in health care.”

More than a dozen Democratic candidates in contested statehouse primary elections indicated in their questionnaire responses they would repeal or reform TABOR. Their impatience is hardly surprising. TABOR creates a structural deficit, meaning baked-in costs, such as for Medicaid, are expanding much faster than the pool of money the state has to cover them. And Republican make-the-rich-richer policies from Washington only worsen the shortfalls. State lawmakers confronted a billion-dollar hole in the budget this year and had to cut programs and services across the government, particularly Medicaid. That followed the billion-dollar hole they faced in 2025, and the forecast is more of the same next year.

While TABOR is popular among Coloradans, at least superficially, it is also a wonky policy matter that traditionally resisted broad nuanced debate. But with recent widespread news coverage of the structural deficit and painful TABOR-caused cuts, more voters might recognize the damage it’s doing to their state. Camacho says he’s seeing exactly that in his community.

“One of the most consistent issues that my constituents prioritize is TABOR’s impact on our state finances,” he said in the Newsline questionnaire. “As we cut nearly $1 billion from our state budget each year due to TABOR and (federal policies), the conversation around TABOR has intensified significantly.”

If this is true statewide, it could mean a reckoning is coming for TABOR.