PROPOSITION 116
In 2020, Independence Institute president Jon Caldara and state senator Jerry Sonnenberg filed a citizen initiative to lower Colorado’s flat income tax rate from 4.63% to 4.55%. The initiative appeared on the ballot at Proposition 116 and won voter approval with 58% in favor and 42% against. The reduction in the tax rate had no impact on state spending; it only reduced the state surplus, allowing Coloradans to keep more money in their pocket with each paycheck.
PROPOSITION 121
In 2020 during the campaign to pass Proposition 116, the opposition erroneously argued the modest tax cut would gut state services and make life in the Centennial State more expensive. That never happened. The tax cut has had zero impact on the state budget. In fact, the state continued to over-collect taxes despite the income tax rate reduction, leading to more surpluses. In response, Caldara and Sonnenberg put forward another citizen-initiated income tax cut. Colorado voters approved Proposition 121 in November 2022 by more than a 30-point margin, 65% to 35%, reducing the income tax rate to 4.4%. Like Proposition 116, the income tax cut came from the state surplus and had no impact on state spending.
