Propositions CC And DD Are Little More Than Bad Political Cons

by Mark Smiley | Oct 28, 2019 | Editorials

The state legislature put two proposals before the voters this year. The first is Proposition CC which would permanently end all Colorado Taxpayer Bill of Rights (“TABOR”) refunds and was strongly backed by Democratic lawmakers. The other, Proposition DD, would legalize and tax sports betting by telephone to casinos in Colorado if passed. It has strong support among Republican legislators. It is clear that people at the State Capitol don’t believe either proposal has sufficient merit on its own to garner statewide support so they hope to trick you into voting for them by misleading language and sleight of hand.

Back in 2005 under Proposition C (which provided for a pause in TABOR refunds for a five-year period) the legislature promised to use the money for higher education and got gullible people, like the then University of Colorado President Hank Brown (a former Republican U.S. Senator), to support the proposition. When it passed they, in fact, used the money for higher education, but then they cut even more funds for higher education from the General Fund resulting in less money overall. As Brown bluntly stated: “They lied to me.”

Now the legislature plans to pull the same con hoping the voting public will forget what they did last time. This time the ballot language says it will be used to “better fund public schools, higher education, and roads, bridges and transit with an annual independent audit to show how the retained revenues are spent.” The annual audit will, in fact, show that the funds will be spent for the stated purposes. The fly in the ointment is that the legislature will then cut the General Fund for those purposes in excess of the amount raised and spend the money any way they please. This is exactly what they with did Proposition C almost a decade and a half ago.

The ballot language for Proposition CC also starts out declaring: “Without raising taxes . . . .” But it does, in fact, raise taxes but simply not tax rates. We the taxpayers pay more taxes because you will never again get a TABOR tax refund.

Brown and former Governor Bill Owens, both of whom supported Proposition C, have come out against Proposition CC because they at least remembered how they were lied to 14 years ago by the legislature.

The CC Proposition has drawn opposition editorially across the political spectrum. The Denver Post argued, inter alia, that the proposition was incredibly unfair in that it allocates any money for K-12 education be done on a per pupil basis which rewards the richest school districts, like those in the Cherry Creek School District, while harming the poorest schools in inner city Denver and Western Slope rural schools.

The more conservative Colorado Springs Gazette based their opposition on the fact that TABOR has been a bulwark against overspending since 1992 and is an important element on why Colorado’s economy is ranked number 1 in the country for the last several years. If the additional billion dollars the legislature received this year under TABOR is not enough, the $1.7 billion it would receive over three years under Proposition CC will also not be enough and the spending spree will just be starting.

Regarding, Proposition DD it is beyond a little strange that Republicans in the State House are so enthusiastic about opening Colorado to taxed sports betting and the inevitable increase in the state bureaucracy. If you have been watching the advertisements on television, they are all about state water projects that will be enhanced and the fact that the casinos will be paying the 10% tax on winnings. What a joke. The casinos will pass the cost on to sports bettors along with at least another 10% vigorish to cover their costs and profits. No one in their right mind would place a bet with the government approved casinos as the amount to be taken out of winnings will be enormous and, of course, reported right back to your friendly IRS, but as PT Barnum said: “There is a sucker born every minute.”

The amount going to so-called “water projects” is incredibly small and for fiscal year 2020-21 it is as follows:

            Estimated Distribution            Fiscal Year 2020-21    Percentage

            Water Implementation Cash Fund     $6,358,939      65.90%

            Administrative & Regulatory Expenses         $2,627,061      27.22%

            Hold Harmless Fund   at least $534,000         5.53%

            Office of Behavioral Health   $130,000         1.35%

The ads with the clinically obese cattleman show the support for Proposition DD by various water related entities expected to get some of the chicken feed doled out under the proposition, but none of them paid a penny for the ads. The ads were funded solely by in-state casinos and out-of-state betting consortiums who are the real beneficiaries of the proposition.

Proposition DD is opposed on the right by the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University which wonders why we see the need for the state government to take and run an ever-increasing number of human vices. On the left, Coloradans for Climate Justice noted how little is being raised for so-called water projects and it noted the phrase “water projects” is so vague as to be virtually meaningless.

So why are the Colorado House Republicans supporting a proposal which appears to violate many of its purported principles. The answer is obvious. The Republican Party in Colorado is virtually bankrupt. The support by Republicans was undoubtably in return for a promise of funding future Republican endeavors in Colorado by Colorado casinos and the out-of-state betting consortiums.

We guess just about everyone is for sale at some price down at the Capitol. There is no reason we should support such egregious conduct by voting for either Proposition CC or Proposition DD.

 — Editorial Board