Republicans walk out as Democratic lawmakers divert TABOR refunds to pay for property tax relief

The Colorado General Assembly wrapped up its 2023 work on Monday, May 8, after 120 days of what’s been called one of the most contentious sessions in recent memory.

The last day was capped by a walk-out by House Republicans over the rush by Democratic lawmakers to pass two bills introduced in the session’s final days and tied to escalating property tax hikes.

Senate Bill 303 would take a portion of Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights refunds for the next 10 years to pay for property tax relief. The bill creates a ballot measure in November, Proposition HH, that would ask voters for permission to raise the state’s TABOR limit as well as divert those TABOR refunds.

Among those hit hardest by SB 303: renters, who would lose part of their TABOR refunds, which would then go to homeowners and commercial building owners.

To address that issue, Democrats pushed through House Bill 1311 in the session’s final three days, the minimum amount of time it takes to get a bill through the General Assembly.

Under the measure, the TABOR refund would be equalized to about $661 per taxpayer or $1,322 for joint filers. In 2024 only, that would replace the state’s six-tiered sales tax refund mechanism, which provides TABOR refunds based on a sliding scale, with high-income earners getting the largest refunds and low-income earners with the smallest.

The equalized refunds from HB 1311 go into effect only if voters approve Proposition HH.

Monday, House Democrats imposed rules to limit debate on SB 303, which was up for its final vote late in the day. Democrats asked and received permission to make substantive changes in the bill. Republicans asked for permission to offer their own amendments, which was denied.

That resulted in the walk-out by House Republicans, who left the chamber and did not return for the rest of the evening. 

The GOP caucus gathered on the west side of the Capitol after the walkout. House Minority Leader Mike Lynch, R-Wellington, told reporters “Our votes don’t matter.”

He called SB 303 a “scheme that the governor waited until the last minutes of session to pull this sort of big legislation…We’re just done with how they have jammed this agenda through. They have two-thirds of the majority and they’ve used more rules than they’ve ever used before in the history of this state,” he said. “We don’t know what we can do to get the voices of our people heard. We’re sad for the people of Colorado that are about to get the biggest tax increase in their life.”

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