Colorado voters may face ballot question to repeal TABOR after court ruling with “broad implications”

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a measure seeking to repeal the state’s one-of-a-kind Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights can qualify for the 2020 ballot, overruling a state board that determined the attempt was unconstitutional. ... And, as one Supreme Court justice wrote in a strongly worded dissent, the decision could have "broad implications" beyond this question, potentially overturning decades of court precedent on what can qualify for the Colorado ballot under the state’s single subject rule.

The state title board, which oversees ballot access, ruled in January that trying to repeal TABOR in its entirety would violate the state constitution’s “single subject” rule for ballot measures and legislation. That’s because TABOR is a far-reaching amendment that covers several different issues, such as tax policy, debt, revenue growth, taxpayer refunds and elections. But in the 5-2 opinion, the court ruled that the board’s argument is not "analytically sound" and wrote that the purpose of the single subject rule was to make sure voters knew exactly what they were approving at the ballot.¹

This decision has the potential to create a precedent that would argue against a weapon that the Colorado Title Board (controlled via the Secretary of State) uses to suppress the Initiative Process, guaranteed by the state constitution.

If so, this could negate the Title Board decisions, in agreement with the Colorado Bankers Association's arguments, that our four attempts to get the creation of a state-owned bank on the ballot were invalid, because the wording involved multiple subjects.

Taken further, this means that if the original state constitution provided the basis for the electorate to create a state bank, then the application of the "multiple issue" provisions is an ex post facto law, forbidden by the U.S. Constitution. This also means that an amendment to the state constitution to create a state-owned bank can delete any such provisions that are in conflict with its implementation.

Footnote:
¹ https://coloradosun.com/2019/06/17/tabor-repeal-2020-colorado-can-appear-ballot