(Source: StrikeABetterBalance.com) Amendment 59 isn't about education funding, it's an attack on TABOR. The biggest tax increase in Colorado history is likely to result. Voters need to know this. Organizations that want more taxes are outspending taxpayer advocates by 200-to-1. The only hope is getting the word out through you. Please let your friends, family and colleagues know that you oppose Amendment 59 and ask them to vote against it. The reasons are simple:
** Citizens should not throw away the controls that they put on government.
** Citizens should make politicians come to them with specific proposals, not just give politicians a blank check.
** Citizens need the $600 to $800 per family in TABOR refunds that were returned each year when there were surplus tax collections, and which will likely resume in the next decade.
** Amendment 59 is not designed to save money for a real rainy day fund, nor will it solve a constitutional knot.
** Here are more specifics:
59 is unreasonable
Don’t be fooled by the sales job that says this is about education funding. It’s much, much bigger than that!
59 asks the taxpayers to forfeit all future TABOR tax refunds — forever. There is no way to estimate how much tax money this will amount to. It is not reasonable to ask the voters to sign a blank check made out to the state.
The people backing this measure should be honest and clear about the issue, instead of trying to distract you from hearing the real debate about its full impact.
59 is not fair
Every family lives on a budget. Businesses, charities and churches must also. The constitutional constraint that placed an upper limit on government revenues and spending was a good idea. It would not be fair for the state government to be the only organization without a budget constraint.
It’s good that we vote on tax rates, but that citizen’s right is very weak without a budget limit to protect us.
59 looks out for government, not you
It costs a lot to fill up at the gas pump these days. Grocery and home energy prices are climbing. A tax hike is a pay cut and families can’t afford to be burdened with a higher cost of government.
59 is premature
Referendum C is just over half done. It still has another two years to go. Forecasters don’t think that we will get any surplus returned until two years after Ref C ends. Do you know what the economy will look like in five or six years? The state government?
The people who supported Ref C said that you would have to give up $3.7 Billion, but now we know it will be over $6 Billion. With this much new tax revenue pouring into state coffers on top of the Amendment 23 education increases, it's unwise to claim that education needs more now.
59 is unnecessary
Ref C increased the government’s tax base. On a per capita basis, it will cost a family of four an additional $1,100 or more, every year forever-- almost twice what we were told it would be.
The proponents say 59 creates a savings account for education. But any meaningful “rainy day fund” needs to discuss all the needs of the state, including transportation and other programs.
Proponents claim 59 is needed to untangle a "fiscal knot" in the state constitution created by Amendment 23. But the increases mandated by 23 will be completed next year.
BOTTOM LINE: NO ON 59
For more information contact Strike a Better Balance.
Call Penn Pfiffner at 303-233-7731 or Aimee Rathburn at 303-795-1772
Or visit www.StrikeABetterBalance.com