# Colorado Votes for More Spending and Higher Taxes

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/colorado-votes-for-more-spending-and-higher-taxes/
- Published: 2026-11-06T16:25:59+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-06T18:12:53+00:00
- Original publisher: Reason (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://reason.com/2026/11/06/colorado-votes-for-more-spending-and-higher-taxes/
- Topics: Elections, Politics

## Key points

- Colorado voters backed changes enabling more tax revenue and spending.
- Amendment 87 could raise $2 billion in 2027–28.
- Proposition NN would lift the TABOR cap by $4.6 billion initially.

## Summary

Colorado voters appear to have backed measures that would allow higher state taxes and spending, weakening two long-standing limits on government growth. The changes matter because the state’s flat income tax and Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) have constrained tax increases and spending, while sending excess revenue back to taxpayers.

Amendment 87 would replace the 4.4 per cent flat income tax with six rates, from 3.7 to 8.4 per cent, and supporters estimate it could raise $2 billion in 2027–28, mainly from people earning more than $500,000. Proposition NN would raise the TABOR cap by $4.6 billion in its first year, allowing the state to retain revenue otherwise due for refunds; some would reimburse local property-tax breaks, while much of the rest would fund education and children’s programmes. The article says the education allocation would rise by at least 2 per cent annually, while after a decade lawmakers could direct the children’s-programme share elsewhere.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.