Democrats Plan to Send Coloradans $2 Billion in Taxpayer Refunds through a System They’ve Blasted as Inequitable

Ahead of the 2022 election, Jared Polis and Democrats in the legislature sped up TABOR refund checks and made them flat. This year, they’re reverting to a default system. by Jesse

Paul, The Colorado Sun

The Colorado legislature is on track to issue about $2 billion in taxpayer refunds through a system that the Democratic majority at the state Capitol has previously blasted as inequitable.

State lawmakers have broad authority over how to refund money collected above the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights cap on government growth, which is calculated annually based on population and inflation increases. But this year, lawmakers are choosing not to exercise that power and instead rely on a default refund mechanism adopted by the General Assembly in 1999, when Republicans were in charge.

The default mechanism links refund amounts to each taxpayer’s income, based on six income tiers. Under the system — called the six-tier sales tax refund mechanism — people who make more money get bigger refund checks in the mail. The approach is meant to refund more money to people who pay more in taxes.

The checks are expected to arrive after people file their tax returns each spring following fiscal years in which there is TABOR surplus.

However, in 2022, ahead of the November election, Gov. Jared Polis and Democrats in the legislature made a one-year change, sending out TABOR refund checks much earlier — in August and September — and in amounts that were the same for everyone as opposed to tied to income. Each Colorado taxpayer received $750 or $1,500, depending on whether they were a single tax filer or a joint filer.

Democrats argued that the flat refunds were more equitable because they ensured people who most needed the money received more than they would have gotten under the six-tier system.

The governor and Democratic state lawmakers celebrated the refunds — branding the checks a “Colorado dividend” — even though the party has in the past pushed to end TABOR refunds and generally loathes TABOR, the 1992 constitutional amendment approved by voters.

This year, however, Democrats have decided to revert to the six-tier system.

“That’s the plan right now,” Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, told reporters last week.

And with about a week left in the 2023 legislative session, which ends May 8, there’s not much time for lawmakers to reverse course.

“I think we want to find something that’s equitable,” Fenberg said, “but in the long term.”

Two sponsors of last year’s bill that made the refund checks flat and sent them out earlier told The Colorado Sun they would have preferred the legislature continued the flat-rate system.

“It was the most equitable solution,” said Sen. Robert Rodriguez, D-Denver.

Sen. Tony Exum, D-Colorado Springs, said he thinks the six-tier refund mechanism is unfair. But, he said, “it’s not my decision.”

That’s a nod to Capitol leadership’s view of how TABOR refunds should be handled. But Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, was the most blunt about his feelings on the six-tier mechanism.

“I think we’ve demonstrated that the six-tier sales tax rebate system is not equitable,” Moreno said earlier this year. He argues that if Colorado is refunding taxpayer money, people who need the dollars most should get more benefit.

Republicans, meanwhile, are calling Democrats hypocrites for reverting to the sixtier mechanism. “It’s not an election year,” observed Rep. Rod Bockenfeld, R-Watkins.

The governor’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment. Polis said late last year that he wanted to use the TABOR surplus to lower Colorado’s income tax rate, which is how money was refunded before voters approved a 2022 ballot measure slashing the rate so low that a reduction was no longer automatically triggered.

Michael Fields, a conservative fiscal activist who leads the political nonprofit Advance Colorado, said he’s OK with Democrats using the six-tier system. “I think the important thing is that TABOR refunds are going back to taxpayers instead of the government keeping and spending (the money),” he said.

But the Bell Policy Center, a liberalleaning fiscal policy nonprofit, has called the six-tier system unfair. It pointed out in 2021 that 79% of Colorado taxpayers fell into the bottom three tiers.

“While the income amounts in each tier has changed over time, the percentage of Coloradans in each tier and the percentage of the dollars available that go to each tier has not,” the organization wrote in a policy paper.

The exact amount of money the legislature will have to refund is in flux. The Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting forecast in March that the state would collect $2.7 billion in excess of the TABOR cap in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. (That’s money that would be refunded in April 2024.)

That amount is subject to change based on economic conditions. The legislature is also planning to tap into potentially hundreds of millions of dollars of the surplus to expand tax breaks for families and lower-income Coloradans and to offer people relief from what is expected to be a sharp rise in property tax bills. And, finally, about $150 million of the TABOR refunds will automatically go to local governments to account for any property tax exemptions claimed by local seniors and disabled veterans.

In the end, the surplus available for refund checks may be closer to roughly $2 billion, according to Colorado Sun estimates.

Nonpartisan Legislative Council Staff projected in March that, under the six-tier system, Colorado taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of less than $50,001 in 2023 would get a $480 TABOR refund check if they are a single filer and a $960 if they file jointly.

LCS projects that people in the top income tier, who have an adjusted gross income of $279,001 or more, would get a $1,514 refund check if they are a single filer and a $3,028 check if they file jointly.

There was talk among some Democrats earlier this year about asking Colorado voters to forgo their TABOR refunds and direct the money to K-12 education funding. That plan, however, was never formally pursued.

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported news organization that covers Colorado people, places and issues. To sign up for free newsletters, subscribe or learn more, visit ColoradoSun.com

Got a Colorado driver’s license? Expect to run into problems with TSA at the airport.

The Transportation Security Administration says it doesn’t yet have a timeline for when its database will be updated so that Colorado IDs are recognized by Elliott Wenzler, The Colorado Sun

But the TSA database needs to be updated to allow for Colorado IDs, Dankers said. There are more than 2,000 CAT units in 223 airports nationwide, including in Denver International Airport.

“We are looking to integrate technology into our security processes,” she said. “The use of CAT, credential authentication technology, should be our primary way of verifying the identity of the traveler and their travel plans. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only way.”

The Colorado Department of Revenue, which manages the state’s ID production, has been alerted to the issue, but says they have no reason to believe their technology is the problem.

Thales, a French IT company, is the producer of Colorado IDs. That company purchased a smaller organization that previously made the IDs, called Gemalto.

“We’ve gone through this process and we’ve found nothing on our end to suggest it’s our error,” said Daniel Carr with the Colorado Department of Revenue. “Everything is up to date and functioning as it’s supposed to.”

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported news organization that covers Colorado people, places and issues. To sign up for free newsletters, subscribe or learn more, visit ColoradoSun.com

Weld Central FFA has Two State Winners at the Colorado State FFA Convention

As Coloradans scurry through security checkpoints in airports across the country this summer, they may notice one consistent hiccup: their driver’s licenses being flagged.

That’s because the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, has a glitch in its new security system that’s only affecting Colorado IDs.

“Our folks who manage the database are aware of this,” said Lorie Dankers, spokesperson for the TSA.

Dankers said TSA couldn’t provide any specific detail about why their system has issues with Colorado IDs or when the issue would be resolved.

If a traveler’s license is stopped by a TSA machine, however, they need only show their boarding pass to be allowed through, she said.

“I think one thing is people in Colorado have falsely come to believe that it could prevent them from traveling, and that’s absolutely not the case,” she said.

Dozens of Coloradans responded to social media posts from The Colorado Sun sharing their stories of Colorado IDs being denied, with many stating the issue has only happened at airports other than DIA.

“It can take around five to eight attempts before the machine will finally accept my license. Each time they run it through the machine, it takes awhile for it to process and decide if it wants to accept it or not,” said Shawn Taylor, a Denver resident. “It’s a pain, especially when I’m running a little late. I also feel bad for the people waiting in line behind me.”

Several people also reported that TSA agents seem to expect the issue the moment they see a Colorado ID.

“The TSA personnel were nodding and chatting to themselves, ‘yep, a Colorado license, happens every time,’” said Denver resident Kim Konkel.

While some people said they only needed to show their boarding passes to enter the terminal, others reported more significant delays, such as being told to step aside for additional security measures or to return to their airline counter.

That’s what happened to Carla Donelson, a Littleton resident, when traveling back to Denver from Corpus Christi, Texas, with her 92-year-old father. After TSA couldn’t scan their IDs, they were denied entry, even after securing a new boarding pass, she said. They were told there was an issue with their IDs even though they hadn’t had any problems in their outbound Denver flight.

“In the end, with our flight being called for boarding, they did some sort of manual override that allowed us to proceed through security so that we could run to make our flight,” Donelson said.

Mark Repsher, a Lafayette resident, has run into the issue several times as he travels once or twice per month for his job as an energy consultant.

Repsher, who has TSA precheck, has had his ID rejected in multiple cities other than Denver, including Chicago and Detroit, he said. Most of the time, he simply shows his boarding pass to the agent but in one instance, he was asked to present his passport. Several other travelers also reported being asked to present their passports, even for domestic flights, when their ID wouldn’t scan.

“It’s usually the TSA agent and myself kind of laughing because we both know what’s happening because it happens a lot,” Repsher said.

by Sarah Madsen

Weld Central FFA took 27 FFA members to the State FFA Convention in Pueblo, CO on the days of June 5-8, 2023. FFA members were able to compete, attend sessions and workshops and connect with other members from around the state. The following students attended the convention: John Howard, Garrett Hall, Rylie Malocsay, Charlotte Goodman, Courtney Bydalek, Cody Bydalek, Breanne Dowdy, Brielle Bange, Hannah Auer, Citlali Calixto, Kennedy Cardillo, Peyton Witzel, Abby Stannard, Kayla Kitzman, Emily Spayd, Kashley Hayden, Tanner Rupple, Tessa Schutter, Cyler Troutner, Frederick Weisenborn, Jacob Turner, Aaron Rodriguez, Gavin Kitzman, Aubree Klausner, Sydnee Klausner, Leah Rupple, and Sydney Patrick.

Hannah Auer competed in the Extemporaneous Speaking Contest. She received Gold and was the State Winner. Citlali Calixto competed in the Agriscience Fair. She received Gold and was the State Winner in Division 3 of the Plant Systems category. Both members will represent Colorado at the National FFA Convention this fall. Garrett Hall competed in the Employment Skills contest and received Bronze. Weld Central FFA was recognized as a Gold chapter for the National Chapter Award contest.

Emily Spayd and Kennedy Cardillo were selected to be the delegates to represent the Weld Central FFA Chapter. They attended business meetings and were placed in committees to vote on different topics that impact Colorado FFA. John Howard volunteered his time to be a part of the Courtesy Corps where he helped Colorado FFA with the various contests offered at the convention. He received a state leadership pin. Peyton Witzel was recognized for receiving a scholarship through the Colorado FFA Foundation. Her scholarship was awarded from Occidental Petroleum Company for $1000.

Ten members from Weld Central FFA received their State FFA Degrees. This is the highest degree that Colorado FFA can confer on a member. Congratulations to Hannah Auer, Brielle Bange, Cyler Troutner, Sydnee Klausner, Sydney Patrick, Emily Spayd, Kayla Kitzman, Leah Rupple, Cody Bydalek, and Hannah Culp.

Abby Perez, State Executive Committee Member, retired from her Colorado FFA State Officer position at the convention. She did a wonderful job representing the Weld Central FFA chapter during her year in office as she traveled around the state and country serving the thousands of members in Colorado FFA.

Overall, the Weld Central FFA members had a successful convention. Congratulations to those who competed or received awards!

Riley Gaines: Defending Female Athletes

by Ambassador Callista L. Gingrich

This week marks the 51st anniversary of the enactment of Title IX, the historic federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex at federally funded educational institutions.

The passage of Title IX in 1972 significantly expanded opportunities for women in education and in competitive sports. As a result, participation in female sports greatly increased. During the 1971-1972 school year, just 294,015 girls participated in high school sports, compared to 3.67 million boys. By contrast, during the 20212022 school year, 3.2 million girls participated in high school athletics, compared to 4.4 million boys.

Similar increases occurred in women’s sports at the collegiate level. The number of female athletes at NCAA schools grew more than seven-fold from 1971 to 2020, with 215,486 women playing college sports in the 2020-2021 school year.

Today, these advancements are under threat as the Biden administration works to expand Title IX by putting forward a new Department of Education regulation requiring that schools allow biological males who identify as females to compete in women’s athletics.

As Heritage Action describes, “Biden’s regulation creates an almost unclearable hurdle – for every women’s sport, every school will be forced to demonstrate the risk of a ‘sports related injury’ to females in order to prevent the participation of males.”

As these threats to opportunities for women in sports continue, Riley Gaines, a 12time All-American swimmer with five SEC titles and a former athlete at the University of Kentucky, has emerged as a steadfast defender of female athletes.

Gaines began her advocacy work after competing against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who swam for the University of Pennsylvania men’s team for three years before becoming the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming title in 2022.

At the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming Championship, Riley and Lia tied for fifth place – within one-hundredth of a second – in the 200-meter event, and Lia became a swimming champion after beating University of Virginia’s Emma Weyant by more than a second in the 500-meter freestyle.

The biological advantages that Thomas had over the other female competitors sparked immense criticism. But despite so many female athletes being pressured to stay silent and accept the infiltration of women’s sports by biological men, Riley spoke out against the injustices being forced upon female athletes.

Shortly after the championships, Gaines said, “I have realized there are so many girls who feel the exact same way as I do but are told they can’t say anything… But what I’ve realized is if we want a change, you have to use your voice. We have to let people know as a group that a majority of female athletes — or females in general — are not okay with this.”

Gaines has continued to speak out, standing in solidarity with female athletes across America. She recently shared some of the messages she has received from young athletes on Twitter.

One young girl wrote to Gaines, “The same biological male who I raced in [cross country], I also raced in track. It all just feels unfair, I have absolutely no power to do anything.”

Another female athlete wrote to Gaines, “You’re a huge inspiration to me. Today, I found out that I didn’t qualify for [cross country] state because a transwoman took my spot. It’s my senior year in high school, and I’ll never get that chance again. Thank you for what you are doing.”

Gaines has not only used her voice and her platform to offer encouragement for young female athletes but also to call for political action.

On June 21, Gaines testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee and recounted her experience competing in the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming Championship.

“I know that I don’t speak for every single person who competed against Lia Thomas but I know I speak for many because I saw the tears,” Gaines said in her opening statement. “I saw the tears from the ninth and 17th place finishers who missed out on being named an All-American by one place. I can attest to the extreme discomfort in the locker room from these 18–22-year-old girls when you turn around and there’s male eyes watching in that same room. And I can attest to the whispers and the grumbles of anger and frustration from these girls who just like myself worked their entire lives to get to this meet.”

As the Biden administration seeks to expand Title IX protections to biological men, the advocacy efforts of Riley Gaines to defend female athletes are a source of hope and inspiration for women striving to achieve their dreams.

Colorado Democrats Want To Ax Social Studies From State Standardized Tests. Here’s Why.

A bill introduced last week would end state testing for fourth and seventh graders, and save the state more than $1 million per year by Erica Breunlin, The Colorado Sun Elementary and middle schoolers could stop taking state standardized assessments in social studies starting next year under a bill introduced last week by a group of Democrats, who want to spare Colorado teachers and students the time and stress of testing and save the state more than $1 million each year.

Scrapping social studies would be the latest change to standardized state tests, which have ignited fiery debates among parents, educators and lawmakers, especially in recent years as state testing was paused in 2020 during the pandemic and modified the following year.

The change would also hit a subject that has sparked its own controversies across the state and country, with some parents and critics questioning the ways social studies teachers talk to students about history and the groups of people whose history is covered in class.

In November, the Colorado State Board of Education voted along party lines, 4 to 3, to adopt more inclusive standards for social studies and bring back references to marginalized groups, including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, Colorado Public Radio reported. The vote came after both public support and opposition, including a failed attempt to instead use the conservative American Birthright social studies standards.

In proposing to do away with social studies tests on state assessments, Sen. Janice Marchman, a Loveland Democrat, aims to ease testing burdens on kids and educators and save the state money for what she sees as more pressing education needs — including paying teachers more and keeping class sizes low.

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“It’s hard to do that when we have so many commitments to pay for things like tests,” said Marchman, a prime sponsor of Senate Bill 61. “In my mind, this was lowhanging fruit.”

The state pays Pearson, a global company that provides textbooks, assessments and other education materials, more than $1 million per year for social studies state tests alone, according to Marchman.

Social studies is the only subject that the state mandates students be tested on. The federal government requires students to be assessed on the other subjects that are part of the Colorado Measures of Academic Success — English language arts, mathematics and science.

The state originally required that all students take a state exam in social studies in elementary, middle and high school, according to Jeremy Meyer, spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Education. In 2015, lawmakers passed legislation scaling back social studies testing on state standardized exams, changing the state’s approach to testing so that only a sample of schools would test students in elementary, middle and high school in social studies. The state used a staggered schedule, dividing schools into three groups with each group facilitating social studies state testing once every three years. A 2020 bill passed into law further reduced testing by eliminating social studies state exams for high schoolers altogether.

Students in fourth and seventh grades still technically are required to take state assessments in social studies when their school is up for testing every three years, but the state has halted social studies testing since 2019, in part because testing was paused in 2020 during the pandemic and modified in 2021. The state has continued to suspend testing in social studies in light of social studies standards having to be updated, which was completed with the State Board of Education’s vote in November. All state academic standards are evaluated on a six-year cycle.

Meyer noted that should the state stop testing elementary and middle school students if Senate Bill 61 passes, there would be no impact on school accountability as the exam results are not incorporated into Colorado’s school accountability system.

Marchman, whose career has included working as a middle school gifted and talented teacher and remediating small groups of middle schoolers who need extra help in math, sees an opportunity to lighten students’ testing load and even free them up from a day of exams. Schools often try to spread out testing to help students feel less pressure on state assessments, she said, noting that often means schools devote an additional day to social studies exams for fourth and seventh graders.

Mark Sass, who taught high school social studies for 26 years, most recently at Legacy High School in Broomfield, supports the end of state social studies testing so long as lawmakers are thoughtful about how they spend the savings. He’d like to see at least part of the money directed to CDE to help them find ways to increase participation on state assessments in other subjects, especially science, which has a low participation rate.

“We have to prioritize resources right now,” said Sass, who is executive director of Teach Plus Colorado, which helps teachers inform education policies. “And participation rates with math, English and science as well as social studies were down, and so … if we take this off the table and this then allows districts and schools to be able to increase participation rates in the other exams, then I would say, let’s prioritize that, let’s do that and let’s get rid of the social studies exam.”

But one question hovers top of mind for him.

“How does the state ensure or monitor that districts indeed are using standards that meet or exceed those standards that were set by the state?” Sass asked.

Marchman is confident that district assessments can effectively measure how well students are meeting state standards in social studies. District assessments will have to be tweaked after updates to the state’s social studies standards, and Marchman believes districts can show through their own assessments that they are meeting the revised state standards.

She added that educators have more control over district-level assessments and can better use the results to inform their instruction. Whereas teachers don’t receive CMAS results until the summer after students are tested in the spring, district assessments are graded much quicker. Teachers can use the results to adjust their instruction throughout the school year as they see immediately what concepts students grasp and areas where they lag behind, Marchman said.

Teachers, not outside testing organizations, should take the lead in determining what each student should know by grade level, she said.

“Who better to do that than the teachers who are held accountable to the standards of that grade level?” Marchman asked.

But Sass said that should social studies state tests be pulled, it will be up to each district to decide how they want to test their students. Some districts may not prioritize testing in social studies since it would not be a priority for the state, he said.

State Rep. Meghan Lukens, a Democrat from Steamboat Springs who is cosponsoring the bill, said tests are an important part of measuring student learning but is adamant that students can benefit long term from other ways of engaging with class material through debates, simulations, mock trials and civic-based projects.

“Social studies is essential to the success of our democracy, and we will still be teaching social studies,” said Lukens, who previously taught social studies for eight years, last at Steamboat Springs High School. “Students will still be learning social studies, and just because students aren’t being tested by a state-mandated assessment doesn’t mean that there won’t be engagement in social studies. In fact, there’s a lot of evidence that there are more effective and authentic ways to maximize student engagement in every subject.”

Other lawmakers, however, worry that doing away with social studies state tests will lead Colorado classrooms astray.

“Certainly we’d be moving in the wrong direction,” said Minority Leader Sen. Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican. “I care deeply about democracy. I care deeply about understanding social studies because that helps us understand who we are as a state and as a country and as a people.”

Lundeen noted that this year’s state education budget will total about $15 billion, and that the amount the state would save by axing social studies state exams would be “minuscule” in comparison. Those funds are “well spent,” he said.

Testing is also a critical part of helping students know that they’re actually learning what they set out to, Lundeen said, adding that social studies is one of the “core elements” of education that warrants assessments.

“Testing on social studies demonstrates our commitment to civil society, to understanding civics, to understanding the Constitution, to understanding the rights we have as people,” Lundeen said, “and to turn our back on that is an error.”

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported news organization that covers Colorado people, places and issues. To sign up for free newsletters, subscribe or learn more, visit ColoradoSun.com

They’re Not Victims

by Bill O’Reilly

The United States has lost its way. But you knew that. We are living in a time where personal responsibility means little. And a vivid example of that is people who consume hard drugs.

How dare you? Your behavior has led to millions of deaths. You, yourself, are at grave risk and, depending on your addiction level, are worthless to society.

By buying narcotics, you fuel lethal domestic drug gangs and the ultra-vicious Mexican cartels. When you pollute yourself with intoxicants, you harm those who depend on you. Most child abuse and neglect is caused by substance abusers.

Often, you are so screwed up you can’t earn an honest living. So you have to steal, sell poison to others, or prostitute yourself to buy drugs. You sometimes live in the streets, crashing civility and causing hard-working taxpayers to spend millions cleaning up after your “lifestyle.”

You have literally destroyed entire neighborhoods in San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, and other chaotic places that consider you a victim.

Of what? Nobody forced you to become a drug addict and lawbreaker. Yes, you may have an addictive personality, but so do millions of others who do not devote their lives to intoxication. The Constitution does not give you the right to “pursue happiness” by hurting people or walking around stoned all day.

The hard truth is you should be isolated from society, given “treatment”, and, if you continue your druggie ways, isolated for a longer period of time.

You, Mr. and Ms. drug user, contribute nothing to this country. You cause pain by committing crimes and ignoring your responsibility as productive human beings.

You are not victims. Only fools believe you are. Clean up before you die in a drug haze. Stop hurting innocent people in your selfish pursuit of inebriation.

It is long past time to call these drug addicts out, alcoholics as well.

Enough. Stop the excuse-making. These people have to be confronted. Not coddled.