TABOR Lawsuit
Kerr et al. v. Polis
United States District Court for Colorado :: Civil Action No. 11-cv-1350-RM-NYW
United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit :: No. 12-1445
United States Supreme Court :: No. 14-460
A Constitutional Challenge to Colorado's "Taxpayer Bill of Rights"
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Kerr v. Polis (originally, Kerr v. Hickenlooper) is a lawsuit in federal district court in Colorado. The Plaintiffs (eight boards of education, a county commission, a special district board, current and past Colorado state legislators, public officials, educators, administrators and private citizens) have sued to overturn the Taxpayer Bill of Rights ("TABOR"). TABOR is an amendment to the Colorado Constitution passed by the voters in 1992. Among its many provisions, TABOR removed from the legislature (and all other levels of state government) the power to enact tax legislation. Instead, it requires any new tax measures to go to a vote of the people. TABOR also requires refunds of tax revenues that exceed an annually-adjusted cap on state spending, unless voters approve keeping the "excess." These key areas of fiscal policy are put off limits to the normal functions of representative institutions -- proposals, hearings about impacts, consideration of other interests and alternatives, deliberation, and compromise. By so eliminating and limiting essential fiscal powers of the Colorado General Assembly and the state's political subdivisions, the Plaintiffs claim that TABOR has fundamentally undermined the ability of Colorado’s representative democracy to function. As a result, the state no longer has a "republican form of government." A republican form of government is, however, guaranteed to all states under the Guarantee Clause (Article IV, section 4) of the United States Constitution and also is required to be maintained in the Colorado State Constitution by federal statute (the Colorado Statehood Act of 1875). TABOR thus violates Article IV, section 4, and the requirements of the Statehood Act, and should be invalidated by the court.
Kerr et al. v. Polis
United States District Court for Colorado :: Civil Action No. 11-cv-1350-RM-NYW
United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit :: No. 12-1445
United States Supreme Court :: No. 14-460
A Constitutional Challenge to Colorado's "Taxpayer Bill of Rights"
* * * * * *
Kerr v. Polis (originally, Kerr v. Hickenlooper) is a lawsuit in federal district court in Colorado. The Plaintiffs (eight boards of education, a county commission, a special district board, current and past Colorado state legislators, public officials, educators, administrators and private citizens) have sued to overturn the Taxpayer Bill of Rights ("TABOR"). TABOR is an amendment to the Colorado Constitution passed by the voters in 1992. Among its many provisions, TABOR removed from the legislature (and all other levels of state government) the power to enact tax legislation. Instead, it requires any new tax measures to go to a vote of the people. TABOR also requires refunds of tax revenues that exceed an annually-adjusted cap on state spending, unless voters approve keeping the "excess." These key areas of fiscal policy are put off limits to the normal functions of representative institutions -- proposals, hearings about impacts, consideration of other interests and alternatives, deliberation, and compromise. By so eliminating and limiting essential fiscal powers of the Colorado General Assembly and the state's political subdivisions, the Plaintiffs claim that TABOR has fundamentally undermined the ability of Colorado’s representative democracy to function. As a result, the state no longer has a "republican form of government." A republican form of government is, however, guaranteed to all states under the Guarantee Clause (Article IV, section 4) of the United States Constitution and also is required to be maintained in the Colorado State Constitution by federal statute (the Colorado Statehood Act of 1875). TABOR thus violates Article IV, section 4, and the requirements of the Statehood Act, and should be invalidated by the court.