JON CALDERA: The three different ways Coloradans are being taxed.

Here’s one:

The untold story of the Jared Polis years is the explosion of Colorado’s regulatory state. The Mercatus Center released a report on regulations throughout the states. And congratulations, Colorado, we have skyrocketed to No. 12 in the number of regulations.

As of 2023, we have 165,994 regulatory restrictions. By contrast neighboring Kansas and Nebraska have around 75,000. Idaho clocks in at only 31,497 — five times less than us.

Colorado has 53,550 environmental restrictions, while the national average is close to half that. How much of your health care costs are from regulations? We have 13,719 restrictions on health care services, while the national average is only 4,673.

It’s not just that there are so many more regulations here. It’s that authorities to create even more regulations is growing like a cancer.

Take the Air Quality Control Commission. Just a few years ago, it was called the Regional Air Quality Council and had no real authority other than making recommendations. The legislature mutated it into a “commission” on par with the likes of the omnipotent Public Utilities Commission.

It now has near unlimited authority to regulate the state out of business. From banning gas-powered tools to forcing companies to require their employees to carpool, this unelected star chamber is working to make Colorado unaffordable.

Previously: ‘F’ Is for Democrat: Colorado’s Collapse Under One-Party Rule.