THERE GOES MY “LIBERTARIAN” GOVERNOR AGAIN: Gov. Polis eyes taxpayer refunds as budget wound band-aid.

While the most obvious and effective way to address the state’s budget would be to tackle Medicaid’s perverse incentives that drive bloated costs, there is no shortage of creative ways the legislature can try to dig deeper into Colorado taxpayers’ pockets.

One proposal, as suggested by Polis’ office, is to reduce the amount of over-collected revenue refunded to Coloradans under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) in fiscal years 2026-27 and 2027-28, thereby increasing General Fund revenue by approximately $296.1 million across both budget years.

They argue that the state government is entitled to recoup some of the TABOR refunds paid in FY2025-26 because of the immediate state revenue losses caused by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).

While Polis’ office is apparently confident in the legality of this reasoning, JBC analysts remain unconvinced, saying the scheme poses significant legal risk and that if the state were to lose the legal battle, it could be required to make substantial repayments to Colorado taxpayers, with interest, potentially exacerbating the state’s structural budget issues.

Per capita state spending has risen more than 25% in inflation-adjusted terms since Polis took office, and what’s left of the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights (TABOR) is the only thing slowing that down.

Colorado didn’t seem to be suffering from a lack of government all those per capita dollars ago, I can’t think of anything that’s gotten better, particularly in education — and the roads certainly seem to be worse.

Heckuva job, Jared.