Monthly Archive for Colorado
Colorado Stories Posted in August 2008
Initiatives a Bright Spot for Colorado GOP
Category: Initiative and Referendum · State: Colorado · Source: New West Politics
While the decline of Republican dominance in Colorado has been the topic of endless media speculation, the GOP has one bright spot heading toward November: The initiative process. A report carried in this week’s LA Times falsely suggested otherwise. Titled “GOP suffering from a lack of (ballot) initiative,” reporters Dan Morain and Nicholas Riccardi eagerly proclaimed that “The strategy of pushing propositions likely to draw conservatives to the polls has faltered as Republicans face mishaps in drafting measures and a more aggressive opposition.” While Morain and Riccardi are right that Colorado initiatives are facing aggressive opposition from well-funded liberals, including multiple millionaire and labor-backed lawsuits, the fact remains that of the four initiatives certified for the November ballot, all represent conservative or free-market efforts. As of Wednesday, not a single liberal initiative had been approved. But Morain and Riccardi got this basic fact wrong as well, writing, “. . . Democrats have succeeded in qualifying measures of their own [in Colorado].”
Ritter says credit used to lure industries in 1970s
Category: Taxes · State: Colorado · Source: Grand Junction Sentinel
“Enough is enough.” That’s the message Gov. Bill Ritter brought to Grand Junction on Thursday in his pitch for eliminating a lucrative tax credit Colorado’s oil and gas companies receive. Ritter told The Daily Sentinel’s editorial board that abolishing Colorado’s “ad valorem” tax credit is a matter of “fairness.” Ritter said the tax credit, which allows energy companies to subtract 87.5 percent of their property tax bills from the severance taxes they owe, has its roots in the late 1970s when Colorado wanted to help the energy industry establish itself in the state. State economists have credited the subsidy with severely eating into the amount of money Colorado can use to confront the stresses energy development places on local governments and public infrastructure. Ritter said the need for the credit is gone, given the health of the energy industry in Colorado. “There is a time when a tax credit becomes obsolete as a matter of fiscal policy,” Ritter said.
Other Monthly Archives for Colorado
- August 2008 (2)