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Straw Man
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No — I do not support Initiative 195.
Colorado's highest economic priority should be to create long-term opportunity for the benefit of every Coloradan — good jobs today and careers that build over decades, an education system that prepares our next generation to fill those careers, and the revenue to pay for our schools and the other infrastructure and services our communities count on.
A thriving and vital economy built on industries that will still be growing decades from now is essential for us to create long-term opportunity for the benefit of every Coloradan. Fortunately, we already have strong ecosystems in the industries that matter most: space, quantum, AI infrastructure, advanced energy, and critical minerals. Our strengths run wider still — agtech, natural foods, bioscience and healthcare, outdoor recreation, and a creative economy — supported by world-class research universities, federal laboratories, and a quality of life that draws people to Colorado and, once they are here, makes them want to stay.
Though Colorado is well positioned, we must recognize that we have lost momentum with the tech and business ecosystem. Texas, Florida, Utah, Arizona, and North Carolina are courting technology businesses aggressively, and they are succeeding at it. They have built recruitment programs, incentive funds, and tax structures designed for exactly that purpose. Four of the states we compete with have no income tax at all, and five more have recently cut theirs. They are capturing the companies and the talent leaving California and New York — and they are actively targeting businesses already rooted here in Colorado.
We need to ensure that businesses — particularly those in the sectors that will drive growth over the next decade and beyond — feel welcome in Colorado. That requires a genuine partnership with the leaders building them. For the companies already here, it means knowing this state wants them, and that we will support policies that make them want to stay and to put their next expansion here rather than in another state. We need Colorado to be a top choice for the founders, companies, and investors outside Colorado now deciding where in the country to build.
The question of whether the wealthy pay an appropriate level of taxes is a valid one. But where that question gets answered matters enormously. Changes made at the federal level would keep the playing field level for all fifty states. If Colorado becomes a state that taxes businesses and the wealthy far higher than states like Texas, Florida, Utah, and Arizona, we will struggle to attract and retain the fastest-growing companies.
We also need Colorado's tech and business leaders to do more. We need them to participate far more actively so that the benefits of a healthy and growing economy truly reach all Coloradans, and not only the people already inside it. This is a shared undertaking. The public and private sectors should work together to ensure that every Coloradan — including the generations that follow us — benefits from Colorado's leadership as a hub for innovation.
Initiative 195 would be devastating to Colorado's long-term economic viability. It would give this state the highest top income tax rate in our region by a wide margin, at the exact moment the states around us are cutting theirs and actively recruiting our companies. It would signal to every founder deciding where to build that Colorado is less desirable than the alternatives. And because it amends our constitution, a future legislature could not simply correct it.
The result would be fewer long-term opportunities for Coloradans — and the very real possibility that Colorado eventually collects less tax revenue, not more. The Coloradans who would pay the highest price are the ones who cannot vote on this measure at all: our children and our grandchildren, who would inherit a state that innovators had already decided to leave.
I oppose Initiative 195, and I will work to defeat it.
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