FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 20, 2023
CONTACT: Sara Loflin, Executive Director at [email protected]
DENVER: As Colorado lawmakers wrapped up the special session of the legislation called by Gov. Jared Polis to address property tax and relief for renters and working families, ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest multi-issue progressive advocacy organization, thanked lawmakers for staying on course through attempts to distract and obstruct from the goals set out by Gov. Jared Polis when he called the special session, and delivering tangible relief for Colorado taxpayers of all income levels.
“The goals of this year’s special session were simple: provide relief for homeowners facing higher property tax bills, while ensuring that local communities and renters got help dealing with the staggering increases in the cost of living,” said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Sara Loflin. “Despite attempts by the far right to derail the debate over helping renters by smearing them as cocaine users, lawmakers stayed focused on the objective of economic relief for Coloradans that left no one behind.”
“Expanding the earned-income tax credit is one of the most effective means of direct tax relief for working families who have been hard hit by rent increases and inflation,” said Loflin. “One of the biggest challenges of the property tax debate for progressive voters was a sense that renters were being left out of relief, and with this expanded tax relief for working families, we’re helping more Coloradans who need relief most of all.”
“Once again, Colorado progressives have ‘made lemonade’ from the bad policy of TABOR to provide equal refunds to every taxpayer–once again increasing the benefit to working families in greatest need of relief,” said Loflin. “The property tax relief bill avoids tapping into TABOR surplus for the next year, and when lawmakers return in January they’ll be tasked with a long-term solution that protects local communities and public schools. This special session was never going to solve all of the complex long-term fiscal problems facing the state, but with diligence and compassion our progressive majority delivered tangible economic relief that every Coloradan will benefit from.”
