Sen Winter's problems with alcohol didn't happen overnight. Updating the TABOR lawsuit against LSP Water Conservancy. DeGruy's income redistribution scheme ... with your TABOR refund.
Alcoholism doesn't happen overnight. Where was our media? Where were her colleagues?
Senator Faith Winter last week announced that she was headed to rehab for an alcohol problem (see the first link below). I hope she gets the treatment she needs and gets herself in order.
Alcoholism doesn't happen overnight. It needn't take years I think, but it's not a thing where you wake up on a Monday and then become an alcoholic by a townhall meeting on a Wednesday evening.
And it was during a townhall meeting last Wednesday apparently that Sen Winter's problem came to the fore.
Where were her colleagues? Where was the media? I doubt highly that a week ago was the first time problem drinking or showing up tipsy or some other such manifested itself.
If her colleagues knew and did nothing shame on them. They not only cheated Sen Winter, they cheated the people of Colorado.
The same goes for the media. If they knew and didn't report on it, they likewise cheated us all.
But I go further. Even if they were unaware, I can't help but wonder whether or not their attention was diverted. Think of all the times you read about Boebert. Think of all the times you read about Dave Williams.
Perhaps, as I note in my op ed linked second below, if the media wasn't (for a variety of reasons) leaning so hard on Republicans, they might've reported on the majority party, big wheel Senate Democrat who was an alcoholic.
https://coloradosun.com/2024/04/04/faith-winter-substance-abuse-treatment-colorado/
https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com/2024/03/05/gaines-political-press-soft-pedals-democrat-dominance/
Related and missing from a lot of the "rehab" coverage:
I wanted to be sure to touch on this because it's getting lost under a pile of "Senator goes to rehab coverage".
Sen Winter was at the meeting she was drunk at to be on a panel discussion about a halfway house which could possibly house sex offenders. A facility which would be located near a school. It would be a halfway house that she paved the way for by sponsoring a 2022 bill. One which Northglenn residents were there in opposition to.
https://kdvr.com/news/politics/colorado-politics-news/sen-faith-winter-step-down-committee-treatment-northglenn/
An update to the TABOR lawsuit against the Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District
I have posted in the past about the lawsuit against the Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District and how they doubled their water rates without a vote of the people.
In what an appellate court has now unanimously upheld as a violation of TABOR**, the water district doubled the property tax rates starting in 2019 without a vote of those in the district.
The water district, for its part has long held it was not a violation, as evidenced by the fact that this fight has been going on for years and has reached the appellate court. They are wrong, and they have been wrong all along.
The language in TABOR has not been ambiguous.
I want to leave you with a quote from the blog post about the article by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (the group that funded the court case for those in the district that fought the tax increase):
"And, finally, the Court rejected the Water District's assertion that the sky will fall if they can't avoid a TABOR vote and double the rates overnight. TABOR simply requires the government to ask permission if it wants more tax money. Various government entities—schools, libraries, fire departments, etc.—routinely ask for more money and get it because the taxpayers agree it is worth the investment. If the Water District thinks it needs more funds, it needs to ask."
One more time for emphasis:
"Various government entities—schools, libraries, fire departments, etc.—routinely ask for more money and get it because the taxpayers agree it is worth the investment. If the Water District thinks it needs more funds, it needs to ask."
**A case which would, of course, go the other way at the State Supreme Court, a court that has no issue at all in interpreting TABOR to be so flexible as to be meaningless.
https://www.ntu.org/foundation/detail/ntuf-victory-in-colorado-appellate-court-holds-tabor-prevents-doubling-of-tax-rate-without-a-vote-of-the-people
It is your money, it's not the governments. And right now, the House will start debating whether they should take your money and give it to others.
Have you enjoyed getting your money back via Taxpayer's Bill of Rights refunds? Our state has a limit on how much of your money it can keep, and when it exceeds that limit, you are due your money back.
That is, unless the bill linked first below passes. Any surplus of the money you worked to earn which the government took out of your paycheck will not go back to you. It will go back to families below a certain income level who have children under 16.
And this includes families which paid no tax at all.
Put in fancier language than this, let me quote the bill's fiscal note:
"The bill classifies the family affordability tax credit as a TABOR refund mechanism, starting forthe FY 2023-24 TABOR surplus, refunded in tax year 2024, after the homestead property taxrefund mechanisms. For any year in which the TABOR surplus is not projected to exceed theamount of the homestead property tax refund mechanisms plus the projected full amount of thefamily affordability credit, the amount of the credit is reduced proportionately, and is not allowed if the TABOR surplus is not projected to exceed the homestead property tax refunds."
And the attached screenshot (also from the fiscal note), says in pictures exactly what I put in words: if you pay more tax you will get less of your money back.
No kids? Kids older than 16? Sorry. You just don't get a TABOR refund until you qualify for the senior homestead exemption.
This bill has (surprise surprise) passed out of its first House committee hearing, but not without some folks speaking up strongly for it.
I want to point you to the video below. It's from Free State Colorado and it's Natalie Menten breaking this turd of a bill down. It's worth a watch, but I would point you specially to the 25:33 mark.
I found Ms. Menten's testimony quite powerful and worth a watch, even if you see nothing else in the video.
If you are interested in speaking up on the bill, contact your representative and tell them your thoughts. I have added this bill to my list of bills to watch and I'm going to try and catch it so I can testify against it when it hits the Senate. If you want to testify against it too, copy the bill link and check back to see its progress.
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1311
https://freestatecolorado.com/hb24-1311/