Election 2026

Jared Polis Warns Colorado's Progressive Tax Ballot Measure Could 'Cripple' the Economy

Voters in Colorado will decide a pair of ballot initiatives next week that could secure the state's low-tax reputation or shatter it.

Eric Boehm | 10.29.2026 1:00 PM

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(Illustration: Adani Samat. Photo: Jesse Paul/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom/Volodymyr Tverdokhlib/Sergey Tolmachyov/Dreamstime.)

Next week's election is a pivotal one for Colorado, as voters will decide a pair of ballot questions that could secure the state's low-tax, small-government reputation—or shatter it.

Confusingly, there is a slim possibility that they decide to do both. More on that in a moment.

The two competing ballot measures could hardly be more different. The first, Proposition 136, would cap individual and corporate income taxes at 4.4 percent—the state's current flat rate.

The other, Amendment 87, would rewrite the state's constitution to allow for a progressive income tax. It would also set new rates, ranging from 7.4 percent on income over $500,000 to 8.4 percent on income over $1 million. And it would offer a modest tax cut to the lower end of the income spectrum: Individuals earning less than $100,000 would pay 4.2 percent, while those earning........

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