Comment on Today’s State Supreme Court TABOR Hearing

Date: June 25, 2019

"NFIB has exposed Colorado’s business licensing fee for what it is – an unconstitutional tax under TABOR."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tony Gagliardi, Colorado State Director, 303-325-6243, [email protected]
or Karen Harned, NFIB Small Business Legal Center, 202-314-2061; 202-631-4610, cell; [email protected], or Luke Wake, Senior Staff Attorney, 916-384-7648, [email protected]

DENVER, June 25, 2019—The following comment was issued by Karen Harned, executive director of the NFIB Small Business Legal Center, after today’s Colorado Supreme Court hearing on the TABOR case.

Through this lawsuit and our arguments today, NFIB has exposed Colorado’s business licensing ‘fee’ for what it is – an unconstitutional tax under TABOR. Colorado’s small-business owners should not be the honeypot for the Secretary of State and the non-business programs it administers, like statewide elections.

Background

The case was first heard in a Denver District Court in 2014, which dismissed NFIB’s suit. It was later taken up by the Court of Appeals for further review. The Court of Appeals held that the case was improperly dismissed, but nonetheless declined to rule on the fundamental tax question at issue.

“The Department collects over $20 million annually from these charges,” according to NFIB’s lawsuit “However, only a small portion of that revenue is used to cover the Department’s costs in collecting and managing these filings. Instead, the vast majority of the revenue – as much as 90% — is used to fund other unrelated functions within the Department, most notably coordinating state elections and directly funding some local elections … these ‘fees’ are in reality a tax – money raised and spent for the general expenses of government. And, as such, the Colorado Constitution … requires that voters authorize this tax. Because no such approval was obtained, the charge amounts beyond that necessary to cover the costs of managing the business filings, along with their authorizing statutes are unconstitutional.”

The case was previously captioned as NFIB v. Gessler and, more recently, Wayne W. Williams v. National Federation of Independent Business. But the defendant’s name has changed to reflect the current Colorado secretary of state. The current Secretary of State, Jenna Griswold, took office in January 2019.

Related News Releases

April 9, 2019—Oral Arguments Begin Tomorrow on TABOR-Related Case

June 26, 2018—Colorado Supreme Court to Hear TABOR Case

July 19, 2017—Small Business Asks Colorado Supreme Court for Answers

###

For more than 75 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.

National Federation of Independent Business/Colorado
1580 Logan St. Suite 520
Denver, CO 80203
303-831-6099
www.nfib.com/colorado
Twitter: @NFIB_CO

 

Subscribe For Free News And Tips

Enter your email to get FREE small business insights. Learn more

Get to know NFIB

NFIB is a member-driven organization advocating on behalf of small and independent businesses nationwide.

Learn More

Or call us today
1-800-634-2669

© 2001 - 2024 National Federation of Independent Business. All Rights Reserved. Terms and Conditions | Privacy