Committee advances TABOR clarification bill defining certain collections as exempt

Representative Zocai, the bill sponsor, told the House Finance Committee that Senate Bill 42 refines longstanding language in Article X of the Colorado Constitution to ensure certain revenues are correctly classified as exempt from fiscal‑year spending calculations under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR).

Zocai said the bill specifies that certain receipts—such as revenue from the excise tax on aviation fuel placed in an aviation fund and fees collected by the Department of Public Safety for FBI criminal‑history checks that are transmitted to the FBI—should be treated as “collections for another government.” The bill also lists damage awards and restitution credited to the Highway Users Tax Fund and other victim compensation funds as excluded items.

During the witness phase, Patty McKernan urged the committee to vote no, saying the measure “reclassifies revenue to skirt the intent of TABOR” and that lawmakers should not rely on semantic changes to expand spending. Supportive testimony countered that the measure is a technical clarification that restores the original constitutional intent.

Sponsors offered a short technical amendment to restore language struck in the Senate; the committee adopted that amendment without objection and then moved the bill to Appropriations with a favorable recommendation.

The committee’s roll call on the motion recorded the following responses: Brooks (No), Camacho (Yes), DeGraff (Present/joined), Garcia (Yes), Gonzales (No), Mark Sook (No), Marshall (Yes), Stewart (Yes), Zocai (Yes), Totone (Yes), Chair Woodrow (Yes).