And why now?

Yeah.

Well, I have to start by describing the problem that got us here, and I know a lot of the listeners will already know this, but Colorado really is in a budget crisis, and this did precede the so-called Big Beautiful Bill.

You know, the TABOR cap that was significantly amended in 2005 you know, still has been having the effect of artificially constraining the growth of government compared to the needs of our economy.

And the primary reason for this is that the cap is inappropriately calibrated to the growth of our economy.

It is based on consumer price inflation as opposed to a more appropriate growth metric for the cost of the things government spends money on.

And the best example of this is healthcare, where we've seen costs grow about twice as fast as consumer price inflation for a number of years.

What's your take on that? What's the campaign thinking?

So I'm curious, what led you and the other officials participating in your coalition to decide that a change as seismic as completely retooling the state's income tax system is what's needed?

Thank you for the question.

So I would say that there have been two crises brewing in Colorado, one of which is a state budget crisis and the other which is an affordability crisis impacting Colorado's families.

And the combination of those two things is why we moved forward with the graduated income tax.

So starting with the state budget crisis.

We have to first acknowledge that the taper caps design that's based on consumer price inflation has not in fact allowed the state budget to grow with our growing economy.

And that is primarily because the cost of the things government spends money on have grown consistently faster than the cost of consumer prices.

So with that said, tell me why you think we shouldn't be worried about businesses cutting back on Colorado investments if they're going to be asked to pay more to the state.