Tag: antitax initiatives

Long silent on the subject of three Colorado tax-slashing ballot initiatives, Republican candidate for governor Scott McInnis reportedly told attendees at the state's Contractors Association convention at the beginning of the month that in fact he did not support the initiatives, which have been popular with Tea Party activists in the state. McInnis agreed with Gov. Bill Ritter, Denver mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper and other lawmakers, including GOP legislative leaders, that the initiatives would destroy the state government's ability to function.

Gov. Bill Ritter last week decried a trio of anti-tax initiatives heading for the Colorado ballot next year and challenged his Republican opponents to recognize the threat the initiatives pose to the state and come out strongly against them.

As Colorado wrestles with an already lean state budget growing leaner by the day -- one that has forced Gov. Bill Ritter to propose repeated controversial cuts to state services this year -- a trio of budget busting anti-tax initiatives is speeding its way to the 2010 ballot. The dramatic nature of the initiatives, which plainly seek to shrink state government, and their timing, coming as they do amid an historic budget crisis, has sparked high media interest and political buzz.