Colorado Amendment 87 tax debate

Colorado has something awesome called the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Among other things, it protects a simple principle: everyone pays the same state income-tax rate. If your income doubles, your tax doubles. Seems reasonable, right? Amendment 87 would repeal that protection and nearly double the top marginal state tax rate while modestly reducing the lowest rates. Under the new rules, doubling your taxable income could mean a state income-tax bill nearly four times what you’d owe on your current income today. To me, this looks like a blatant attempt to buy votes: the majority votes themselves a tax break funded by much higher taxes on a small minority. And it hits startups especially hard. Founders and early employees often spend years building something before receiving a substantial payoff from selling their shares after an IPO or in an acquisition. A decade of work with no guarantee of success can produce a payout counted as income in a single year—and taxed at much higher rates. I’ve spent a decade building Boom in Colorado, on track to create hundreds of high-paying jobs. Colorado’s tax fairness was one reason I chose to build here. Now voters are being asked to change those rules and take a much larger share of a potential taxable payoff from that work. Should I have built Boom in Texas, which has no state personal income tax? Should the next ambitious founder choose Colorado or somewhere else? Colorado is at a crossroads. Do we want to stay true to our OG spirit of rugged independence, freedom, and fairness—or make Colorado a less attractive place to build? Punishing success is morally wrong and bad policy to boot. We should be celebrating the people who build new things and create new wealth for themselves and others. Their work gives us companies, products, and jobs. Let’s keep Colorado as one of the best places to live, build, create, and innovate—and to enjoy the rewards of our hard-fought efforts. I’m voting no on Amendment 87.