The group behind Amendment 87, which would create a graduated income tax in Colorado, claims the ballot measure has gotten enough votes to pass. They announced the presumed victory during a news conference on Thursday afternoon.
Amendment 87 would amend the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, and create a new graduated state income tax. The move would lower the rate for the least wealthy Coloradans and raise it for the wealthiest.
At 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, votes to approve the tiered system were leading those opposed by 27,452 votes and just over 1 percentage point. The measure needs a simple majority to pass.
On Tuesday night, Amendment 87 supporters gathered and awaited results. State Rep. Lorena Garcia said she was disappointed that Governor-elect Phil Weiser came out against the measure.
“Honestly, when he came out against 87, as somebody who sits on finance, as somebody who watches the budget closely, as a state legislator that has to look people in the face when we’re making these cuts, it made me really concerned that he doesn’t actually fully grasp what he’s walking into,” Garcia said.
Outgoing Gov. Jared Polis also spoke against the measure during an interview with Colorado Matters on Wednesday.
“I’m fine with what it does with individual taxes,” he said. “What I’ve talked about is what it does and doubling the rate for small businesses and medium-sized businesses. It’ll lead to massive unemployment here. It’ll drive companies from Colorado. I’m very worried about that.”
Chris deGruy Kennedy is president and CEO of the Bell Policy Center as well as a former Democratic lawmaker and co-chair of Protect Colorado’s Future, the coalition behind Amendment 87. He was optimistic that 87 would pass.
“I think the message is that voters have made the choice to make a huge change in the direction of our state, making investments in regular working people, an idea that our economy is driven by hardworking people as opposed to the billionaires and the giant corporations at the very top,” he said. “And as a result, we’ll have a fairer tax code in the state, regular folks are going to get a tax cut, and then we’re going to see a huge new investment in K-12 education, healthcare, and childcare that’s going to pay huge dividends for regular working people and older adults.”
How we got here
Colorado’s 2026 election had some heavyweight brawls, most notably the contest for the 8th Congressional District, one of America’s swingiest races, which could help decide which party controls the House of Representatives.
But the slugfest over Amendment 87, which would create a graduated state income tax, was right up there.
It had it all.
It was the 196-word question that launched a thousand mailers, social media ads and TV spots, an untold and vast expense from dark money groups, not to mention its own tax calculator.
It was the ballot measure that birthed another rival measure, Proposition 136, which would cap the income tax rate at 4.4%.
It was the squabble that spotlighted a gaping divide among Democrats.
Polis and former U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar spoke out against it, saying it’d be bad for the state’s economy. Progressive state lawmakers and a coalition of like-minded groups said it would set up a much fairer income tax, while raising a couple billion dollars plus a year for healthcare and schools, with the state’s budget in dire straits.
They gathered more than 124,000 signatures to put it on the ballot.
Signatures, and the gathering thereof, sparked a courtroom clash that brought into the fray the actions of the office of the Democratic Secretary of State and candidate for Attorney General Jena Griswold.
An opponent of the ballot proposal sued, saying Amendment 87 backers didn’t properly follow the rules for signature gathering — and that the Secretary of State’s office should have nullified signatures gathered by those paid collectors, which would have nullified the proposal.
A district court judge dismissed the challenge on Oct. 21, siding with graduated income tax supporters, ruling that state law doesn’t let the elections office block a proposal from making the ballot because of registration problems with circulators who gather signatures.
By this time, thousands of Coloradans had already cast their ballots.
The next day, attorneys for the plaintiff from powerhouse Denver firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case Oct. 23
It took the case and then issued a ruling five days before Election Day, which allowed Amendment 87 to survive.
Amendment 87 would amend the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, to establish a new graduated state income tax. It would decrease the rate for the least wealthy Coloradans and increase it for the wealthiest.
The dividing line between households and businesses that would see their tax bill go up versus those that would see their tax bill go down is about $500,000 per year. Some estimates have that line as high as $1 million per year, depending on the business or household.
If it passes, the initiative is expected to raise $2.7 billion a year for the state.
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