Bruce Defeated

The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against Doug Bruce, in a suit in which he had alleged that a Colorado Springs ballot measure was invalid because it failed to comply with procedural requirements his ballot measure imposed upon attempted tax increases. The Colorado Supreme Court held that those requirements did not apply because a tax extension is not the same thing as a tax increase, and is not subject to the requirements that apply for tax increases.

Bruce, as is his custom, represented himself on appeal in the Colorado Supreme Court. As usual, this was a bad decision.

This decision also significantly narrows the scope of TABOR by providing that any time an existing tax is extended, the full tax increase requirements need not be followed.