Judge Saves Colorado Amendment 87 From Ballot Removal

Judge Heidi Kutcher called it a “fundamental right.” That single phrase just kept Amendment 87 alive for the next two weeks.

The Denver District Court judge rejected a last-ditch legal challenge Wednesday, ruling that the state cannot strip valid voter signatures from a ballot measure simply because the people collecting them didn’t follow registration rules. The lawsuit, filed by a Republican activist in September against the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, argued that dozens of paid signature gatherers for Amendment 87 were improperly registered. The argument was straightforward on paper: if the circulators broke the rules, the signatures they collected should be void. Void enough to drop the initiative from the November ballot entirely.

Kutcher disagreed. In her ruling, she wrote that invalidating a signature from an otherwise valid registered elector because a paid circulator wasn’t properly registered would place “significant restrictions” on the right to participate in the initiative process. For context, this isn’t a technicality buried in a footnote. It’s the difference between voters deciding on a tax change and bureaucrats deciding for them based on paperwork errors.

Chris deGruy Kennedy, who leads the Bell Policy Center and is driving the effort to pass Amendment 87, said the group is “elated and relieved” by the decision. He also noted that anonymous, dark money donors will continue to throw every roadblock they can contrive to keep voters from deciding on the question of tax fairness. The Colorado Sun reported that it remains unclear whether opponents can appeal Kutcher’s ruling and secure a decision before Election Day, which is less than two weeks away.

Let’s do the math on what’s actually at stake here, because the legal maneuvering obscures the financial reality. Amendment 87 would replace Colorado’s flat income tax with six brackets for individuals and businesses. Under the current system, everyone pays 4.4%. Under Amendment 87, taxes would lower for people and businesses making under about $500,000 in annual state taxable income. Taxes would rise for those earning more than that threshold.

The measure promises to raise billions of dollars in new revenue for the state, earmarked for healthcare, K-12 education, and childcare. Those are not abstract line items. They are the services that show up in your property tax bill, your school district’s budget meetings, and your local hospital’s operating margins.

For folks around here, the $500,000 threshold is the number that matters. If your state taxable income sits below that mark, Amendment 87 lowers your tax burden. If it’s above, you pay more to fund the state’s core services. The legal fight wasn’t about who pays what; it was about whether you get to vote on that trade-off at all.

The judge’s ruling confirms that the petition process worked as intended, regardless of the circulators’ registration status. The measure stays on the ballot. The clock is ticking toward November, and the only thing left to decide is how you want your income taxed.