Legal staff seek clearer language, fix rate ambiguity in Colorado initiatives 47 and 48

Legal staff from the Colorado Legislative Council and the Office of Legislative Legal Services reviewed proposed ballot initiatives 47 and 48 on Feb. 7, 2025, and told the measures' designated representatives they must clarify wording about effective tax years and fix an ambiguity in the stated rate for initiative 48.

The initiatives both would lower Colorado's state individual and corporate income tax rates beginning in the 2027 tax year: initiative 47 would reduce the rate from 4.4% to 4.39%, and initiative 48 was clarified in the meeting to reduce the rate to 3.4%. The staff asked proponents to make drafting changes so the statutes clearly apply to the intended tax years and to remove ambiguous phrasing that could create uncertainty about which tax year a rate applies to.

A Legislative Council staff member read the single‑subject requirement from the state constitution and asked, “What is the single subject of each of the proposed initiatives?” The designated representative answered, “Both of them are a reduction in [the] tax rate,” identifying the initiatives' common purpose.

Staff raised a drafting issue about how the initiatives describe the effective date. One staffer noted that some tax years do not begin on Jan. 1 and said, "To reflect the fact that not all tax years begin on January 1 and to avoid potential ambiguity with respect to which rates apply to which tax years, would the proponents consider amending [the statutes] to instead state for income tax years commencing on or after 01/01/2027?" The proponents agreed to add language specifying applicability to income tax years commencing on or after Jan. 1, 2027.

Initiative 48 also contained ambiguous text for the proposed new rate. Staff asked whether the drafters intended "3.4%" or "3.04%." The designated representative responded, "3.4. So we've changed the words. To 4 tenths," and the group agreed to use 3.4% in the revised text.

Staff also pointed out that prior comments and questions from an earlier memorandum and meeting (a memorandum dated Feb. 1, 2025, and a public meeting on Feb. 7, 2025) remain relevant and would be considered part of the record unless restated. With the clarifications requested, the hearing for initiatives 47 and 48 was adjourned.

The meeting produced no formal vote; the outcome was that proponents will revise the draft language to clarify the effective tax year language and the numeric rate in initiative 48.