Giving It Up: Colorado Voters Reject Cannabis Tax Refunds
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]O[/dropcap]ne of the biggest recent debates in Colorado has been in reference to the hefty tax surplus after the first fiscal year of cannabis sales. Recently, the state government allowed residents to vote on whether or not they wanted an individual tax refund, or whether the money should be spent on improving schools and making the state a better place. The results are now in, and Colorado voters officially agreed to give the refund back to the state.
Not only did voters decide to return the refund, they did so overwhelmingly. The $66.1 million from recreational cannabis will be kept and spent by the state. The state return plan appeals to both parties—it makes the cannabis industry looks good and responsible, and it also provides an extremely helpful boost for the community.
The first $40 million of this return will go to Colorado school construction, and then $12 million will help out with youth substance-abuse programs, helping to keep underage kids away from cannabis, alcohol and harder, more harmful substances. Then, $14.1 million will be given to lawmakers’ discretionary accounts.
The “Vote Yes on Prop BB” campaign was able to raise $14,000 while the “Vote No on Prop BB” did not raise any money—another early indication that this measure would be successful.
“These election results shouldn’t surprise anyone,” Senator Pat Steadman, the Denver Democrat who originally wrote the measure, told the Denver Post. “Voters have twice indicated they wanted marijuana to be taxed, and the vote just reaffirms that for a third time.”
Voters in Colorado have indicated in the past that they wanted to give tax revenues to schools, but because of the Colorado Taxpayers Bill of Rights, this most recent vote became necessary since the original tax revenues were miscounted.
The measure passed by 69 percent, and only 23 out of 100 lawmakers voted against it. If individuals had received the tax refund, everyone would have gotten between $6 and $16 dollars.
“We are just fulfilling the promises that were made when Amendment 64 was passed,” state Representative, Polly Lawrence, R-Douglas County, told the Post.
“The original proponents of Amendment 64 were very clever . . . to tie pot taxes to school construction, even though the two have zero to do with each other,” Mike Krause of the Independence Institute added in an interview. “It made it an easy choice for a lot of voters.”
If this year was any indication, the cannabis industry in Colorado will be extremely lucrative for schools and the community for years to come.
