TABOR is the acronym for the Taxpayer Bill of Rights which limits the amount of revenue the State of Colorado can retain and spend. Government revenues can only be increased if the population also grows or if the consumer price index increases. TABOR also requires that changes to tax policies such as spending limits and tax raises must have voter approval before they can be put into action. In “Fiscal Management Implications of the TABOR Bind” it is explained that the government is also limited in its ability to increase revenue, with only a 6% increase from the previous year allowed. This limits the funds that governments can store as emergency funds and causes issues with federal subsidies like those provided for the reinsurance program that Colorado is using to help provide health insurance for residents facing high healthcare costs.
There have been several bills that have been proposed and passed in Colorado this year in an effort to help people handle the high costs of health care and health insurance. Two notable bills that were passed this year are HB19-1168 or the State Innovation Waiver Reinsurance Program and SB19-004 or the Address High-cost Health Insurance Pilot Program. Both of these bills were introduced in order to help individuals and communities have access to affordable healthcare and health insurance. These bills were especially created to help those in rural areas deal with healthcare costs as they tend to have less choice in healthcare providers and fewer options for health insurance providers as shown bt this chart from What's Different about Rural Health Care in Colorado:
The Address High-cost Health Insurance Pilot Program modified "Health care coverage cooperative laws to include consumer protections and allow consumers to collectively negotiate rates directly with providers". The bill did go through the Senate appropriations committee but neither the state or federal government provides funding for the bill as the bill was created to allow communities to form their own healthcare cooperatives. The lack of funding going to SB19-004 allowed for it to be passed without going through the rules of TABOR. HB19-1168, on the other hand, does fall under TABOR rules as it involves revenue spending. The State Innovation Waiver Reinsurance Program was passed and receives federal funding to help support the waiver program. However, this additional funding could cause the state to break the TABOR rule that limits the state general fund appropriations to a 6% increase over the prior year as well as some revenue requirements under TABOR. Because HB19-1168 spending counts against the revenue caps required by TABOR it limits spending in other areas of the State budget. If HB19-1168 can be legally classified as an 'enterprise' then it will be exempt for TABOR rules and will not risk hitting the revenue cap, but to be classified as an enterprise HB19-1168 must receive less than 10% of its funding from the state. In HB19-1168 there is an emphasis placed on receiving federal funding for the waiver program this is because the lawmakers are hoping to receive enough federal funding for HB19-1168 so that it can remain under the 10% state spending limit and be exempt from TABOR rules.
There have been several bills that have been proposed and passed in Colorado this year in an effort to help people handle the high costs of health care and health insurance. Two notable bills that were passed this year are HB19-1168 or the State Innovation Waiver Reinsurance Program and SB19-004 or the Address High-cost Health Insurance Pilot Program. Both of these bills were introduced in order to help individuals and communities have access to affordable healthcare and health insurance. These bills were especially created to help those in rural areas deal with healthcare costs as they tend to have less choice in healthcare providers and fewer options for health insurance providers as shown bt this chart from What's Different about Rural Health Care in Colorado:
The Address High-cost Health Insurance Pilot Program modified "Health care coverage cooperative laws to include consumer protections and allow consumers to collectively negotiate rates directly with providers". The bill did go through the Senate appropriations committee but neither the state or federal government provides funding for the bill as the bill was created to allow communities to form their own healthcare cooperatives. The lack of funding going to SB19-004 allowed for it to be passed without going through the rules of TABOR. HB19-1168, on the other hand, does fall under TABOR rules as it involves revenue spending. The State Innovation Waiver Reinsurance Program was passed and receives federal funding to help support the waiver program. However, this additional funding could cause the state to break the TABOR rule that limits the state general fund appropriations to a 6% increase over the prior year as well as some revenue requirements under TABOR. Because HB19-1168 spending counts against the revenue caps required by TABOR it limits spending in other areas of the State budget. If HB19-1168 can be legally classified as an 'enterprise' then it will be exempt for TABOR rules and will not risk hitting the revenue cap, but to be classified as an enterprise HB19-1168 must receive less than 10% of its funding from the state. In HB19-1168 there is an emphasis placed on receiving federal funding for the waiver program this is because the lawmakers are hoping to receive enough federal funding for HB19-1168 so that it can remain under the 10% state spending limit and be exempt from TABOR rules.
Works Cited
“Address High-Cost Health Insurance Pilot Program.” Address High-Cost Health Insurance Pilot Program | Colorado General Assembly, 18 Apr. 2019, https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb19-004.
“Colorado's New Reinsurance Program Has a TABOR Problem. Lawmakers Fear That Could Cause ‘Cascading’ Impacts across the Budget.” The Colorado Sun, https://coloradosun.com/2019/12/04/reinsurance-tabor-budget-polis/.
Martell, Christine R., and Paul Teske. “Fiscal Management Implications of the TABOR Bind.” Public Administration Review, vol. 67, no. 4, 2007, pp. 673–687., doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00752.x.
“State Innovation Waiver Reinsurance Program.” State Innovation Waiver Reinsurance Program | Colorado General Assembly, 3 May 2019, https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb19-1168.
“TABOR.” TABOR | Colorado General Assembly, https://leg.colorado.gov/agencies/legislative-council-staff/tabor.
“What's Different about Rural Health Care in Colorado?” Health Care Aware Colorado, http://healthcareawarecolorado.org/2015/02/whats-different-about-rural-health-care-in-colorado/.
I really liked how you included different bills that are very controversial in Colorado Politics which is tax bills and insurance bills. I did my blog on the Colorado TABOR bill as well, and I liked how your brought up the TABOR bill makes certain processes in the Colorado legislation more difficult. Lack of funding or how bills within the TABOR category are very critical to how voters do cast their vote. Rural versus urban perspective is important in how votes in Colorado will turn out, because of party identification, which a lot of voters in general no matter what party, are not very favorable for increasing taxes.
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