Advance Colorado and Englewood City Council member Steven Ward filed a lawsuit on May 15, 2023, in Denver County District Court, challenging the property tax measure recently placed on Colorado’s Nov. 2023 ballot. The lawsuit alleges that the measure violates the state’s single-subject rule, which requires ballot measures to concern a single subject, and alleges…
The Texas Constitution provides that the office of county treasurer may be abolished via a constitutional amendment. Galveston County may be the next county to join nine others that previously abolished the office of treasurer in November. The last time Texans decided on such an amendment was in 1987 with the abolition of county treasurers…
As of May 16, 2023, 13 statewide measures have been certified for the ballot in eight states for elections in 2023. That’s five more measures than the average number (8) certified at this point in other odd-numbered years from 2011 to 2021. For 2024, 34 statewide measures have been certified in 18 states. That’s five…
On May 15, three senators involved with the walkout—Daniel Bonham (R), Dennis Linthicum (R), and Brian Boquist (I)—accrued their 10th unexcused absences, a threshold making them ineligible to be re-elected to a subsequent term under Measure 113, a ballot measure Oregon voters approved in 2022. The walkout began on May 3 when all but two…
The Texas State Legislature voted to send a constitutional amendment to the Nov. ballot that would increase the mandatory retirement age for state judges and justices from 75 to 79—the second-highest retirement age in the country, excluding those with no mandatory retirement ages. Vermont adopted in 2003 the highest retirement age for state judges at…
In Missouri, a constitutional amendment that would allow childcare establishments to be exempt from property taxes was certified for the Nov. 5, 2024, ballot. On May 12, 2023, the Missouri House of Representatives voted 91-27 to pass the amendment. It previously passed the Missouri State Senate by 33-0 on March 23, 2023. To propose a…
An amendment that would require a 60% majority from voters to approve constitutional amendments will appear on the ballot in Ohio on Aug. 8, 2023. The Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio State Senate both voted on May 10, 2023, to send the measure to the ballot. The House voted 62-37 to pass the…
The Colorado State Legislature referred two ballot measures concerning taxes and state revenue to the Nov. 2023 ballot before adjourning the legislative session on May 8. Ballot initiatives on the ballot in Colorado during odd-numbered years are limited to topics concerning taxes or state fiscal matters under TABOR, the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. This includes…
From 2011 to 2021, voters decided 216 parcel tax-related ballot measures in California during odd-numbered year elections. Voters approved 133 (61.57%) and rejected 83 (38.43%). Through April, voters have decided on nine parcel tax ballot measures in California in 2023. Eight (88.89%) were approved, and one (11.11%) was defeated. This approval rate is higher than…
Colorado voters will be asked in Nov. 2023 whether to allow the state to retain revenue above the estimated revenue generated from increased taxes on cigarettes and tobacco and nicotine products established by Proposition EE, which was approved by voters in 2020. Proposition EE increased cigarette and tobacco product taxes and created a new tax…