Propositions LL & MM a warm up for much bigger tax hike

Colorado’s statewide Propositions LL and MM are ominous preludes to the so-called ‘progressive’ income tax proposition working its way towards next year’s ballot. But by rejecting LL and MM, voters can send a clear message to the legislature that Coloradans still believe in basic tax fairness and holding state government accountable.

As I previously explained, Propositions LL and MM were created to allow the legislature to skirt accountability for the flawed Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) program.

Whether intentionally or not, the state grossly misrepresented the costs of the HSMA program when it asked voters to pass Proposition FF in 2022.

Projected to cost between $71.4 million and $101.4 million once fully operational, the program instead cost $162 million in fiscal year 2023-24, running a budget deficit of $56 million which the legislature scrambled to fill.

According to a Common Sense Institute analysis, the deficit could continue to grow to $72.4 million by 2033.

Apparently, it was a giant surprise that a program explicitly intended to provide fully subsidized school lunches “for all” would see more parents opt their children into free stuff regardless of their capacity to provide lunch for their own children...

As disrespectful to the voters’ intelligence as LL and MM are, they are only a prelude to the effort to implement a progressive income tax in Colorado...

Rejecting LL and MM sends a powerful message in favor of accountability and tax fairness, and against the legislature’s money-grabbing schemes.

The worst of the questions voters face on Colorado’s ballot, by Mike Rosen, 23 October 2025.