DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado voters will soon decide on statewide measures that address things like affordable housing, school meals, psychedelic drugs and alcohol. And of course, there will be several measures on taxes.
There are 11 statewide measures on the ballot this general election.
The proposed amendments to the Colorado Constitution will each require 55% approval, while the remaining measures will each require a simple majority vote to pass, according to the 2022 ballot information book, known as the Blue Book.
The Blue Book breaks down the pros and cons of each measure, and it’s available in English-language and Spanish-language text versions, and there’s also an audio version.
Five of the measures were referred by the state legislature, while the other six were citizen-led. (Here’s an easy way to tell, according to the Blue Book: An amendment or proposition placed on the ballot by the legislature is named with a letter or double letters, while citizen-led measures are named with numbers).
Voters have until Monday, Oct. 31, to return their ballot by mail and until Tuesday, Nov. 8, to use a ballot dropbox or vote in person. Here is a rundown of what voters will decide this election.
Constitutional amendments
These measures will each require 55% approval.
Amendment D: Judges in the new 23rd Judicial District
Starting in 2025, the 18th Judicial District will split, and Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties will move to the newly created 23rd Judicial District. Amendment D would allow the governor to designate judges from the original district to serve the rest of their terms in the new district. It would also require judges to establish residency there.
Amendment E: Tax exemptions for Gold Star families
Amendment E would extend existing property tax exemptions for disabled veterans to the surviving spouse of a U.S. military member who died in the line of duty or from a service-related injury or disease.
Amendment F: Bingo and raffle rules
Amendment F would reduce the amount of time that a nonprofit can operate in Colorado before it can get a bingo-raffle license. It would also allow bingo-raffle workers to receive compensation, which is not allowed in the state right now.
Taxes, school meals, housing
The rest of the measures on the ballot will require a simple majority vote in favor to pass.
Along with the constitutional amendment that would benefit Gold Star families, several other items on the ballot will deal with taxes. The measures look to taxes to fund other programs, reduce taxes overall or educate people on the impact of tax changes.
Proposition FF: Free school meals from a high-earner tax hike
Proposition FF would limit state income tax deductions on people who make $300,000 or more to fund healthy, free school meals for students in public schools. The money would also fund grants to help schools buy Colorado food products and increase wages for school food employees. Read more on the free school meals measure here.
Proposition GG: Understanding tax changes
Proposition GG would require any ballot initiative that increases or decreases state income taxes to include a table that shows the average tax change for filers across income levels.
Proposition 121: State income tax reduction
Proposition 121 would reduce the state income tax rate from 4.55% to 4.40%. Read more on the proposed income tax reduction in Colorado here.
Proposition 123: Funding affordable housing
Proposition 123 would send 0.01% of state income tax toward affordable housing programs. It would also exempt that money from the state revenue limit, so it would reduce the pool of money refunded to taxpayers because of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Read more on the affordable housing measure here.
Alcohol, psychedelic drugs
Colorado voters will once again have their say on substances this November, including natural psychedelics and alcohol.
Proposition 122: Decriminalizing psychedelic mushrooms
Proposition 122 would decriminalize the personal possession and use of psychedelic mushrooms for people ages 21 and older and allow the creation of “healing centers” where people could consume the fungi while supervised. It would also open the door for such centers to include the psychedelic drugs dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine and mescaline as soon as 2026. Read more on the move to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms here.
Proposition 124: Increasing liquor license limits
Proposition 124 would allow the number of liquor licenses a person can have to increase to eight by 2026. The limit would increase thereafter until 2037 when the number of liquor licenses a person could have would be unlimited.
Proposition 125: Wine in grocery stores
Proposition 125 would allow stores that are licensed to sell beer, like grocery and convenience stores, to sell wine too. Learn more about the measure to allow wine in grocery stores.
Proposition 126: Delivery alcohol
Proposition 126 would allow third-party alcohol delivery. FOX31’s Gabrielle Franklin spoke to businesses about the potential impact of third-party alcohol delivery.