Colorado Senate Republicans claim that a collection of bills they plan to introduce will save an average family about $4,500 per year by repealing numerous fees and regulations.
The bills target housing, transportation, groceries, utility bills and other everyday expenses.
“People are facing an economic reality that grows more daunting by the day,” Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican, said Tuesday during a press conference at the Capitol. “This affordability crisis is a direct result of the misguided policies that were created in this very building.”
Part of the solution, he said, is to claw back the various fees Democrats in the Legislature have passed in recent years. Fees are distinct from taxes in Colorado because they are not subject to voter approval under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Colorado collected about $23.3 billion in fee revenue in the 2023 fiscal year, according to the right-leaning Common Sense Institute.
Lundeen unveiled a literal pile of cash at the press conference — $4,500 stacked in a neat tower — to illustrate the potential savings Republicans want to see.
One bill, set to be sponsored by Sen. Mark Baisley, a Sedalia Republican, would get rid of a 27-cent delivery fee, 10-cent shopping bag fee and 75-cent electric and gas utility bill fee, and it would repeal the power of local governments to place a special sales tax on products with nicotine.
Republicans calculate that repealing the shopping bag fee, for example, would save people $90 annually. That assumes an annual use of 900 non-reusable bags per year. The Legislature approved a plastic bag ban in 2021 and imposed a fee on paper bags, and it went fully into effect last year, with an exemption for smaller stores.
A repeal of the delivery fee would save Coloradans $45, Republicans say, assuming about 166 deliveries through services like DoorDash and Uber Eats per year.
“It may seem like these fees only make a few dollars difference in the grand scheme of things, but these pennies really do add up,” Baisley said.
Those fees affect a consumer’s total bill, but they also fund various projects in Colorado that might not otherwise have the money. The retail delivery fee, for example, goes into a cash fund to pay for transportation infrastructure including improvements for electric vehicles and public transit electrification. Over half of the bag fee revenue goes to local governments to pay for administrative costs connected to recycling and compost programs.
Another bill would repeal fees related to transportation, such as a waste tire fee, the state’s 22-cent per gallon gas fee and a $2 per day short-term car rental fee. The bill would also create a rebate program using money from an existing enterprise fund — the Nonattainment Area Air Pollution Mitigation Enterprise created in Senate Bill 21-260 — to “help offset the rising costs of cleaner fuel,” sponsor Sen. Scott Bright, a Platteville Republican, said. He did not say how much the rebate would be, how the amount would be determined or who would be eligible.
Sen. Janice Rich, a Grand Junction Republican, will run a bill to repeal various business regulations including a 2020 law that imposes emissions fees.
A bill from Sen. Byron Pelton, a Sterling Republican, would get rid of state income taxes on social security payments. Last year, lawmakers expanded an income tax exemption for people 55 years and older who make up to $75,000.
“All of these fees are hurting fixed-income folks. People who have worked their entire lives putting money into the Social Security account should not have to pay state income tax on their payments,” Pelton said.
Lundeen plans to run a bill on housing costs that would repeal a bill that requires mediation for low-income people facing evictions and a bill that imposes tougher warrant of habitability requirements. Those laws increase litigation and operating costs for landlords, he said, that get passed to renters. Lundeen’s bill would also include language similar to a provision in a construction defect bill he ran last year that modified requirements for a homeowner association to bring a defect action against a builder.
Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez, a Denver Democrat, said he looks forward to weighing the introduced legislation to see where Democrats and Republicans might find common ground to bring down costs.
“What’s encouraging is that we share a priority of making our state more affordable,” he said in a statement. “We also must be thoughtful as we consider these policies … As we consider this legislation while navigating a challenging budget year, we must take into account what impacts they could have on programs that allow Coloradans to drive on safe and well-maintained highways, heat our homes in the winter, and move around the state using public transit.
Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, has signaled a willingness to slash regulations — but not fees, many of which are tied to hallmark legislation he backed as governor like a 2021 transportation bill. During an address to the Legislature last week, he challenged Lundeen and other lawmakers to work with the Colorado Chamber of Commerce to identify potential laws and regulations to repeal in order to “unleash small businesses and drive economic growth.”
Republicans hold a minority in both legislative chambers.