Colorado voters Tuesday overwhelmingly passed Proposition LL, which will let the state keep and spend all the revenue it collects under a 2022 tax policy change that raises money for a program offering free breakfasts and lunches to every student enrolled in K-12 public schools.
The Associated Press projected that Proposition LL would pass at 8:06 p.m. when 64% of the votes counted were in support of the measure and 36% were opposed.
Proposition LL was placed on the ballot this year by Democrats in the legislature eager to shore up the Healthy School Meals for All program, which has been costlier than expected because more students have sought free meals than anticipated and because inflation has pushed the cost of food higher.
The program was created through the passage of Proposition FF, a 2022 ballot measure that limited income tax deductions for people earning more than $300,000 in federal adjusted gross income to $12,000 for single filers and $16,000 for joint filers.
In 2022, when Proposition FF was on the ballot, nonpartisan legislative staffers estimated that the measure would generate $100.7 million in tax revenue in the 2023-24 state budget year, which ended June 30, 2024. The actual amount collected was $112 million, or $11.3 million more than estimated.
Under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, the state cannot keep revenue in excess of nonpartisan legislative staff’s estimates without voter approval. That’s why Democrats placed Proposition LL on the ballot this year.
The passage of Proposition LL will ensure that every K-12 public school student in Colorado will have access to free school meals.
If Proposition LL and another Healthy School Meals for All funding measure on the ballot this year, Proposition MM, had both failed, then only certain students would have been offered free school meals starting next year.
At 8:25 p.m., the Associated Press projected Proposition MM would pass, too.
This isn’t the first time tax revenue estimates from nonpartisan staff have been lower than actual collections. And Colorado voters have been asked several times in recent years to let the state keep and spend the overages. Each time — for tax collections on marijuana, tobacco and sports betting — they’ve said “yes.”
If Proposition LL had failed, the state would have had to refund $11.3 million in tax revenue it has collected in excess of projections, plus $1.1 million in interest earned on that revenue, to households with an annual adjusted gross income of $300,000 or more.
Additionally, the state may have been forced to reduce the amount of taxes those households pay in the future to prevent ongoing overages.
Keep Kids Fed Colorado was the committee supporting propositions LL and MM. It raised nearly $740,000 through Oct. 27 and spent about $645,000 of that haul. Major donors to the committee included Hunger Free Colorado, Nourish Colorado and Save the Children Action Network, which are all nonprofits.
Billionaire Pat Stryker, a prolific donor to Democratic campaigns and causes from Colorado, and the Rose Community Foundation were also major donors to the group.
“Thank you to every voter, volunteer, community partner, and endorsing organization who turned out to pass Propositions LL and MM, ensuring every child in Colorado can continue to get a healthy meal at school,” Joe Kabourek, who managed the Keep Kids Fed campaign, said in a written statement.
There wasn’t any organized opposition to the measures, though some Republicans have blasted the initiatives for seeking to retain more in excess of what TABOR allows and for increasing the tax burden on high-earning Coloradans.
The median household income in Colorado was just shy of $100,000 in 2024.
Editor’s note: The Bohemian Foundation, funded by Pat Stryker, has been a financial supporter of The Colorado Sun. Donors have no influence over editorial decisions.
