Proposition 130 proposes amending the Colorado statutes to direct the state to spend $350 million to help recruit, train and retain local law enforcement officers by:
- Increasing annual pay for law enforcement officers
- Providing one-time hiring, recruitment and retention bonuses for law enforcement officers
- Hiring additional officers to address specific geographic locations or types of crime
- Providing ongoing training to new and veteran officers in areas such as the use of force, restraints and physical fitness
- Providing an additional benefit of $1 million for families of officers killed in the line of duty
IndivisibleNOCO recommends voting NO on Proposition 130.
Proposition 130 is a citizen’s initiative put forth by Suzanne Taheri and Michael Fields, who are among the state’s most active conservative political consultants and operatives.
IndivisibleNOCO supports funding law enforcement and supporting the families of officers killed in the line of duty (one of our board members is a former officer). However, law enforcement in Colorado is already relatively well-funded and families of fallen law enforcement officers currently receive ongoing survivor benefits through the officer’s pension.
Proposition 130 mandates that $350 million be added to the state budget with no new funding source and without any oversight or accountability measures, diverting money from other essential services and creating opportunities for misuse and waste of state tax dollars.
Proposition 130 would significantly and unnecessarily burden Colorado’s budget which is already hamstrung by TABOR. Because of the TABOR amendment, the State of Colorado cannot keep enough of its taxes to make much needed investments in education, infrastructure, public safety and public health.
Colorado already allocates more funding to law enforcement per capita than 75 percent of states in the U.S. Per the Colorado Fiscal Institute, in 2021, Colorado ranked 13th highest nationally in state and local police funding per capita. Police funding was $2.4 billion that year, which is $419 per Colorado resident.
This measure would force the diversion of even more funding to local law enforcement at the expense of other essential services. Unlike increasing funding to local law enforcement agencies, other essential services, such as education resources, mental health services, co-responder programs, and community development, are proven to increase and support public safety.
Proposition 130 would also divert money from education in Colorado, which already has the country’s third lowest K-12 spending as a percent of taxpayer income. According to the Colorado Fiscal Institute, $350 million would cover the salaries of 5,738 teachers or fund 41,194 students.