A thriving economy funds our schools, sustains our small businesses, and keeps the next generation here. A bipartisan coalition of founders, investors, operators, and civic leaders is asking elected officials to oppose Amendment 87 and support Proposition 136 — to keep Colorado competitive and protect the innovation economy that benefits every Coloradan.
A thriving economy funds our schools, sustains our small businesses, and keeps the next generation here
To Attorney General Phil Weiser, Senator Michael Bennet, Senator John Hickenlooper, Mayor Mike Johnston, and Colorado’s elected leaders:
Earlier this year, more than 230 of us — founders, investors, operators, and civic leaders from across Colorado — signed “Ensuring Colorado’s Innovation Future.” We wrote that Colorado’s current direction threatens the long-term prosperity of the people who call this state home. The number of signatories has since grown to more than 570.
We appreciate Governor Polis’s response. He signed the open letter himself, and in July he established the Governor’s Competitiveness Council to address the questions the letter raised.
We also appreciate the work that produced SB26-189, the Automated Decision-Making Technology law, which repaired the most damaging provisions of the Colorado AI Act. This update took two years to come together, and the reputational damage Colorado absorbed over that period continues to be felt today.
Today, we are presenting you with a new open letter, on a matter far more urgent than the AI Act: two of the fourteen measures on Coloradans’ ballots this November, Amendment 87 and Proposition 136.
We are asking each of you to support Proposition 136 and oppose Amendment 87. If Colorado rejects Amendment 87 and passes Proposition 136, a meaningful step will have been taken toward reestablishing Colorado’s stature as a state that is welcoming to entrepreneurs, companies, and investors. Conversely, if Amendment 87 prevails, Colorado will further erode its standing as a place where companies, and the leaders who build them, choose to invest and live.
We ask this on behalf of every Coloradan. A thriving and vibrant economy funds our schools, colleges, and hospitals, sustains the small businesses, restaurants, and hotels that grow only when the region around them grows, and leaves the next generation with opportunities to build their lives and develop their careers here. A Colorado that businesses and innovators choose serves every Coloradan.
Everyone who has signed this letter has done so because we care deeply about Colorado’s future and the people who live here. We believe a thriving, vibrant economy is vital to that future. We also believe Colorado’s long-term prosperity depends on leadership in the technology and business sectors that will keep growing for years and decades to come.
Over the past few decades, Colorado has developed a business and innovation ecosystem that benefits all Coloradans. We are leaders in the sectors that will define the future of humankind — space and aerospace, quantum, life sciences, digital infrastructure, next-generation energy including fusion, agtech and regenerative agriculture, and critical minerals. Artificial intelligence runs through all of them, and advanced manufacturing is a component of many. Major research universities, national laboratories, and a top-ten airport hub underpin all of these sectors. These sectors will drive Colorado’s economic development, create jobs, and broaden our tax base.
Colorado’s mountains, climate, and active lifestyle are what bring people here, both to visit and to live. Skiing, cycling, climbing, running, and hiking are woven into Coloradans’ everyday lives, and Colorado leads in the wellness and outdoor industries. The state fields a full lineup of professional and collegiate teams, backed by one of the country’s most passionate fan bases.
Bolstered by Sundance’s arrival, Colorado’s creative economy is gaining momentum across film and other content creation. Festivals and venues add to the natural draw: Denver’s stadiums and sports complexes, Red Rocks, Denver Performing Arts Complex, BolderBoulder, Telluride Film Festival, Tulagi, Outside Days, Greeley Stampede, and Aspen Food & Wine.
Over the last few years, Colorado has lost significant momentum. Among the innovators who launch and invest in businesses — and who decide where those businesses are built and where they themselves live — Colorado is increasingly categorized as a state to avoid. The founders and executives leaving California and the West Coast, New York and the Northeast, want precisely what Colorado offers, and Colorado should be their obvious national destination. Instead, they are choosing Texas, Florida, and Tennessee, and closer to home, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada.
Colorado has been following the pattern set by California, enacting policies and foreshadowing others that leave innovators feeling unwelcome and underappreciated. We recognize the good intentions behind these policies, and some of them are appropriate. Our concern is the aggregate. Taken together — and with the rhetoric that gives them weight — these policies have led innovators to view Colorado as less favorable than rival states. We believe Colorado can find a better balance, one that attracts and retains the businesses, investments, and innovators who keep this ecosystem vibrant and growing. And we believe this is essential to the well-being of all Coloradans, especially the generations that follow us.
A state’s income tax policy correlates closely with whether its economy is growing or shrinking. The pattern is visible across the country, and it has held for years.
Eight states levy no income tax at all: Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Nevada, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, and New Hampshire. Several more have recently cut their rates. Arizona replaced its graduated system with a 2.5% flat rate. North Carolina cut to 3.99%, Georgia to 5.19%, Utah to 4.5%, Idaho to 5.3%.
At the other end sit the states with the highest graduated rates. California’s top rate is 13.3%. New York’s is 10.9%. New Jersey’s is 10.75%. Massachusetts voters added a 4% surtax on income above $1 million in 2022, lifting its top rate to 9%. Washington had no income tax until, in March of this year, it enacted a 9.9% tax on household income above $1 million, effective January 2028.
The states with no or low income taxes are growing their overall tax base. In a single year, Florida gained $20.6 billion in adjusted gross income, and Texas gained $5.3 billion, while South Carolina, North Carolina, Arizona, and Tennessee each gained between $2.7 and $4.1 billion. Texas added 111,000 residents on net, North Carolina 69,000, and South Carolina 59,000.
The states with the highest graduated rates are losing ground rapidly. Over the same period, California lost $12.9 billion in adjusted gross income, New York $10.6 billion, Massachusetts $4.2 billion, and New Jersey $2.8 billion. California lost 209,000 residents on net; New York 164,000. In the most recent IRS migration data Washington lost more than $500 million in adjusted gross income, and 5,875 more residents earning $200,000 or more moved out than moved in.
The signatories to this letter hold a range of views on that question.
We do not see Amendment 87 or Proposition 136 as addressing it. We view both measures through the lens of how they would affect Coloradans’ lives and well-being. Whatever Coloradans might gain in the near term from higher earners paying more would be overwhelmed over time by the talent, companies, and investment moving to rival states. Passing Amendment 87 would result in a smaller economy, a narrower tax base, and less revenue for the schools and services the measure is meant to fund. And the opportunities available to Coloradans would shrink.
The fairness question is best addressed at the federal level, where a change applies to all fifty states at once and keeps the playing field level.
Amendment 87 would replace Colorado’s flat 4.4% income tax with six brackets topping out at 8.4%, positioning Colorado alongside California, New York, and New Jersey in the top ten highest income tax states in the country. Its passage would signal that Colorado is continuing down a path that is less favorable to business generally and the innovation economy specifically, and Colorado’s growth rate would likely follow the same decline California and New York are experiencing. Amendment 87 would be devastating to Colorado’s economy, negatively impacting all Coloradans and especially the generations that follow us.
Proposition 136 would cap Colorado’s rate at 4.4%, keeping Colorado competitive with Texas, Florida, Arizona, Utah, and Tennessee. Its passage would signal that Colorado welcomes businesses, encourages growth and investment, and seeks to lead the next generation of tech and innovation. Colorado’s growth rate would likely follow the gains those states are experiencing. This would benefit all Coloradans, especially future generations.
One: sign this open letter. Your signatures would signal that you are committed to making our state welcoming to business, and in particular to tech, innovation, and growing companies — and that a spirit of collaboration exists between Colorado’s political leaders and its technology and business community.
Two: publicly oppose Amendment 87, and explain to Coloradans why. Over time, Amendment 87 will shrink Colorado’s economy and erode the tax base that supports education, transportation, and the other public services our communities count on. It will reduce the economic activity that small businesses, restaurants, and hotels depend on. It will also narrow opportunities for Coloradans, pushing the next generation to look to other states to build their careers and encouraging existing businesses and people to leave.
Three: publicly support Proposition 136, and explain to Coloradans why. Holding the rate where it is keeps Colorado competitive with states that attract businesses, so the companies creating Colorado’s jobs choose to grow here. Its passage would also carry a message — that Colorado’s voters are committed to a state that welcomes tech and innovation, because they know a vibrant economy will benefit every Coloradan.
Four: use your bully pulpit. Bring the rest of Colorado’s political leadership along, in your party and across the aisle, and make this case directly to the voters who elected you. Explain the vital importance of a thriving economy to Colorado’s future, and why this state needs innovators to be a welcomed part of our communities. Encourage your colleagues to do the same.
We are Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters. But we are Coloradans first, and in Colorado, we work together to make our state a place where all Coloradans, our visitors, and the generations that follow us feel welcome, safe, and valued — and where everyone has the personal and professional opportunities to build the life they choose.
Colorado can be the most attractive innovation ecosystem in the world. Colorado can also be a welcoming home for businesses of every size. We are committed to collaborating with our political leaders to ensure that every Coloradan benefits from the economic and cultural prosperity that results from a thriving and vibrant economy.
Proposition 136 allows Colorado to attract and retain the innovators and investment that are essential to its future. Amendment 87 would make that far more difficult.
Respectfully,
A bipartisan coalition of Colorado technology, business, and civic leaders
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