Negating democratic consent
Colorado’s 1876 Constitution is replete with provisions to prohibit corporate welfare, special privileges for government-favored big business, and government debt without voter consent. The protections have been fortified and extended by constitutional amendment, most notably in the 1992 Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Yet for the past century, the Colorado Supreme Court, usually in cooperation with the other two branches, has nullified the taxpayer protections of the Colorado Constitution. This sad story is told in my new article for the Denver University Law Review’s annual Tenth Circuit Symposium, Negating Democratic Consent: How the Colorado Supreme Court has Nullified Colorado Constitutional Limits on Taxes, Debt, and Corporate Privilege, 102 Denver Univ. Law Review 449 (2025). (The symposium includes states law articles on 10th Circuit states.)
For example, Colorado Constitution article XI, section 1, forbids government debt on behalf of corporations in the most comprehensive language possible:
Neither the state, nor any county, city, town, township or school district shall lend or pledge the credit or faith thereof, directly or indirectly, in any manner to, or in aid of, any person, company or corporation, public or private, for any amount, or for any purpose whatever; or become responsible for any debt, contract or liability of any person, company or corporation, public or private, in or out of the state.
The next section of the Constitution, article XI, section 2, also uses the broadest language possible to outlaw government aid to corporations:
Neither the state, nor any county, city, town, township, or school district shall make any donation or grant to, or in aid of, or become a subscriber to, or shareholder in any corporation or company or a joint owner with any person, company, or corporation, public or private, in or out of the state . . .
The statutory text contains certain narrow exceptions. For example, a government might acquire ownership of a corporation by forfeiture or escheat. By constitutional amendment, the people have created other exceptions, allowing for a government student loan programs and for government investment in e
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