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.
In Montezuma County, early results showed it leading 58.4% to 41.6%.
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.
