The state's highest court accepted a direct appeal Monday to hear a case challenging Colorado's new Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program.
The case, Chronos v. Department of Labor, had been dismissed by a Denver court in December. It argues that the new program is unconstitutional because the wage tax it imposes to fund the program is applied unevenly, violating the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights as a result.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Grand Junction-based Chronos Builders that is partly owned by Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis, says the tax treats employers differently based on their size and a worker's annual income, doesn't apply to government employees and caps collection of the tax on annual wages that are above $143,000.
As a result, the funding mechanism constitutes an income tax that violates provisions under TABOR.
But in dismissing the case late last year, Denver District Judge Michael Martinez wrote that the funding mechanism isn't an income tax, but was approved by voters as a separate law.
"While the premium is measured in reference to an employee's wages or income, this relation to income does not subject the act to (TABOR) requirements," Martinez wrote. "Thus, even if I were to assume, arguendo, that the act's premium is a surcharge, the premium still would not be subject to (TABOR) because the act was enacted as a family and medical leave law, not an income tax law. Therefore, because the act's premium is not subject to (TABOR), it cannot be unconstitutional."
The suit was filed by the right-leaning Denver law firm Public Trust Institute, which has since been taken over by Advance Colorado, a non-profit organization that aids conservative candidates and causes.
Dan Burrows, the group's legal director, said the case was filed directly with the Colorado Supreme Court instead of the Court of Appeals because of its urgency before the new program is fully implemented, which is to start imposing the new tax next year.
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February 08, 2022 at 02:55AM
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Supreme Court to hear Family Leave lawsuit | Breaking | gjsentinel.com - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
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