Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff and a slew of education advocates implored a panel of state lawmakers Tuesday to ask Colorado voters to permanently give up their Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights tax refunds and untangle part of the state Constitution.

Romanoff, a Denver Democrat, told the House state affairs committee his proposal, House Concurrent Resolution 1014, represents one way to unravel one of the biggest conflicts in the Colorado Constitution.

“This proposal does not sacrifice the right of the voters to approve or reject tax increases. … This proposal does not create any new taxes,” Romanoff said.

The measure would funnel the revenue the state would normally refund to taxpayers into K-12 education spending. The ballot measure also would eliminate annual budget increases for K-12 education, which have been required under Amendment 23 to the Constitution, which voters approved in 2000.

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