(The Center Square) – Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law that replaces a special session law doubling the earned income tax credit, marking the first bill signed during Colorado’s 2024 session.
House Bill 24-1084 repeals and re-enacts a law passed during the special legislative session in November that increased the state earned income tax credit from 25% to 50% of the federal earned income tax credit. House Bill 23B-1002, the bill passed during the special session, used $182.5 million from the state’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Right surplus to pay for the EITC increase.
Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs, sued over HB 23B-1002, arguing Democrats broke the law by not reading the bill at length.
The lawsuit led Democrats to introduce HB 24-1084, which got final approval from the Senate last week before heading to the governor’s desk.
“It is in the public interest that House Bill 23B-1002 be repealed and reenacted at the soonest possible time during the second regular session of the seventy-fourth general assembly, given that: Litigation was filed over House Bill 23B-1002’s compliance with section 22 of article V of the state constitution providing for the reading of bills at length unless there is unanimous consent to waive such readings by the members present,” the legislation says.
“The filing of that litigation has produced great financial uncertainty for state taxpayers and families eligible for the earned income tax credit,” the bill continues. “And The filing of that litigation has caused substantial administrative uncertainty for state government regarding the amount of the state earned income tax credit for 2023 and the amount of state revenue that may be expended in the current state fiscal year.”
Polis’ office said in a statement the new law will help “Colorado families keep more of their hard-earned money to spend on essentials like food, housing, and transportation.”