(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A political group in Colorado launched a new ballot measure to eliminate state taxes on tips and overtime pay after a recent change at the federal level.
“You just look at a lot of people out there working hard who can barely make ends meet,” said Kristi Burton Brown, Vice President of Advance Colorado.
While Congress passed its own bill excluding overtime pay from federal income tax, Colorado passed its own bill requiring taxpayers to include overtime pay as taxable income for their state returns. Now Advance Colorado wants to make sure that changes.
“It’s not because we want to, you know, tax-burden overtime,” said State Senator Marc Snyder.
Advance Colorado hopes to bring a measure to the 2026 ballot which would exempt state taxes on tips and overtime pay.
“When you look at it, you look at who is getting overtime and tips. It’s our health care professionals, it is first responders who are working overtime to keep us all safe, and the people getting tips are waitresses, delivery drivers, single moms who are hairdressers,” said Brown.
The measure from the conservative advocacy group would align our state with The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law last week. However, local lawmakers like Senator Snyder say it’s all about balance.
“People that work overtime, it’s really more that, you know, kind of a sense that we should treat all earned income equally,” Snyder said. “I think, between that understanding and the understanding of just fundamental fairness that everybody in Colorado, you know, with few exceptions, you earn income, and you pay income tax on that earned income.”
Brown says nearly everyone in the Democratic Congress voted to tax overtime and tips: “I actually just went through the list of voted-yes to specific tax overtime when the federal government was just about to give a break to all those working families,” said Brown.
The proposed measure would repeal current requirements and prevent Colorado from collecting taxes on overtime and tips in the future. Senator Snyder says he is not confident it will pass.
“First of all, your tips are not on the table at all. So, the first 25,000 of tipped wages will be tax exempt in Colorado, in the United States,” he said.
Brown says polling shows 73% of Americans agree that overtime and tips shouldn’t be taxed.
The measure will need to clear the title board and collect enough signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot.
About The Author
