Americans for Prosperity v. State of Colorado

The Colorado Court of Appeals upheld a 2022 state law on transportation sustainability. The law created five state enterprises, three of which were directed to take actions to support vehicle electrification for retail deliveries, transportation network company rides, and public transit vehicles to reduce adverse impacts of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The other enterprises would fund projects to reduce traffic or directly reduce air pollution and to complete bridge projects and tunnel projects. The appellate court rejected the contention that the law violated Proposition 117, which requires voter approval when creating a state enterprise that receives more than $100 million in revenue from fees and surcharges in its first five fiscal years. The law’s challenger had argued that the five enterprises’ revenues should be aggregated, but the appellate court held that Proposition 117 only required voter approval when enterprises are created simultaneously or within the preceding five years, serve the same purpose, and have a projected aggregate revenue of more than $100 million from fees and surcharges. The court noted that it was undisputed that the state enterprises created by the transportation sustainability law were created for different purposes and that no enterprise individually had a projected five-year revenue exceeding $100 million. The court also rejected the argument that the law violated the Colorado Constitution’s single-subject requirement. The appellate court said that this argument conflated the different purposes served by each enterprise with the law’s “sole subject matter: ensuring the sustainability of Colorado’s transportation system.” In addition, the court rejected the argument that the law’s increase to the excess state revenues cap violated the single-subject requirement or the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.