Proposal to Undermine Strongest Taxpayer Protection Law in Colorado, Radical Wealth Tax in California Pose Threats. 

Tax Caps in North Carolina and Colorado, Protections Against Tax Hikes in Iowa and Tennessee Offer Opportunities.  

Today, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) released the organization’s 2026 State Ballot Measure Guide, which analyzes 65 state-level ballot measures, initiatives, and amendments across 29 states that will impact Americans’ pocketbooks and freedoms.  

American taxpayers will see ballot questions this fall which will determine whether they face higher income, property, and wealth taxes, whether state spending caps are strengthened or weakened, and whether future tax hikes require the consent of a supermajority of voters or their elected representatives.  

ATR’s 2026 State Ballot Measure Guide is available at ATR.org/ballotguide2026.   

“The ballot measure results can keep states on the right track, cutting taxes and growing, or steepen the gap between winners and losers,” said ATR President Grover Norquist. “Tax hikes and attacks on the Taxpayer Bill of Rights threaten Colorado. Meanwhile, tax cut leaders like North Carolina and Iowa have opportunities to protect their wins by making it harder to increase taxes.”  

Must-Know Measures from ATR’s Ballot Guide:  

Tax Hike Threats:  

  • California voters can make an exception to the rule that “there is nothing more permanent than a temporary tax” by rejecting Proposition 3. This measure would permanently extend high-earner surtaxes scheduled to expire in 2031, which were originally sold as “millionaire” taxes but affect much lower income brackets.  
  • In Colorado, big-government advocates are attempting to dismantle the state’s flat tax in favor of a graduated system that could reach as high as 8.4% under Amendment 87.  

Wealth Tax Cage Fight in California:  

  • The infamous wealth tax will be decided by California voters. Proposition 40 proposes an unprecedented 5% tax on billionaires’ assets—an unconstitutional seizure of wealth that has already sent $777 billion fleeing the state and threatens deeper budget crises if passed.  
  • Voters can send a clear message against demonizing success by rejecting Prop 40 and approving Proposition 42. The lesser known measure, Prop 42 would establish rock-solid protections against retroactive taxes and forbid levies on personal property, including retirement accounts, small business assets, and intellectual property. 

Heated Property Tax Debates Lead to Ballot Measures:  

  • North Carolina voters have a golden opportunity to pass one of the strongest protections in the nation by approving a cap on total property tax levies.  
  • Tennessee’s Amendment 2 guarantees that no statewide property tax will ever be enacted.  
  • California’s Proposition 43 puts needed brakes on local tax-and-spend agendas by requiring a two-thirds voter threshold for local special taxes and curbing ad valorem increases.  

Taxpayers Can Protect Their Wallets with these Measures:   

  • Colorado taxpayers can strike back by rejecting tax-hiking Amendment 87 and approving Proposition 136, which would freeze flat individual and corporate rates at 4.4%.  
  • North Carolina can solidify its status as a leader in the state tax cut revolution with a constitutional income tax cap of 3.5%.  
  • Washington voters can correct a judicial travesty by approving an initiative to repeal the $1 million high-earner tax, while also banning state or local income taxes outright.  
  • Iowa’s Amendment 1 would make the state the 12th in the nation to require at least a two-thirds legislative supermajority to raise income tax rates or impose new ones.  
  • Massachusetts voters can strengthen their state’s revenue limit through Question 5, ensuring revenue from the state’s punitive “millionaire’s tax” is fully counted toward the legal spending limit.  

TABOR’s Strong Taxpayer Protections Face New Threat:  

  • Existing fiscal safeguards face coordinated attacks alongside reform efforts. In Colorado, big-government interests are attempting to undermine the state’s nation-leading Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR): Proposition NN seeks to expand the state revenue cap to siphon off surplus dollars meant for taxpayer refunds, while Proposition 137 diverts sporting-goods sales tax refunds into state spending. Conversely, Legislative Safeguards & Process Protections.  

Defending Against Left-Wing Legislating by Ballot:  

  • Utah’s constitutional amendment protects against out-of-state special interest campaigns by requiring a 60% supermajority for citizen initiatives that create or raise taxes.  

Governor Evers’ 400-year Tax Via Veto Pen Faces Voters:  

  • Wisconsin voters can end an outrageous executive maneuver—where Gov. Evers used a partial veto to turn a two-year property tax hike into a 400-year tax—by approving an amendment that strips the governor’s power to increase taxes or fees via partial veto. 

 ATR’s 2026 State Ballot Measure Guide is available at ATR.org/ballotguide2026