2025 Colorado Ballot Guide
In 2022, the Colorado legislature referred Proposition FF to the statewide ballot and voters approved it, launching the “Healthy School Meals for All” program. The program provides free meals to all K–12 students within participating districts funded by a tax increase on Coloradans who earn at least $300,000 per year. It also increases wages for school food preparation workers and subsidizes the use of local food in school lunches.
Proposition LL: Retain and Spend State Revenue Exceeding the Estimate for Proposition FF
Summary: Proposition LL, if approved, would allow the state to keep tax revenue that has already been collected for the Healthy School Meals for All Program rather than refunding it to taxpayers.
- If Proposition LL passes, taxpayers will not be refunded $12.4 million in FY26. This amount will instead be left at the state’s discretion to spend on the Healthy School Meals for All Program, initiated in 2022 by Proposition FF.
- This refund amounts to about $50 per single filer and $74 per joint filer with adjusted gross income above $300,000.
- The program will also be permitted to retain future revenue excesses, should collections from the Proposition FF tax again surpass original expectations.
- These future excesses are projected to be $4.7 million in FY26 and $9.6 million in FY27.
- If Proposition LL passes and Proposition MM fails, the state will allocate $1 million of the retained revenue to grant programs associated with Healthy School Meals for All each year in lieu of the amounts that Proposition MM would have added.
Proposition MM: Increase State Taxes for the Healthy School Meals for All Program
Summary: Proposition MM, if approved, would increase state income taxes paid by households earning $300,000 or more annually and use the new tax revenue to increase funding for the Healthy School Meals for All Program.
- Proposition MM would raise revenue for the Healthy School Meals for All program without addressing its high costs. Without better management of costs, the program remains at risk of eventual insolvency.
- If Proposition MM passes, Coloradans who earn $300,000 or more will incur average tax increases of $385 for single filers and $570 for joint filers.
- In total, Proposition MM would raise $95 million per year for the Healthy Meals program.
- Legislators revised Proposition MM during the 2025 special legislative session to allow surplus revenue from its tax increase to fund SNAP (food stamps) in addition to existing grant programs for school meal providers.