Colorado lawmakers want to squeeze a little more money out of booze and weed to help pay for a new state mental‑health hospital in Aurora.
Yesterday, Feb. 25, legislators introduced House Bill 1301, a proposal to raise excise taxes on alcohol and marijuana to bankroll construction of the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Aurora and add more civil‑commitment beds elsewhere in the state. The money would flow into a new, dedicated hospital support account, with strict rules about how it can be spent. Sponsors say they are trying to tackle chronic waitlists and capacity problems in Colorado’s psychiatric system, which have dogged the state for years.
What the bill would change
According to LegiScan, HB 1301 would bump excise taxes by $0.0733 per gallon on malt liquors and hard cider, $0.08 per liter on vinous liquors (wine), and $0.6026 per liter on spirituous liquors. It would also nudge the state’s retail and excise taxes on retail marijuana up by 0.42 percentage points.
The measure is written as a referred tax change, so those higher rates would not kick in unless voters sign off at the ballot box.
Where the money would go
The bill creates a hospital support account inside the state’s capital construction fund and orders the state treasurer to funnel all new alcohol and marijuana tax revenue into that pot.
Under the proposal, the Department of Human Services must spend that money in a specific order: first on building the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Aurora, then on operating the new hospital, and only after that on long‑term civil‑commitment facilities in Mesa County, as reported by the Denver Gazette. Supporters argue that locking in these priorities helps guarantee that bricks, mortar and staff come before any other spending ideas.
TABOR and the ballot
Per the Colorado General Assembly, the tax hikes are drafted to appear on the November 2026 statewide ballot as a referred measure, which means Colorado voters would ultimately decide whether the state can collect and keep the extra revenue.
The plan has to thread the needle of Colorado’s Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, or TABOR, which requires voter approval for new taxes and tax‑rate increases and dictates how ballot language and potential refunds are handled. The Department of Revenue outlines how TABOR rules shape tax questions that go before voters.
Next steps in the Capitol
After its Feb. 25 introduction, HB 1301 landed in two House panels: Health & Human Services and Finance. As of now, neither committee has set a hearing date.
The bill is sponsored in the House by Rep. Bob Marshall (D‑Highlands Ranch) and in the Senate by Sen. Judy Amabile (D‑Boulder), according to LegiScan. Expect committee debate, fiscal projections and potential amendments to shape whether the measure ultimately gets sent to voters in November.
Why it matters
Colorado already runs state psychiatric hospitals at Fort Logan and Pueblo, but officials at the Department of Human Services have repeatedly flagged limited bed space and backlogs for competency restoration as major statewide problems.
State materials indicate Fort Logan and Pueblo provide inpatient and forensic services, and that the department has been chipping away at capacity issues through incremental expansions. Backers of HB 1301 say a dedicated revenue stream from alcohol and marijuana taxes could speed up construction and staffing for the Aurora hospital and additional civil‑commitment facilities.
Key things to watch next: when the first committee hearings get scheduled, what the legislative fiscal analysis predicts for new revenue, and whether the proposed ballot title clears the state’s title review process without major changes.
