The Sentinel, via Chalkbeat Colorado, reports that Gov. Jared Polis has opted Colorado into a new federal tax-credit scholarship program, then promptly tried to explain why discrimination concerns are no big deal because the money is technically “private donations.”
Ah yes, the sacred Colorado governing principle: if the state launders the policy through a tax credit first, suddenly nobody in power has to admit they’re holding the hose.
Here’s the setup. The federal program offers $1,700 in annual tax credits for donations to scholarship-granting organizations that can pay for private school tuition, tutoring, after-school programs, and other education services. Governors have to opt in for their states to participate, and Polis did.
Several Democratic lawmakers had a bill to require participating organizations to follow Colorado anti-discrimination laws. Then they shelved it. Polis’ office worried the bill could “hamstring” Colorado from bringing in education money, because apparently civil-rights guardrails become optional the moment somebody waves a scholarship check around.
Polis said Colorado shouldn’t decide which organizations are “worthy” of receiving money. Then he gave the quote that should be bronzed and mounted over the entrance to the Capitol’s Hypocrisy Wing: “When you give $100 to any charity, it can be a church, it can be something that discriminates. It can be pro-gay or anti-gay. It doesn’t matter.”
It doesn’t matter.
That is one hell of a line from the first openly gay man elected governor in American history, especially while Colorado is fighting a U.S. Supreme Court case over whether Catholic preschools in the state’s universal preschool program can refuse LGBTQ kids or kids from LGBTQ families.
Polis says the difference is simple: universal preschool uses state dollars; this program uses donations. Which is a cute little accounting costume for a policy creature that still gets fed by the tax code. A tax credit is not some magical fairy burp floating outside government. It is the government saying, “Give money here, and we’ll reduce what you owe us.”
That is public policy with a private-sector mustache glued on.
And look, school choice supporters are thrilled. Invest in Education Foundation hosted the Denver Museum of Nature and Science event. Parents Challenge was there. Seeds of Hope was there. They argue this helps families, including public school families, homeschoolers, and lower-income kids. Fine. Make that argument. Have that fight.
But don’t insult everyone’s intelligence by pretending the state has no role while the governor personally opts Colorado into the program and then talks about going after donors from states that sit it out. That’s not passive. That’s not neutral. That’s not “aw shucks, private charity.” That’s Colorado putting on cleats and sprinting onto the field.
The real scam here is the rhetorical escape hatch. When government wants credit for helping kids, it’s leadership. When people ask whether anti-discrimination laws apply, suddenly it’s just private generosity and nobody in Denver knows how the machine works.
This is the same Colorado ruling-class yoga pose we see everywhere: flexible enough to call everything “public” when they want control, and “private” when they want plausible deniability.
Normal Coloradans are already getting squeezed by housing, fees, insurance, groceries, schools, and the endless Denver belief that every problem can be solved by a task force and somebody else’s wallet. Now they’re supposed to believe a government-designed tax benefit is none of the government’s business because the check takes a scenic route through a nonprofit.
Colorado didn’t stumble into this contradiction. Polis drove there, parked crooked, and told everyone the curb was biased.
If the state is going to chase the money, own the consequences. If the rules matter, write them down. But don’t sell Coloradans a tax-credit machine, call it private charity, and act offended when people notice the taxpayer-funded fog machine humming in the corner.
Source: The Sentinel
Just Stop It
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