Gov. Jared Polis has long pledged fealty to lower income taxes, a position he reiterated in his recent State of the State address.

“I know some Democrats in the past have been skeptical of reducing our income tax rate,” Polis said, “but cutting the income tax rate is the most effective way to further our economic growth.”

While his comments were met with consternation from fellow Democrats, they were nothing new for Polis. In 2021, he garnered headlines for declaring at a conservative conference that Colorado’s income tax “should be zero.”

“If we can find another way to generate the revenue that doesn’t discourage productivity and growth — you absolutely can, and we should,” he said.

The governor’s tax musings, welcomed by some conservatives, came with clever caveats. He proposed shifting toward taxing “things we fundamentally don’t want,” such as pollution or carbon, to offset revenue losses from tax rate cuts — favoring a strategy of penalizing undesirable behavior while generating revenue, akin to “sin taxes.”

Caveats aside, despite repeatedly expressing support for tax cuts, Polis has yet to take direct action.

Amid a new report from the Independence Institute’s Fiscal Policy Center — bolstering the case for slashing Colorado’s flat income tax rate — some hope he might change course.

According to the report, “fully implement(ing)” Polis ’tax agenda could slice the income tax rate from 4.4.% to 3.25%. Moreover, next year’s surplus alone could bring the rate down to 3.82%, offering approximately $510 in savings per filer.

As Colorado Politics reported, the proposal entails eliminating $1.8 billion in “special interest tax giveaways” and using those savings — alongside $1.79 billion from the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights surplus — to reduce the income tax rate. This move could save each taxpayer at least $1,000.

“Special interest tax giveaways” encompass tax expenditures that distort the marketplace, such as tax deductions, exemptions and credits. Economic data consistently favors rate reductions over tax expenditures.

However, the Independence Institute found that Polis has expanded these giveaways by around $450 million, working out to $130 per filer. Without this expansion, the legislature could have reduced the rate to 3.76% without impacting state spending.

“Gov. Polis supports income tax cuts to prevent the over collection of taxes that leads to a TABOR surplus, and he also supports eliminating corporate giveaway tax expenditures to further reduce the income and sales tax rates,” Polis ’office told Colorado Politics.

So, why isn’t he taking any initiative in this legislative session?

During Polis ’tenure, the state’s income tax rate has been slashed twice: from 4.63% to 4.5% in 2020 and again from 4.5% to 4.4% in 2022.

Although he voiced support for both measures, it was the voters — not the legislature and the governor — who passed the cuts. Conservative organizations, notably the Independence Institute, spearheaded these initiatives and brought them to the ballot. All the while, Polis reaps political benefits.

Here’s the thing: While the governor waves the tax cut banner, his actual record reveals a starkly different reality.

Polis has repeatedly dodged TABOR’s mandate that voters approve tax increases by dubbing certain new taxes “fees.”

That’s how we got the plastic bag “fee” as well as levies on every Uber and Lyft ride, DoorDash delivery, UPS shipment and Amazon package — all without bothering to consult the people.

This tactic also birthed new “fees” on gasoline and diesel fuel — knowing full well that voters would never consent to a gas tax hike.

In 2019, Polis threw his weight behind Proposition CC, aiming to crush TABOR spending caps. Last year, he supported Proposition HH, another TABOR-gutting scheme.

After backing the bills that put CC and HH on the ballot, he urged voters to approve the measures — only to witness their resounding, collective rejection.

Let’s be real: Polis talks a big game on tax cuts, but when the chips are down, his actions belie his promises.

The Polis economy is slowing, marked by a four-month consecutive drop in private sector employment. The state has yet to rebound to its pre-pandemic employment-to-population ratio, according to the Common Sense Institute.

Meanwhile, surging property taxes, ever-expanding regulations and stubbornly-high inflation above the national average put a strain on everyday Coloradans who yearn for relief — and deserve to keep more of their hard-earned money.

The economic evidence for reducing income tax rates is clear. In the words of Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, “It is only logical.”

Yet, while Polis tantalizingly dangles his tax cut promises, he never personally warps into the fiscal frontier. Instead, Colorado’s captain is content with letting conservative organizations explore uncharted territories of tax reduction while he remains in the neutral zone — avoiding direct conflict with fellow Democrats.

Will Polis ever boldly go where he has never gone before — working to unify Democrats and Republicans behind tax cuts like peace between the Klingons and the Federation — or will he simply add more episodes in this ongoing series of political gamesmanship?

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and host of “The Jimmy Sengenberger Show” Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on News/Talk 710 KNUS. Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.