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New advocacy organization will support bold leaders, fight for fairer tax and budget policies, and make sure campaign promises do not disappear at the Capitol
DENVER, Aug. 1, 2026: The Colorado Fiscal Institute today announced the launch of CFI Action Fund, a new 501(c)(4) advocacy organization created to fight for fair tax and budget policies, support bold leaders, and hold elected officials accountable for following through on the fiscal reforms they promised voters. The launch coincides with Colorado’s 150th birthday and invites Coloradans to look ahead to the choices that will shape the state’s next 50 years.
For nearly 15 years, CFI has shaped public policy, produced trusted fiscal analysis, and helped Coloradans understand the legislative and ballot decisions affecting their lives. CFI has also worked alongside advocates and community partners to develop and support ballot measures that give voters a direct voice in Colorado’s fiscal future.
CFI Action Fund will build on that foundation with the ability to engage directly in elections, ballot measures, and legislative advocacy.
“CFI has spent years showing Coloradans what is possible when tax and budget policy gives the vast majority of households a fair shot,” said Kathy White, executive director of the Colorado Fiscal Institute. “CFI Action Fund is our opportunity to be bolder and unapologetic about the future we want to build. We are ready to support leaders who will champion fair taxes, strong public services, and policies that help Coloradans afford their lives.”
CFI Action Fund is launching at a pivotal moment for Colorado. Passed by Congress and signed into law in July 2025, H.R. 1 cuts federal Medicaid funding and requires states to pay part of SNAP food benefit costs previously covered by the federal government. Colorado must either spend more of its limited state budget to maintain access to food and health care, leaving less for schools, housing, and other public services, or allow fewer people to receive the support they need.
Tax and budget policy is the foundation of Colorado’s ability to make housing and health care more affordable, strengthen public schools, invest in infrastructure, and support the public services Coloradans rely on.
Colorado currently applies the same 4.4% state income tax rate to every individual taxpayer’s taxable income. That includes taxpayers living in a typical Colorado household earning about $95,470 a year, the state’s median household income, and taxpayers who are billionaires. Their ability to absorb that tax is plainly not the same.
“Fiscal fairness is not about punishing wealth or success,” White said. “It means asking Coloradans and corporations with the greatest ability to pay to contribute more, while lowering taxes for the 97% of individual taxpayers in Colorado who earn less than $500,000 a year. A fair tax code recognizes that the same rate does not require the same sacrifice from every household. It gives a break to Coloradans who are stretched thin and asks more from those who can afford it.”
“We cannot simply manage the harm coming from Washington or accept that Colorado households will be left with less,” White continued. “This moment calls for leaders who will be bold about what our communities need and honest about what it will take to deliver it. Colorado has the resources, ideas, and people to build a future where everyone can afford to live and thrive. What we need is the political will to make it happen.”
CFI Action Fund will work broadly to advance fiscal fairness by:
“We are looking for leaders who will prioritize the needs of the vast majority of Colorado households, not Washington, narrow special interests, or their own political aspirations,” White said. “That requires more than making the right promises on the campaign trail. Candidates who run on tax and budget reform should be expected to follow through once they reach the Capitol, even when the politics become difficult. CFI Action Fund will support leaders who keep their word and hold accountable those who back down from the commitments they made to voters.”
The organization’s inaugural board is led by Val Nosler Beck, board chair, alongside board members Maggie Gómez and Judith Marquez. Together, they bring decades of experience in public policy, state and local campaigns, community organizing, coalition building, and public service.
“Strong public policy only makes a difference when leaders are prepared to champion it,” said Nosler Beck, chair of the CFI Action Fund board. “CFI Action Fund will help candidates understand what is at stake, give voters a clearer picture of who is ready to lead, and create space for bold solutions rooted in the lives of Coloradans.”
As Colorado prepares for new leadership at the state Capitol, CFI Action Fund sees an opportunity to elevate new voices, advance ambitious ideas, and support leaders ready to meet the scale of the challenges facing Coloradans. CFI Action Fund will also welcome leaders who are willing to listen, learn, and reconsider their positions when new information and changing circumstances demand it.
“We are optimistic about Colorado’s next chapter of leadership, but optimism does not mean lowering our expectations,” White said. “We will support leaders who are willing to be bold, welcome those who change their positions when the facts demand it, and expect every elected official to follow through for the people who trusted them to lead.”
Colorado became the 38th state on Aug. 1, 1876, earning its nickname as the Centennial State. As Colorado celebrates its sesquicentennial and looks ahead to its bicentennial in 2076, CFI Action Fund will work to ensure the state’s next chapter is shaped by informed public debate, accountable leadership, fiscal fairness, and optimism about what Coloradans can build together.
“Colorado Day is a celebration of where we have been, but it is also an invitation to decide where we are going,” White said. “Our future is not something that simply happens to us. It will be shaped by the public policy decisions we make today, the values reflected in our state budget, and the leaders we choose to trust with both. Colorado’s biggest challenges can be solved, and we are excited to help build the leadership needed to solve them.”
Later this month, CFI Action Fund will host its first candidate briefing, providing candidates and campaigns with an overview of Colorado’s fiscal landscape and the tax and budget issues facing the state. More information about CFI Action Fund’s candidate engagement and endorsement process will be announced in the coming weeks.
Visit fiscalaf.org to learn more about the issues and leaders shaping Colorado’s fiscal future, follow CFI Action Fund’s work, and sign up for its newsletter.
CFI Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization working to advance fair tax and budget policies, support leaders who champion those policies, and hold elected officials accountable for fulfilling their commitments to voters. The organization is affiliated with, but legally distinct from, the Colorado Fiscal Institute.
