Douglas Bruce

Douglas Bruce

Douglas Edward Bruce (born August 26, 1949) is a conservative activist and former legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. He is also known for being the author of Colorado's Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR).

A strict advocate for limited government, Bruce wrote and promoted TABOR, a spending limitation measure approved by Colorado voters in 1992; his name is so associated with the measure that attempts to bypass its restrictions are known as "de-Brucing." After two unsuccessful campaigns for the Colorado State Senate in 1996 and 2000, Bruce was eventually elected to the El Paso County, Colorado county commission in 2004. While a county commissioner, Bruce was noted for frequently falling on the losing sides of 4-1 votes, and for disputes with county staff and fellow commissioners on numerous occasions.

Bruce was appointed to a vacant seat in the Colorado House of Representatives in December 2007 and represented House District 15, which encompasses eastern Colorado Springs. After kicking a Rocky Mountain News photographer on the day he was sworn in, Bruce became the first legislator in Colorado history to be formally censured; he was later removed from a House committee overseeing veterans affairs after refusing to sponsor a ceremonial resolution honoring veterans. Although defeated for election to a full term in the August 2008 Republican Party primary, Bruce has continued his activism to reduce government expenditures and taxes in Colorado and in Colorado Springs in particular before being indicted for a decades-worth of criminal activity for "cheating" Colorado out of millions under the guise of charity and anti-tax activism. In 2011, Douglas Bruce was convicted of all counts in the indictment, including four counts of felony criminal activity including money laundering, attempted improper influence of a public official, and tax fraud after he was discovered to be using a small-government charity he founded to hide millions of dollars from the state department of revenue. He was sentenced on February 13, 2012 to a total of 180 days in jail, ordered to pay a total of $49,000 in fines, and subject to six months of probation which includes extensive disclosure requirements.