by James Parks, Nov 8, 2006

Voters in Maine, Nebraska and Oregon yesterday resoundingly defeated so-called Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights (TABOR) initiatives that would have severely restricted state officials’ authority to spend funds for public services.

TABOR, which is promoted nationwide by a coalition led by New York real estate developer Howard Rich, is a state constitutional amendment that requires government spending to adhere to a rigid formula. In 1992, Colorado became the only state to pass a TABOR initiative. Colorado voters threw out the law last year.

AFT President Ed McElroy says:

Voters from coast to coast saw through the false promises and rejected this gimmick. Americans have once again sent the clear message that well-funded, high-quality public services are essential to the health, safety and prosperity of states and communities.

Voters learned the lesson of Colorado, where TABOR was a proven failure. TABOR may sound appealing at first, but it doesn’t solve any problems. It just creates new ones, such as overcrowded schools, soaring college tuitions, crumbling roads, and shortages in emergency response and healthcare services.

Despite waging a multimillion dollar campaign in 20 states, TABOR supporters managed to get the intiative on the ballot only in three states—Maine, Nebraska and Oregon. In five states—Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Oklahoma—courts threw out TABOR petitions, citing fraud or other petition irregularities.

In a recent report, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says TABOR is an idea that just doesn’t work:

TABOR shrinks the scope of what government can accomplish and creates conditions that each year pit programs and services against each other for survival. And once such limits are embedded in a state constitution, they usually cannot be removed or modified. They undermine existing services for children, youth, and families and make any new initiatives virtually impossible to undertake.
 
 

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