When President Obama signed the federal stimulus package at the
Denver Museum of Nature and Science, conservatives gathered just
a few miles away at the Colorado state capitol to protest. Many
of the protestors sought refuge in the state’s spending limits,
which could prevent the stimulus from imposing new commitments on
the state government.
The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) was originally passed by
Colorado voters in 1992 to keep government spending at a minimum
and put decisions in the hands of the electorate. But now that
the stimulus has become law, citizens have been asking: Will
TABOR offer protection against the stimulus dollars coming in to
our state?
Answer: The money cannot, by law, be spent by lawmakers without
first seeking voter approval. As things stand now, that is.
But there are many hoops lawmakers can jump through in order to
achieve the spending they desire. Just ask state Representative
Don Marostica. The moderate Republican hopes to repeal a
relatively unknown part of TABOR known as the Arveschoug-Bird
Amendment. Passed in 1991, it covers public and higher education
and prisons, with anything remaining to be spent on
transportation. Though it allows for some increase due to
inflation, that increase cannot go over six percent per year.
Anything projected over the six percent mark has to be approved
by the voters. Arveschoug-Bird was wrapped into the state’s
constitution when TABOR was passed a year later in 1992.
The repeal of Arveschoug-Bird would water down the TABOR rules
and allow lawmakers to spend money, including stimulus money, the
way they see fit. Or in the words of state Representative John
Morse (D-Colorado Springs), “[Citizens] have no right to this
money.”
Now that Colorado is expected to get $2 billion over the next two
years from the federal government, liberal lawmakers are trying
to find a way to have their cake and eat it too.
Because TABOR limits what can be spent based on revenue and the
previous year’s budget, lawmakers must plan for budget cuts to be
made in virtually every program. Governor Bill Ritter has
projected that at least $600 million will need to be cut in order
to follow the mandates of TABOR. The stimulus package will
potentially send billions more to the state — to be spent at the
legislature’s discretion if the repeal of the amendment is
successful.
In addition to the possible repeal of Arveschoug-Bird A, the
governor has suggested a back-door tax increase to further
increase the size of spending and keep government programs alive.
By charging businesses fees and surcharges for various government
“services,” the state can raise another $300 million.
Conservatives in the legislature are fighting to keep the
spending limits intact, but are so far coming up short. A nearly
10-hour filibuster in the Senate last week was thwarted as the
Democratic majority approved the bill to repeal the
Arveschoug-Bird Amendment. Senate Bill 228 is now on its way to
the House, where it will face staunch opposition but is likely to
pass because of a similar majority.
TABOR was passed by the people of Colorado to protect themselves
against greedy legislators. Over the years the law has been
slowly
chipped away and now citizens are seeing the results.
There was once a day when many other states and countless
citizens looked to Colorado’s TABOR as a model of tight budgets.
But with a revenue-loving, big-government legislature, those days
are quickly disappearing.
