TABOR

HB 05-1194: The Colorado Economic Recovery Act, by Penfield Tate III to the House Finance Committee, Feb. 2, 2005

"We believe the best solution is a constitutional amendment to permanently change the spending limits at both the state and local levels, to make it easier for all levels of government to save for a rainy day, and to eliminate the weakening provision.

"HB05-1194 is a long way from that ideal.

HB 05-1194: The Colorado Economic Recovery Act, by Wade Buchanan to the Senate Finance Committee, March 15, 2005

By Carol McGraw and Kristina Iodice
The Gazette

Schools have cut budgets for several years, and the choices of what goes next are running out.

The classroom might be the target.

"To some extent, you get what you pay for, said Glenn Gustafson, Colorado Springs School District 11 finance director. "If we want to have the lowest-funded education system in the United States, then be prepared for the consequences of that."

Officials want to keep looming cuts out of the classrooms, but can they?

By Jerome Stockfisch
The Tampa Tribune

TALLAHASSEE – Florida's state budget could be tied strictly to population and inflation growth under a "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" that has become a cause célèbre of the new wave of conservatives, libertarians and Tea Partiers nationwide.

Almost three decades of constitutional amendments, legislative acts and economic ups and downs

To understand how Colorado finds itself in its current fiscal condition, it is helpful to look back at some critical decisions made by legislators and voters over the last 29 years, and at some of the economic and political factors that drove those decisions.

Jon Caldera and the Independence Institute staged a press conference this morning to "celebrate" the "end of Referendum C."

We couldn't disagree more, and we wanted to share our response:

Statement from the Bell Policy Center
concerning the "end of Referendum C"

Peter Marcus
Denver Daily News

Anti-tax advocates yesterday hailed the end of Referendum C, calling the timeout from TABOR rebates a "cowardly" move backed by voters five years ago and pushed by "spending bullies."

Fiscal conservatives gathered at the Capitol yesterday where they celebrated the end of Ref C, a 2005 voter-approved initiative that suspended a tax limit set by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights for five years to fund health care, public education and transportation projects. The timeout ended June 30th.

By Tim Hoover
The Denver Post

Stalwart supporters of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday to cheer the expiration of Referendum C, the measure voters approved in 2005 that imposed a five-year timeout from taxpayer refunds under TABOR.

The merriment was led by Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, which favors government spending limitations like TABOR. Other groups represented Tuesday included the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, Mothers Against Debt, Americans for Prosperity and the National Taxpayers Union.

Jan. 20, 2010

Restoring the State Earned Income Tax Credit
as the First TABOR Refund Mechanism

Rich Jones
Director of Policy and Research
The Bell Policy Center

Summary

By Kirk Johnson
The New York Times

DENVER – Overturning Colorado's Taxpayer Bill of Rights, a strict constitutional budget-collar known by its acronym, Tabor, is not on either major party's official to-do list for the 2010 election cycle.

Unofficially, though, the law and its effects are being discussed just about everywhere.

"Tabor is always lurking in the shadows," said Terrance Carroll, a Democrat and the speaker of the State House of Representatives. "Right now, it's lurking near the top."