TABOR

Peter Marcus
Denver Daily News Staff Writer

Gov. Bill Ritter said last Thursday that he is working with groups outside the Capitol to craft a 2011 ballot initiative that would eliminate aspects of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights.

Speaking to members of the Colorado Alliance for Retired Americans -- an arm of the AFL-CIO union -- Ritter explained how Colorado's constitution makes it difficult for lawmakers to prevent severe budget cuts to departments such as human services and public safety.

The Denver Post
Guest commentary
(Editor's note: This guest commentary is part of a point-counterpoint about Colorado's budget crisis. Companion commentary by Barry Poulson.)

By Wade Buchanan, Chris Watney and Carol Hedges

This year, Colorado's General Fund revenues will hit their lowest point in recent history, and the implications are dire for the state and its residents.

The Denver Post
Feb. 3, 2009

By Tim Hoover

Amid the hand-wringing over cuts to vital programs this year, a small group of lawmakers has been quietly mulling over an effort to undo one of the key constraints on the state budget.

And they have found new hope in a legal opinion that says their target, known as the Arves-choug-Bird limit, is not protected by the state constitution.

ByTodd Engdahl
Education News Colorado

After spending a day and a half trying to absorb brain-numbing financial presentations, printed reports and Power Point slides, it was only fair that members of the state Fiscal Stability Commission got a little entertainment Thursday afternoon.

My name is Wade Buchanan and I am president of the Bell Policy Center. The Bell is a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization. I am speaking today in support of SB 09-228, to repeal the Arveschoug-Bird 6 percent formula and increase the legislature’s flexibility to appropriate General Fund revenues.

Colorado’s Fiscal Challenge
Presentation to the Colorado Long-term Fiscal Stability Commission

Click below for PDF of PowerPoint presentation

The Bell Policy Center is a nonpartisan public policy center and advocacy organization. I am speaking today in support of SB 09-228, to repeal the Arveschoug-Bird 6 percent limit on General Fund appropriations and increase the legislature’s flexibility to appropriate state revenues.

The Bell has been studying state fiscal policy since 2001, when we began researching the impacts of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). This work intensified with the economic downturn and the historic decline in state revenues during the first half of this decade.

When it comes to the state budget, Colorado is digging a hole.

That's one of the conclusions in a new report, Looking Forward: Colorado's fiscal prospects amid a financial crisis, by the Bell Policy Center, the Colorado Children's Campaign and the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute.

Executive summary

This report projects the amount Colorado would need to spend to maintain state services at 2007 levels through fiscal year 2012-13 and the amount of revenues that will be generated to pay for them. The costs of services were estimated based on factors that drive the budget, such as the number of students in college, inflation rates and the number of prisoners. It updates our December 2007 Looking Forward report.

(This report was updated to reflect the repeal of the Arveschoug-Bird funding formula in April 2009. It was passed out during a presentation by Wade Buchanan to the interim Fiscal Stability Commission on July 9, 2009.)

The road to 2009
Almost three decades of constitutional amendments, legislative acts
and economic ups and downs