September 28, 2008 8:00 PM
Amendment 59 would gut TABOR
Claim: Amendment 59 would "gut" TABOR
Rocky Truth Patrol says: Just Wrong
Rep. Douglas Bruce, R-Colorado Springs and opponents to Amendment 59, the school savings measure, have argued that if Amendment 59 passes, it will "gut" TABOR.
While Bruce and company are correct that voters will give up future rebates if Amendment 59 passes (see other blog entry), they are wrong that the measure would gut TABOR, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights that Bruce wrote and voters approved in 1992.
Amendment 59 would undo one part of TABOR - the portion of the Constitutional Amendment that governs what happens to excess revenues that Colorado collects during flush times.
But TABOR's primary element will be preserved: Colorado voters will still vote on any tax increases.
"Our Amendment preserves the strictest limits on government growth in the U.S,'' said House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, one of the primary advocates for Amendment 59. "If the government ever wants more money, it's going to have to ask for it. That's not true in any other state."
The nonpartisan group, the National Conference of State Legislatures backs Romanoff's claim that Colorado has the strictest limits on tax increases in the nation, saying: "Only three states have adopted voter approval requirements (for tax increases). Currently Colorado requires voter approval for all tax increases, and Missouri and Washington require voter approval for tax increases over a certain amount."
Click here to see the National Conference of State Legislatures Study.
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