GOP readies defense plan for TABOR

By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 23, 2008 at 11 p.m.

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Republican lawmakers ramped up efforts Wednesday to spoil an 11th-hour proposal by House Speaker Andrew Romanoff to strip spending limits from the state Constitution.

Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, flanked by a half-dozen GOP lawmakers, proposed what he is calling the "Colorado Plus 1" plan. It would commit the state to increasing spending on transportation and creation of a new reserve fund by a total of $3.8 billion over the next decade, starting in 2011.

Two-thirds of that money - about $2.5 billion - would go to transportation, with the rest - almost $1.3 billion - going into a reserve fund.

GOP lawmakers said the money would be available upon expiration of Amendment 23's mandate that K-12 funding increase by 1 percent annually above student population and inflation.

Romanoff's proposal would ask voters to lift the fiscal restraints in the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, repeal the spending requirements of Amendment 23, create a reserve inside the state education fund, and keep transportation funding at current levels.

Most Republican lawmakers are opposed to lifting anything out of TABOR, even though Romanoff's proposal would keep the requirement that any tax increase go to the voters.

"(Romanoff) came forward with a big idea that many of us don't like," Penry said. "This is our response, because we believe it's a better way to do it without raising taxes."

Romanoff introduce his House Concurrent Resolution late Wednesday afternoon. He called the GOP counterproposal an election-year ploy to keep voters from being allowed to decide whether to fix the state's constitutional mess.

"I think if I were them, I'd be embarrassed, actually, to be offering these arguments with a straight face," Romanoff said.

The GOP plan is not expected to get very far this year, and would require the support of Democrats who control the legislature to even get a hearing. But Republicans said their proposal could be passed by the legislature, while Romanoff's plan would have to be placed on the November ballot.

Romanoff countered that "let the people vote" used to be a rallying cry for both parties.

"I'm not sure what folks are afraid of," he said.

The Denver Democrat said he met with an economist and bill drafter Wednesday morning to finalize the language of his plan. He said he has continued to gather a "broad coalition" of support outside the Capitol, with Gov. Bill Ritter, university presidents and two of former Gov. Bill Owens' budget directors now backing it.

University of Colorado President Bruce Benson went public Wednesday with his support for Romanoff's plan, saying he likes that it would free up money for higher education.

Romanoff would need a two-thirds vote from both houses of the legislature to get his measure referred to the ballot. Even if he got all Democrats to support the plan, he'd need four Republican votes in each chamber as well.

Benson said he understands how hard it is to get that many votes for any proposal.

"It's that old story - there's something for everybody to hate," Benson said. "That's the way it needs to be. It's a tough job."

bargec@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5059

• April 24, 2008

  7:40 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Lowtaxequalsfreedom writes:

  Lawmakers should be considering adding to Tabor. Much work could be done to make Tabor more difficult for unscrupulous politicians and bureaucrats to violate. For example the State collects millions in workers comp and then uses the money in other areas. Why? The local level leaves the most to be desired. The so called enterprise funds are nothing more than a government created and government operated MONOPOLY. Investigate your localities enterprise funds and you might just be surprised to learn how much extra you are paying for water only to have the overage shuffled back to general fund. Talk about a hidden tax. Tabor also went very wrong on its language in regards to local referendums. The Tabor statis claim that you can only "debruce" for 4 years but that point is not made clear in Tabor. Unfortunately this point is crucial to a document like Tabor functioning correctly. Just ask the folks in Eagle County. They are facing property tax amounts that have doubled annually and they are told they can do nothing about it. Tabor gave the local governments the green light. When the localities debruced 10-15 years ago they also decommoned sensed. Politicians have twisted Tabor into an excuse to excessively tax residents, that does not sound fiscally conservative to me. Fix Tabor the right way, reword it and make it tougher for localities to violate the spirit. Keeping local taxes low is as important or more important than keeping State taxes low. At least the State level power has checks and balances at the local level 7 relatives can control your entire town and purse string. Think about it! Make Tabor better by making Tabor tougher!

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