Kansans watch taxpayer scuffle

Colorado voters to consider whether state should keep extra taxes

Topeka ? Buses and briefings.

The fight over TABOR – the so-called taxpayer’s bill of rights – has been low-key in Kansas lately, but is being waged publicly in Colorado.

In 1992, Colorado voters approved amending their constitution to include TABOR, which limits government spending increases to inflation plus population growth, and refunds to taxpayers revenue collected above that amount.

But facing a state budget crunch, Colorado voters in November will consider whether the government should be able to keep most of the extra tax revenue it collects. A companion referendum would allow the state to borrow up to $2.1 billion to fund transportation, capital improvement projects and local police and fire pensions.

Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican and former strong supporter of TABOR, is pushing for passage of the questions, citing the state’s budget problems.

Kansans on both sides of the issue are watching their neighbors with interest.

Alan Cobb, director of the Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity, which is pushing for TABOR in Kansas, said polls in Colorado indicated the referendums would fail and TABOR would remain as is.

“The bottom line is the people who don’t like TABOR don’t like it because it works,” Cobb said.

In Kansas, Americans for Prosperity plans to staff a booth at the Kansas State Fair next month and embark on a statewide bus tour to promote TABOR.

To be implemented in Kansas, TABOR would require a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate and then a majority vote in a statewide election.

Cobb said his group would push for its passage during the next legislative session, which starts in January, but doubts that there are enough votes to get it on the ballot.

“This remains a multiple-year project,” he said.

Meanwhile, anti-TABOR forces also have been at work.

Kansas Action for Children this week coordinated telephone briefings among higher education and business officials in Kansas with officials familiar with TABOR and how it has worked in Colorado.

“TABOR, at first glance, seems like it would be a positive thing for Kansas, but when you start to do some in-depth research … it’s really not a positive thing at all,” said April Holman, a fiscal analyst for Kansas Action for Children.

KAC opposes the measure because it says it would tie the hands of legislators if they had to respond to an emergency or increased social service needs.

Higher education officials also have voiced opposition, saying that TABOR has shifted funds away from universities in Colorado.