Topeka ? One of the nation’s leading proponents of Colorado’s so-called Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights said Wednesday that a similar proposal would be good for Kansas.

Barry Poulson, an economics professor at Colorado University, said if Kansas had implemented a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in 1992, taxpayers would have received $1.1 billion in tax rebates and reductions.

Poulson said the amendment, called TABOR for short, would limit government growth to the rate of inflation plus population. It would also require voter approval of tax increases or bond issues.

Poulson said government spending had increased too much recently, which hurts business and increases the pressure to raise taxes.

“The rules we have in place have not controlled the growth of government,” Poulson said.

But critics say such a proposed amendment would hamper government’s ability to respond to emergencies and provide needed services.

To be implemented, TABOR would require a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate, and then a majority vote in a statewide election. Legislative leaders have said it would be difficult to get the necessary votes during the current session to place the measure on the ballot.

Poulson was brought to the Capitol by the Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax group that is pushing for the TABOR proposal.