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March 10, 2005
Right-wing ideologues continue to thrust the deceptively named Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) on unsuspecting states across the country. TABOR is a structural requirement that limits government tax collections and spending to a convoluted formula based on population growth and inflation. In practice, TABOR severely limits state revenues and spending on critical public services like health care and education and is now coming under bipartisan attack from cash-strapped state leaders.
- Right-wing attacks on state revenues undermine public education and hurt economic growth. Colorado implemented TABOR in 1992 and is now suffering the consequences. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, since Colorado's high school graduation rate has fallen six percent since the passage of TABOR. And while funding for state schools in Colorado has plummeted, skyrocketed and scores of faculty are being lured away by states that can offer more reasonable salaries.
- TABOR hurts public health for kids. The number of Colorado's low-income children who lack health insurance has risen rapidly from 15 percent in 1992 to 27 percent in 2003. Over the same time period the national proportion of low-income children without health insurance declined. Around the time of the passage of TABOR the on-time vaccination rate for children in Colorado was below the national average. Now, Colorado is last in the nation for on-time immunization rates.
- Conservative leaders understand that TABOR is bad for states. In his recent State of the State address Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado stated, "General Fund dollars available under TABOR...will not keep pace with the demands on the budget. As a result, we cannot take the steps we must take to build a brighter future for all of Colorado, and particularly our children."
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund. |
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund. |
