|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Would State Budget Cap Pinch Like Colorado's?
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Issue
|
| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Oct 23, 2005 12:06pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Los Angeles Times |
| News Date | Sunday, October 23, 2005 06:05:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By Evan Halper, Times Staff Writer
October 23, 2005
Latimes.com : California
LOVELAND, Colo. — The scene may seem familiar to Californians: a Republican governor warning that fiscal meltdown is imminent unless voters approve new rules on how much money the state can spend each year.
But Colorado Gov. Bill Owens isn't looking for the kind of budget cap that California Republicans want voters to approve next month. That was imposed 13 years ago.
Now he is pleading with voters to lift it.
The problem: Colorado's spending controls appear to have worked too well. Now some of the most strident fiscal conservatives in Colorado — long viewed as a model for others considering such restraints — say the cap has strangled government. There is talk of closing community colleges, privatizing the university system, releasing inmates early.
Owens said he never saw it coming.
"I don't think it was designed to cripple government," he said of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, or TABOR, amendment his state's voters approved. "This is an unintended consequence."
He may be powerless to stop it. Colorado voters do not appear enthusiastic about a proposal Owens hopes they will pass Nov. 1 to lift the cap for five years. The measure is too close to call, polls show.
Critics of the spending controls say Colorado's problems should serve as a warning to California and every other state considering them.
"This is just a mess," said Tucker Hart Adams, a Colorado Springs economist whose forecasts are used by businesses throughout the state. "The process was just not thought through." |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
