In their attempt to prevent the passage of the proposed “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” (TABOR) in Maine, opponents have claimed that the provision has “decimated” and “de-funded” schools and public colleges in Colorado, a state which has had TABOR on the books since 1992. Education has been a central focus in the opponents’ campaign to prevent people from voting YES on Question 4 on the November 3^rd ballot in Maine. If passed, TABOR would limit the growth of annual expenditures from Maine’s General Fund, the Highway Fund, and other special revenue funds to the rate of population growth plus inflation.

 

It’s time to set the record straight on TABOR and education in order to move forward in Maine. A new report released by The Maine Heritage Policy Center essentially debunks all claims that TABOR hurts public education in Colorado..

 

Firstly, average scores on the SATs for 2005 college bound seniors on verbal and math portions were almost identical in both states. Additionally, higher education is actually more affordable in Colorado than it is in Maine. The report shows that the average annual costs minus average financial aid for a 2-year public college in Maine are 55 percent higher than in Colorado and 4 year colleges are 38 percent higher in Maine.  

 

In addition, the report shows that Colorado outperforms Maine students by a wide margin on Advanced Placement tests, pays its teachers better, and has not seen education spending plummet, as opponents have so often claimed.

 

Overall, outcomes in Colorado are as good or better than in Maine, despite the fact Colorado has had TABOR on the books since 1992.

 

Click here to view ATR’s press release.

 

Photo Credit: Henrick Strandskov

The Independence Institute www.i2i.org has done a ton of work on TABOR. If anyone wants more information, just go to the site and search for TABOR and it will bring up a lot of papers and op-eds.
>> TCH Wednesday, October 28, 2009 12:51 PM

The "horrendous" fall-out of Colarado's TABOR initiative is the bugaboo that the anti I-1033 forces in Washington state are using as well. According to their ads, it will de-fund everything from pre-school to senior care. (What?!? No more cradle-to-the-grave socialism?? I gotta vote for this one!)
>> Richard Wednesday, October 28, 2009 2:29 PM

Our tax and spend Democratic governor Ritter of Colorado figured out a way to evade the restrictions of TABOR in order to steal money from the taxpayer, he tripled the auto license plate fee.
>> Dave Livingston Wednesday, October 28, 2009 4:02 PM

TABOR works to keep spending by politicians in check. The down side is - that no matter the party affiliation, politicians spend most of their time in office trying to undo a TABOR act. We have TABOR in Colorado - If you ask the poeple, it works, If you ask a politician it does not work......go figure
>> richard c Monday, November 2, 2009 1:54 PM

Yeah, the TABOR ACT is working great. Tuition hikes as much as 25% and schools closing around Denver. If the legislation could raise taxes this would not be happening. We should be paying taxes to help support public education which is an investment in our children and our future, but we can't. But nobody wants to pay taxes, or anything for that matter. We're just a selfish society and now we're paying for it.
>> Rob Wednesday, November 11, 2009 11:11 PM