The TABOR Gimmick




The TABOR fiscal straitjacket is one of the more dangerous "policy" gimmicks to hit the states in a long time. Howie Rich from New York City is pushing the issue in six states throughout the country in 2006, leading many to wonder why he cares so much about state priorities thousands of miles away from where he lives...

What exactly is TABOR?

Colorado, the only state to have lived under TABOR, teetered on the edge of bankruptcy after 13 years of drastic TABOR budget cuts. Priorities like education, health care, emergency services, and highway safety withered under the law's stranglehold.

What exactly happened in Colorado? Click on the image to watch the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' movie about the disastrous effects on Colorado's schools, emergency services, healthcare, and highway safety.



While Colorado voters repealed the TABOR fiscal straitjacket in 2005, Howie Rich from New York City and his cronies were pushing it in 24 other state legislatures. But many states recognized a gimmick when they saw one. Now the playing field has been narrowed to six ballot initiatives.

Even if TABOR makes it on the ballot in those states - an outcome that is still in doubt because of the natural incompence of an effort with no in-state, grassroots coalition - these ballot initiatives are not your typical tax fights. Usually the Chambers of Commerce are lined up on one side, and folks who appreciate state services are on the other. But Howie Rich from New York City is getting rejected even by the usual tax limitation enthusiasts.

Signature fraud allegations have followed the TABOR initiatives all around the country - from a convicted felon collecting signatures shoving a teacher in Nebraska to fraudulent signature gathering in Montana. TABOR was rejected for consideration in Missouri and Oklahoma, and its future has dimmed a good bit in Michigan and Nevada. The fact that Howie Rich's cronies are in court all across the country because of illegal signature gathering, bad fiscal notes, and ballot language problems is a problem for them, no matter the outcome. The fact that they're losing in court is disastrous for Howie.

But this is the natural outcome of a strategy completely funded by one multi-millionaire real estate developer from New York, with no stake in the real priorities of the states he has targeted.

Let's make it clear to Howie Rich from New York City that TABOR was the wrong issue to push on people with his out-of-state money and shell organizations.

Especially when the consequences of TABOR will never hurt Howie Rich from New York City.