Spending Limitations vs Free Spending Tax Payers

Here in Colorado in the early 1990's the voters enacted both tax and government spending limitations. These two acts in tandem worked for more than a decade to set the state on a prosperous course. Today these limitations are threatened. If you believe our politicians and even our newspapers, these limits are the cause of the state's currrent budgetary problems. Yet, limits are not the problem as chronicled in today's February 28th editorial in the Wall Street Journal. The problem is free spending from an unlikely source, the taxpayers themselves.

A few years ago the voters of Colorado approved Amendment 23. Amendment 23 is a noble effort to increase education spending by one percent increments over a ten year period. You see Coloradans love noble causes. Mandated education spending to help the children, a lottery system that benefits parks and recreation. The problem is that the education spending mandate, unlike that for parks spending, was unfunded. Like the legislature, when given the chance, Colorado voters proved to be undiciplined spenders. Never was a thought given to how the state would fund this spending, and why would it, this was for the children.

As the legislature today evaluates the task of fixing this mess, Amendment 23 has become a sacred cow. Politicians who were too weak to campaign against the Amendment are now facing the task of dealing with its consequences. But, we in Colorado should not fear for our education initiatives are in safe hands. After all, for the common law maker, this is the opportunity to slay the two headed monster of tax and spending limitation, which was taking all of the fun out of their job. Once tax and spending decisions are back in the hands of our politicians, happy days will be here again.