Judge Orders Removal of TABOR Ballot Initiative
from Maine State Ballot

A Kennebec Superior Court Judge has delivered a serious blow to proponents of a Maine state ballot initiative who are seeking a drastic funding cap for public services at the state, county, municipal and school district level.

Maine voters were expected to vote in November on the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR), a proposal that would limit spending growth to the annual rate of inflation plus modest adjustments for growth in population.

However, the April 4 ruling issued by Justice Donald Marden blocked the measure from appearing on the November ballot because nearly 8 percent of signatures needed by the proponents were delivered to the Secretary of State three days after the required deadline. The judge did not agree with the opinion of the Maine Secretary of State who believed the late signatures were acceptable because they had been notarized prior to the deadline.

Unfortunately, the setback is most likely temporary. Proponents of the measure have appealed the court decision and if the appeal is unsuccessful, TABOR supporters will move to place the initiative on the ballot in the next state election. However, for the past several months Council 93 and its members in the state of Maine have been gearing up to aggressively oppose the measure and the union is ready to fight it now or in the future.

TABOR would use a complicated formula to determine how much tax revenue could be raised at all levels of government. Because the formula would be based on inflation and population growth, the tax rate would vary from region to region, making the budgeting process extremely difficult and preventing government entities from raising the amount of revenue necessary to maintain adequate levels of services. It is estimated that in some instances, TABOR would prevent government bodies from being able to meet pension and health insurance costs or pay increases secured in collective bargaining agreements.

Opponents of the measure warn that TABOR poses an even greater threat to essential public services than the recently defeated Palesky Tap Cap initiative. Due to the work of a broad-based coalition that included Council 93, Palesky was soundly defeated with more than 63% of voters opposing the measure.

However, despite their signature gaffe, early signs indicate that proponents of TABOR are far more organized than the proponents of Palesky and have far greater resources at their disposal. TABOR proponents gathered more than 52,000 signatures of registered voters. In addition, the group has the backing of conservative Bush advisor and confident Grover Norquist, a wealthy businessman who is known for making the infamous statement, “my goal is to cut government in half in 25 years to get it down to the size where we can drown it in bathtub.”

But this isn’t the first time that supporters of public employees and the services they provide have found themselves in difficult position and many of the same groups and individuals that defeated Palesky are ready to mobilize against TABOR. In addition to working to educate and rally it’s own membership Council 93 and AFSCME leaders are working with the group Citizens United to Protect our Public Safety, Schools and Communities, a coalition of more than 75 organizations. “Our members in the state of Maine should rest assured that we are well aware of this threat and we are prepared to do everything in our power to help ensure that TABOR suffers the same fate as Palesky,” said Peter Wright, Council 93’s director of legislation, political action and communication.

Opponents of TABOR can point to Colorado as an example of just how devastating TABOR can be to a state. That state implemented a similar measure in the 1990s that proved to be disastrous. The flawed plan had such a negative impact in Colorado that the taxpayers opted to suspend the plan during the 2005 elections.  The decision to suspend the plan in Colorado had the support of both Republicans and Democrats, including the former supporters of the initiative.