TABOR and fiscal policy

TABOR | Referendum C | Mill levy stabilization | Fiscal work

The Bell Policy Center is a leading resource in Colorado for balanced and accurate information about fiscal policy issues. Starting with its work in 2002-03 on the effects of TABOR in Colorado and through the passage of Referendum C in 2005, the Bell established strong credentials for clear thinking, thorough research and fair-minded advocacy on a complicated and crucial subject.

The Bell Policy Center believes expanding Opportunity requires an effective public sector working in partnership with a vibrant private sector.  Government doesn’t belong everywhere, but when we need government, we need it to be effective. We need functional schools, affordable colleges, responsive law enforcement, safe highways and a health care system that cares for the most vulnerable.

That’s why we focus so much energy on improving the fiscal health of state government.

We are most proud of the role we played leading to passage of Referendum C, Colorado’s Economic Recovery Plan. Whether one cares about early childhood and K-12 education, the state’s colleges, health care for kids, transportation or other important services, Ref C was by far the most significant policy achievement in Colorado in more than a decade.

The Bell’s work was key to the success of Ref C. Our seminal report, Ten Years of TABOR (2003), documented budget cuts forced by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), the economic downturn and the interaction among other constitutional provisions. We conducted strong research, educated community leaders, identified solutions, helped build a coalition for change, and ultimately worked hard for the passage of Referendum C, which gives Colorado a five-year time-out from TABOR’s spending constraints.

“The Bell got Colorado beyond the ‘Do we have a problem?’ phase and on to a proposed solution. The Bell played a major role in a large public education effort and a broad statewide coalition. Many, many people helped with Ref C. But I believe it would not have been as good as it was, and may not even have passed at all, without the Bell’s initial research and ongoing focus and hard work.” — Wade Buchanan, Bell Policy Center president

But Ref C is only a temporary solution. Now, in 2007, the “time-out” it provides is nearly halfway over. Colorado’s fiscal stability remains the single most important issue, and it is time to focus on what happens next.

That’s why the Bell Policy Center is taking a hard look at the fiscal policy issues that will face Colorado once Ref C expires in 2010. This work is being done in collaboration with the Colorado Children’s Campaign and the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute. Looking Forward, Colorado's fiscal prospects after Ref C is the report on that work.

Visit the Looking Forward home page.

To order a free hard copy of the 24-page Looking Forward report, call the Bell Policy Center:

(303) 297-0456 in metro Denver
(866) 283-8051 toll-free in Colorado

AGBell@thebell.org

Fiscal policy links & resources

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What's New

Dec. 18, 2007

New report examines
Colorado’s fiscal prospects
after Referendum C

A resource for Coloradans as they debate the future of critical services

Three Colorado nonprofits today released Looking Forward: Colorado’s fiscal prospects after Referendum C, a new report that gives Colorado citizens a baseline about future fiscal conditions for state government.

“We want this report to serve as a resource to Coloradans as they discuss where to go from here,” said Wade Buchanan, president of the Bell Policy Center. “It compiles a reliable set of projections about future fiscal conditions and provides the context in which future decisions need to be made.”

A team of eight analysts from the Bell Policy Center, Colorado Children’s Campaign and Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute focused on the six-year study period of FY 2007-08 through FY 2012-13 — the last three years of the Referendum C time-out and the first three years of the new Ref C revenue cap.

Looking Forward projects revenues and expenditures for the five largest state agencies, assuming a continuation of 2007 levels of service. It analyzes the effects of TABOR, the Arveschoug-Bird 6 percent spending formula and the varying forces that drive spending, agency by agency. It also looks at the future needs of the state’s capital budgets, including transportation and capital construction.

“This report shows us where Colorado is headed over the next six years,” said Buchanan. “The bottom line is that 2007 is probably as good as it’s going to get for state services. Services aren’t back to the levels they were at before the recession, and yet the challenge now is to prevent falling behind again.”

“The question is whether 2007 is good enough,” said Maureen Farrell, executive director of the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute. “Are 2007 levels of service adequate? Will they meet the needs of a growing state in the 21st Century?”

“What we need now is a serious, informed, statewide discussion about the kind of state we want our children to grow up in,” said Megan Ferland, president of the Colorado Children’s Campaign. “If we aspire to higher goals for our schools, colleges and universities, health care, transportation systems and more, then we need to start a conversation in Colorado about how we get there.”