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OVERSPENDING: Another state gets serious about a taxpayer’s bill of rights
From the
Bluegrass Institute, an independent
research and educational institution offering free-market solutions
to Kentucky's most pressing problems.
When politicians bother to ask, they will find that most Kentuckians prefer
smaller government and lower taxes.
Oklahoma residents are being asked. Recent polls indicate that 88 percent of
Oklahomans believe state spending should grow no faster than family incomes.
Credible polling also found that Oklahoma residents favor a Taxpayer’s Bill of
Rights (TABOR) by a margin of 73 percent to 18 percent. According to the
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, few issues ever enjoy the kind of support
that TABOR is getting, including term limits and right-to-work.
TABOR restricts the growth of government at all levels to the sum of inflation
and population growth with surplus revenues being placed in rainy day funds or
returned to taxpayers through rebates or tax cuts. Voter approval is required to
increase taxes or debt.
Economist Stephen Moore has shown that with TABOR the state would have generated
almost $4 billion in surplus revenue during the past decade. It’s likely that
Kentucky, which like Oklahoma has lower-than-average national incomes, would
also have been boasting surplus revenues now if it had been operating with the
spending restraints imposed by TABOR.
But along with the spending constraints that TABOR offers, proponents of smaller
government in Oklahoma and elsewhere also are beginning to recommend that
policymakers determine their government’s spending priorities.
Lawmakers need to ask of each spending request: Is this money better off in the
hands of taxpayers and businesses that create jobs or spent by me at the
Capitol? What do these programs really accomplish? Is this a core function of
Kentucky government or a special-interest desire? Is this a duplicate program or
service? Can this be performed better by the private sector?
Making tough decisions about government’s priorities now will lay a foundation
for a more prosperous Kentucky in the future.
Sources:
“Oklahoma needs a Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights” by Barry W. Poulson and Brandon
Dutcher, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
“Big government hampers growth” by Alison Fraser, Oklahoma Council of Public
Affairs
“Planning for Kentucky’s Future” by Bob Williams, Lynn Harsh and Geoffrey
Segal, Bluegrass Institute
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