Gov. Bill Owens has been taking hits from his friends in conservative politics since March, when he and Democratic legislators agreed to ask voters to consider suspending the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
Perhaps expecting more of the same next week, when former Texas U.S. Rep. Dick Armey comes to Colorado to rally opposition to that reform effort, Owens sent Armey a letter Thursday, challenging him to a debate.
“I take a back seat to no one in America as a defender and champion of Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights,” Owens wrote.
TABOR, which voters approved in 1992, limits government revenue and requires voter approval for all tax increases. In November, voters will consider Referendums C and D, which loosen the TABOR belt for five years. The reform also would raise the revenue baseline in the TABOR formula.
Owens stressed in his letter to Armey that he wants to temporarily suspend TABOR in order to spare it from more serious attacks from anti-TABOR elements in the state.
“Our proposal will protect TABOR for years to come,” he wrote. “If we do nothing in Colorado, I am very concerned those who dislike TABOR will be emboldened to eliminate TABOR altogether. And that, you and I agree, would be a tragedy.”
Owens proposed Tuesday for the debate – the same day Armey is scheduled to mount the Capitol steps to kick off the Vote No campaign on Referendums C and D.
Armey was traveling Thursday and had not seen Owens’ letter, said his spokeswoman, Beth Skinner.
