After a day of angry quarrels about taxes and state spending, lawmakers on Tuesday approved two guides that will take on the daunting task of explaining to voters this fall’s budget- revamping ballot measures.
During the five-hour debate at the Capitol, lawmakers traded jabs with opponents of Referendums C and D and then bogged down in lengthy discussions of proper punctuation for the guides.
Douglas Bruce, the author of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, the constitutional amendment targeted by the ballot measures, unleashed the most withering attack on the guides.
“I think you should really tell people the truth,” Bruce said. “You’ve got so many goofy numbers around here that it just demonstrates that you can’t explain to the public what it costs.”
The guides – called “blue books” because of the color of their covers – attempt to explain how Referendums C and D will affect taxpayers.
The debate Tuesday was about whether the state needs more money, whether the budget-revamping plan to be considered by voters this fall is actually a tax increase and how best to frame these questions for voters.
Referendum C calls for eliminating the spending limits on state government for five years. Officials estimate that the state would have $3.7 billion more money to spend on roads, schools and pension funds for police officers and firefighters.
If the state keeps that money, taxpayers would not get refunds triggered by the spending limits.
Referendum D would let the state borrow an additional $2.1 billion for the same purposes as Referendum C.
Bruce attacked the blue book for Referendum C, which he said was “biased,” “unbalanced,” “misleading” and “offensive.”
He said the blue book’s arguments in favor of Referendum C include “tear-jerky arguments” about funding programs for senior citizens, low-income families and the disabled.
But in the arguments against the ballot measure, the blue book leaves out examples of wasteful state spending on sexual aids used in a piece of art, condoms, and essays on lesbian sheep and female orgasms, Bruce said. This summer, foes of Referendum C exposed state spending in arts programs that included those topics.
Bruce charges that the blue book doesn’t accurately reflect the refunds voters will give up with Referendum C. Bruce calculates that the average couple with two children will give up $3,480 over the five-year period.
The blue book offers two ways to calculate the average refund voters will give up. TABOR works through 16 refund mechanisms. Nearly every taxpayer gets a sales-tax refund when there are TABOR refunds.
The nonpartisan staff that writes the blue book calculates that the average taxpayer will give up $491 in TABOR refunds based on sales tax. The 15 other refund mechanisms include tax credits for poor families, capital-gains tax credits for investors and business personal property tax credits for business owners.
Combining all 16 refund mechanisms, the average taxpayer gives up $1,105 over five years, it says.
Lawmakers ignored all but one of Bruce’s proposals. They appeased the son of an English teacher by changing “Referendums C and D” to “Referenda C and D.”
The blue books are slated to be mailed to voters this month.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
