Taxpayers Bill of Rights Praised
A Cato Institute scholar says Massachussets tax reformers should pursue a Taxpayers Bill of Rights similar to Colorado's, rather than trying to abolish the state's income tax outright. On Nov. 5, 45 percent of Massachusetts voters voted for a measure to abolish the state's income tax. November 25, 2002, Michael J. New, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard-MIT data center, says the TABOR approach has a better chance of winning a referendum - and actually would do more to reduce government spending.

An approach similar to TABOR would likely enjoy more political success in Massachusetts than a proposal to abolish the state income tax. Reasonable people can disagree about the extent to which state services would have to be reduced if the income tax were abolished. However, such grandiose proposals are very easy for unions and other opponents to demonize and caricature. Conversely, a tight expenditure limit would not require drastic short-term budget cuts. Additionally, this approach has actually enjoyed some success in Massachusetts. In 1986 Massachusetts voters enacted an expenditure limit though it was too high to meaningfully constrain budgetary growth.

New also details the success of TABOR in Colorado:

When the state collects revenues above the limit set by TABOR, Colorado taxpayers are entitled to a rebate. Overall, between 1997 and 2002, Colorado has reduced taxes more than any other state, issuing annual tax rebates that have totaled more than $3.2 billion. These tax reductions have been a boon to Colorado's local economy. Between 1995 and 2000, for instance, Colorado ranked first among all states in gross state product growth and second in personal income growth. Furthermore, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), Colorado was one of only five states that did not run a deficit during fiscal 2002.

TABOR has also forced Colorado residents to see the costs inherent in government programs. In other states, residents often support higher government spending because they can see the benefits of a particular program, but remain blissfully unaware of the costs that they and other taxpayers will be forced to bear. However, in Colorado the annual tax rebates brings these tradeoffs clearly into focus. In every year from 1993 to 1999 there was a proposal on the ballot to either raise taxes or increase spending in excess of the TABOR limit. Knowing these initiatives would markedly reduce the size of their annual tax rebate, voters soundly defeated each of these measures.

For more stories related to TABOR, including a variety of looks at how the Colorado plan is working, and efforts to create a TABOR in Tennessee, go here, and here, and here, and here, and here. And this link will take you to a post with links multiple TABOR resources.

Lots of reading. Perhaps you should get started now. :-)