(Alexandria, VA) – With less than two weeks remaining before Maine citizens vote on Question 4, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), opponents are spreading both money and misinformation to defeat the measure. Recognizing the high stakes of this debate, the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) has launched a Ballot Committee and website, Maine4Taxpayers.com, to help educate Mainers on the benefits of passing TABOR. NTU has nearly 2,000 members in Maine.
According to Maine for Taxpayers Committee Director Joshua Culling, implementing TABOR in Maine is now more urgent than ever. He noted that spending in Maine has skyrocketed 107 percent since 1995. If TABOR had existed at that time, Mainers would now enjoy a $466 million rainy day fund and a $1.6 billion smaller tax burden. "Not another year should go by where Mainers sit in the passenger seat allowing the state government to drive recklessly toward a fiscal catastrophe," Culling said. "It's time for taxpayers to say enough is enough and pass Question 4."
Maine's Question 4 would require that annual government spending growth be restricted to changes in inflation plus population. It would also present citizens with the chance to vote on any tax increases. Finally, it would mandate that 80 percent of surplus revenues above the "TABOR limit" be refunded to taxpayers via tax cuts, with the remaining 20 percent to be deposited in a "budget stabilization fund."
Mainers can visit Maine4Taxpayers.com to learn more about how they can help in the fight to pass TABOR. Depending upon resources, the Maine for Taxpayers Committee will be supplementing its volunteer and earned media efforts with other initiatives such as paid advertising and production of pro-Question 4 campaign materials.
"Every state should be as fortunate as Maine is to have the opportunity to put prudent restraints on out-of-control state spending," Culling concluded. "By adding their state to the ranks of those that have prospered thanks to sensible limits on the future size of government, Maine voters could be an inspiration to taxpayers everywhere."
NTU is a nonpartisan, nonprofit citizen organization founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, smaller government, and economic freedom at all levels. Note: For more information on NTU, visit www.ntu.org or Maine4Taxpayers.com.
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