The recently proposed Wisconsin Taxpayer Protection Amendment continues to spark debate, as some are comparing it to a similar Colorado state constitutional amendment which garnered mixed results.
Proposed by Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, and Rep. Jeff Wood, R-Chippewa Falls, the amendment is designed to decrease taxes and to downsize the state government. The backbone of the resolution is a limit on revenue rather than a spending limit, which Wood said sets it apart from similar measures in other states.
Critics of TPA, Wood said, "like to point to Colorado" as evidence of weaknesses in resolutions of this nature. In 1992, Colorado voters passed the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, imposing spending limits and limiting revenue, with provisions for inflation.
According to Barrie Hartman, spokesperson for the University of Colorado, the inflation provisions of TABOR are not enough.
"We've been hurt by TABOR, we don't like it," Hartman said. "The funding is just not keeping up with inflation. And [TABOR] has hurt the state as well as higher education."
The university is becoming more like a private institution in that grants are becoming a main source of funding, Hartman noted.
Colorado voters approved a loosening of TABOR's restrictions last fall, which allows the state to spend an amount equal to the highest amount spent in the previous five years, rather than just one year.
Wood pointed to parts of Colorado's TABOR, which he said clearly weakened the resolution, saying the taxpayer amendment was designed to avoid these failures. Among the differences between TABOR and his TPA is a TABOR provision requiring that the amount of inflation plus one percent be sent to K-12 schooling.
A "rainy day fund" also sets this bill apart from TABOR, Wood said, by setting aside money during economic booms instead of using the boom to "create programs [the state] can't afford."
Critics of TPA have expressed concerns regarding the possible effects of the resolution on the University of Wisconsin System, citing tuition hikes and enrollment decreases as likely outcomes.
"It seems that TPA could undermine UW funding, and we've already had 390 million dollars in tax money … cut in the last six years," UW Regent Roger Axtell said. "It could curtail our campus building program across the state, and it's very possible it could result in increased tuition and reduced student enrollment."
Additionally, UW Regent President David Walsh said enrollment caps would be likely if the proposed bill passed, and added the university "needs the flexibility" that the resolution would restrict.
As far as tuition raises in Colorado following TABOR, Wood said the hikes were not a direct result of the revenue-limiting measure, but rather a product of a "nationwide trend in the '90s to increase tuition."
Wood also pointed to economic growth in Colorado since TABOR was passed, saying the resolution was "absolutely" behind the boom.
Wood foresees his resolution as being a positive economic stimulus the way TABOR was for Colorado, and has countered some concerns raised by regents regarding the measure's effects on Wisconsin universities.
The original TPA proposal did not specifically outline ramifications for the UW System, but Wood said he intends to change that following questions and debate sparked during the regents' meeting last week.
Wood said he expects the revenue limit will eventually lead to enrollment increases in the system.
The resolution's chief implications, though, would be in making the state budget "held constant," according to Wood.
"Some people look at this as a limit on government, and it is," he said. "But, more importantly, it's a budget stabilizer."
Passing of TPA would require an approving nod from two consecutive Legislatures and voters in a statewide referendum because it is a constitutional amendment, and would likely take effect no earlier than the 2009-10 fiscal year.
The UW Board of Regents is slated to hold a special meeting regarding the resolution this Thursday.
