Today the vote to move a controversial measure that would alter Tabor to fix its inevitable conflict with Amendment 23 out of committee was delayed yet again until Thursday in the Colorado House.
Majority Leader Andrew Romanoff, reportedly flanked by "education advocates" (teacher union representatives and fellow travelers) are trying to get the legislature to place on the November ballot a question asking voters permission for the Legislature to keep any Tabor overages for the state budget rather than return them to the taxpayer as required by the Taxpayers Bill of Rights.
I'm going to go way on a limb here and suggest that most of the people sitting in that room on that side of the table also advocated Amendment 23; which created the problem by funding educational projects, specious and otherwise, at a rate that is inconsistent with the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights cap on the amount of taxes that might be collected.
Many tried to point out this potential conflict at the time of Amendment 23's passage but were shouted down by the same group who now are suffering by the conflict.
Actually, they're not suffering because of the conflict but because Tabor prevents them from just willy-nilly raising taxes to fix their mistake.
It will take a two thirds vote to get this on the ballot -- it's a silly fix; instead they should adjust the Amendment 23 language but the union and education lobby would not support such a measure and we will not get one so long as the present leadership is running things.
The present delay is undoubtedly caused by the leadership scurrying about trying to get the necessary support.
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