by Dr. Barry Poulson

The American Heritage dictionary defines desperation as "recklessness arising from despair." And judging by the reckless rhetoric coming from some opponents of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) amendment, it's clear that they consider TABOR a major threat to their big-government ways and are desperate to preserve their endangered chunk of the state budget at almost any cost.

In short, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights is a state constitutional amendment that would limit the annual growth in government. Under a Taxpayer's Bill of Rights amendment, state spending and debt could not grow faster than the rate of annual population growth plus inflation. Surplus revenue received above this amount would accrue in budget stabilization and emergency funds, and a portion would be returned to taxpayers. Tax increases or spending above the amount of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights limit would require voter approval.

It's a very smart, reasonable idea, and it's had an overwhelmingly positive impact in the one state where it has been fully implemented -- Colorado. But to hear opponents describe it, you'd think TABOR causes everything from natural disasters to male pattern baldness. As our legislature considers a Taxpayer's Bill of Rights amendment here in Kansas, it's important to cut through the desperate scare tactics and learn the actual facts about how it's worked in Colorado.

The fact is that since Colorado enacted its Taxpayer's Bill of Rights in 1992, the state has experienced one of the strongest economic growth rates in the country and has provided taxpayers with more than $3 billion in tax rebates and refunds. The contrast between Colorado and Kansas in that time is striking: while the two states experienced similar economic trends in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a major divergence in the 90s, when income per capita increased 70 percent in Colorado, while it only increased 53 percent in Kansas.

Colorado is experiencing a budget challenge this year -- and it's almost entirely due to Amendment 23, a state constitutional amendment that mandates annual increases in spending on state education programs. Fortunately, we don't have a constitutional amendment that mandates big spending increases here, so we shouldn't have the same budget crunch.

While Amendment 23 is the main cause of Colorado's challenge, that state's version of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights isn't perfect. And that's exactly why the TABOR legislation proposed here in Kansas includes key improvements that will help us achieve even better results than Colorado has enjoyed.

One key improvement we're proposing to the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights here is the inclusion of budget stabilization and emergency funds that will help us better deal with economic downturns. In periods of rapid economic growth, when revenue exceeds the TABOR limit, surplus revenue would be deposited into the emergency fund and budget stabilization fund. When the cap is reached on those funds, surplus revenue is then offset by tax cuts or tax rebates. In periods of recession, when revenue is falling, money is then transferred from the budget stabilization fund. Colorado doesn't have these rainy day funds.

Another important improvement we've proposed to the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights in Kansas is the elimination of the so-called "ratchet-down" effect. In Colorado, when revenues dropped during the last recession, the TABOR spending and revenue limit dropped to that lower level and will grow from there -- even after the economy has recovered and revenues have bounced back.

That's not the way it'll work in Kansas . Here, when revenues drop during a recession, the "Rainy Day" funds allow TABOR spending and revenue limit to remain at the pre-recession high-water mark and only kick back in after revenues recover to pre-recession levels.

These three key differences between our Taxpayer's Bill of Rights and Colorado's mean our TABOR will give us stronger economic growth, more tax relief and restrained government spending -- without any of the minor side effects Colorado has experienced. In fact, I recently published a study showing that had this modified TABOR been enacted here in 1992, Kansas taxpayers would have received more than $1.1 billion in tax relief -- and also amassed more than $1.4 billion in rainy day funds to help deal with economic downturns.

So the next time you see a big-government supporter desperately point to Colorado as a reason to oppose TABOR here in Kansas, be sure to ask that person if they're deliberately ignoring the facts, or merely ignorant of them.

Dr. Barry Poulson is the Americans for Prosperity Foundation's Distinguished Scholar and a Professor of Economics at the University of Colorado. He is considered one of the nation's foremost experts on the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights.