Tax critic knocks Baldacci proposal Officials call feedback ‘counterproductive’

BANGOR – The debate over Gov. John Baldacci’s tax reform proposal spread all over the map Wednesday.

A day after the plan received its first public airing in Augusta, one of its chief detractors from Garland came to Bangor armed with a Colorado tax scholar, who panned the governor’s plan as “weak and ineffective.”

Instead, Barry Poulson, an economics professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, suggested Maine lawmakers institute a Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) similar to that in his home state, where the constitution strictly limits government spending.

During his talk at Wednesday’s Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce breakfast, Poulson said Baldacci’s plan allowed for easy circumvention of its proposed state spending limits. Baldacci’s limits would be written into state statute, which requires a majority vote in the Legislature to change, rather than the state constitution, which requires a two-thirds vote in the Legislature and must be ratified by a majority of voters in a statewide election.

“You’re giving the state an excuse to spend more money,” Poulson said, who characterized state and local spending as “out of control.”

Baldacci administration officials were quick to fire back at their Colorado critic, who, with Garland activist Mary Adams, helped craft a citizen initiative based on TABOR that could find its way to the ballot in Maine as soon as November of next year.

“It is beyond counterproductive,” Baldacci spokesman Lee Umphrey said about the Wednesday forum, which did not include a representative from the governor’s office. “We don’t need any more misinformed tax experts. We have enough in Maine already.”

At the Wednesday breakfast, Adams used a pony bridle to demonstrate the need for the more stringent spending controls in her plan.

“We need to put a bit in the mouth of government and give the reins to the people of Maine,” said Adams, whose group is attempting to collect enough signatures to place her TABOR initiative on the ballot.

Adams used the same prop on Tuesday during the public hearing on Baldacci’s tax plan before the Legislature’s Joint Select Committee, which is continuing work on the proposal.

The committee plans to wrap up its work by Jan. 14 and have lawmakers take a final vote by Jan. 20, the deadline for petitioners such as Adams to submit the signatures required to force a 2005 referendum.

If lawmakers act after Jan. 20, and Adams is successful in gathering enough signatures, the legislative bill would be presented to voters as a competing measure on the November ballot.

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce also has a tax reform initiative in the works. Chamber officials have generally been optimistic about Baldacci’s plan, although they have proposed stricter spending limits – but not as strict as Adams’ bill, which ties spending to population growth and inflation.

Unlike the case in Colorado, Adams’ initiative could not alter the Maine Constitution, which cannot be amended by a citizen initiative. But Adams said Wednesday she hoped state lawmakers would offer the constitutional amendment to signify they are serious about spending limits.

Poulson credited Colorado’s TABOR initiative with helping to boost that state’s economy, which indeed thrived during the late 1990s. But TABOR is not without its critics, who note the tax plan did not stop Colorado from suffering one of the nation’s worst recessions during the first three years of the decade.

State Sen. Joe Perry, D-Bangor, a member of the select committee, said he was wary of the Colorado plan, which he deemed “largely ineffective.” Instead, Perry predicted the Legislature – with Baldacci’s initiative as a starting point – would arrive at some sort of consensus before the Jan. 20 deadline.

“It’s the only plan I see that is serious about reducing the overall tax burden over time,” Perry said.