By restricting spending to the rate of inflation, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights would make it difficult to provide needed services.

We invest in public education, health care, transportation and public safety, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it makes economic sense.

Maine ranks fourth among the states in social health, an indicator that includes things such as infant mortality, high school graduation and homicide rates. The Corporation for Enterprise Development places Maine in the top 10 for its “Assets and Opportunities” rankings, based on such criteria as financial security, business development, tax policy, education, health care and home ownership. As an advocate for people with disabilities, I have witnessed firsthand how investments in education, health care and programs that allow people with disabilities to participate in their communities on an equal basis with everyone else allows them to live with greater dignity and to contribute to their communities in countless ways.

Maine’s public investments have thus produced substantial returns.

TABOR, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights that will appear on this fall’s ballot, is inconsistent with our values. TABOR would enact strict spending limits at all levels of government, even stricter than the ones Maine recently put into effect. By restricting growth in state spending to the rate of inflation (the rate at which prices grow), TABOR would make it more difficult for government to provide needed services over time.

This is true for many reasons.

First, the costs of services that government provides grow more quickly than the rate of inflation, particularly for education and health care, two of Maine’s biggest budget items. However, our economy is growing faster than both inflation and the costs of government services. That’s why our government today can provide more and better services than in the 1990s, even though state spending is lower relative to state income than it was back then.

Second, the need for state spending changes dramatically over time, often due to forces beyond the state’s control. For example, our aging population will present enormous challenges in coming decades. The federal government has also made significant cuts in vital programs in order to finance large tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, forcing state governments to take increased responsibility for providing services.

Colorado’s experience as the only state to try TABOR shows why TABOR is not the answer to Maine’s problems. Colorado’s TABOR, which used the same spending formula as the one proposed for Maine, was in effect for 12 years, until voters suspended it last year because of its impact on state services. For example, while TABOR was in effect, Colorado’s ranking on access to prenatal care dropped from 23rd to 48th. Colorado ranks 46th in high school completion rate. Maine ranks first. Colorado once ranked in the middle on child immunization rates, but now ranks 50th.

Colorado voters originally supported TABOR because, like Maine’s citizens, they felt taxes were unfairly high. TABOR doesn’t make the tax system more fair, however. It just forces citizens to pay out-of-pocket for services government once provided.

Our tax system is unfair because, like those in most states, it relies too much on those least able to pay, and too little on those who benefit most from society. We do not strike a fair balance between businesses and individuals, between residents and wealthy out-of-staters, and between wealthy people and everyone else.

Progressive changes are needed in many major taxes. People with higher incomes should pay higher income tax rates. We should expand the earned income tax credit, which makes work pay for working families. Maine should also rely less on property taxes, expanding programs like Circuit Breaker, which dramatically reduces taxes for those least able to pay while ensuring that out-of-state second-home owners pay their fair share. Expanding the sales tax base to include high-end services like legal and accounting work would stabilize Maine’s revenue base and place more responsibility on wealthier consumers.

Whatever the answers on tax policy, I am concerned that TABOR will undermine government’s ability to provide services our communities need. If Maine experiences the drop in high school graduation rates that Colorado did, many children with and without disabilities will lose the opportunity to make a better life for themselves. If Maine follows Colorado in falling behind on prenatal care and childhood immunization, we will have many more children and adults with disabilities down the road, creating unnecessary barriers for our citizens. TABOR will not save us money, and it is not the answer to our problems.

Cliff Ginn is a staff attorney with the Disability Rights Center in Augusta.