I write regarding the decision of the board of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce to oppose the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. That action is inconsistent with the tax policy the chamber has supported for years.

I am a chamber member, former member of the board, former chairman of the board and the principal draftsman of the chamber’s tax policy statements for more than eight years.

The chamber publishes its public policy positions annually. Every year since 1998, including 2006, that policy has called for the enactment of spending caps at all levels of government by constitutional amendment. Those caps could be exceeded only by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and majority vote by voters, identical to the override process in TABOR.

The action by the chamber board represents a renunciation of its own policies. The decision was made by fewer than 20 representatives of an organization that has more than 1,200 members. The board did not poll its members, notwithstanding its reversal of policy or the issue’s importance.

The board does not speak for me, nor for many other members of the Chamber who support TABOR as critical to Maine’s future.

Maine is a low-growth, low-wage, high-tax state. That is not coincidence. Our tax policies are killing economic growth and job creation. Maine has tried to tax itself out of its problems. A vote against TABOR is a vote for more of the same.

I will vote yes.

Ronald P. Lebel, Auburn