On the heels of State Sen. Chichester’s criticism of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights comes the rebuttal from the Virginia Institute for Public Policy:
In the latest study released by the Virginia Institute, coauthors Stephen Slivinski and Dr. Michael New propose a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) for the Commonwealth of Virginia to boost economic growth while heading off a repeat of the budget crises that have plagued the state for the past several years. A constitutional amendment that would limit annual increases in state spending to the rate of population growth plus inflation, a TABOR would also require any tax surplus in excess of the spending limit to be refunded to the taxpayers, unless a public referendum allowed the excess revenue to be used for a specific purpose. A public referendum would also be required before the General Assembly could raise the spending limit.
In short, we have a spending problem in Virginia, and certainly not a problem where taxes are too low.
I haven’t had a chance to read the report yet (employers tend to frown on that), but I’ll get a chance to do so this evening. If there’s anything profound, I’ll be sure to comment accordingly.