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Taxation reform measures go down in resounding defeats
AUGUSTA — Maine voters rejected by wide margins two initiatives aimed at controlling taxation and government spending at state and local levels. The so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR 2) failed for the third time in five years, as did an initiative to reduce automotive excise taxes.
With 80 percent of the votes unofficially tallied Tuesday, the proposal was trailing by roughly 61 percent to 39 percent.
“Maine people are tired of seeing this on the ballot,” said Crystal Canney, spokeswoman for the Citizens Unified For Maine’s Future campaign. “Hopefully this is the last time we’ll have to deal with TABOR.”
Voters by a nearly 3-1 margin also rejected a proposal to cut excise taxes on newer vehicles while exempting hybrid and other highly fuel-efficient vehicles from sales tax and three years of excise taxes. Supporters said the measure would save Maine taxpayers $80 million a year while promoting cleaner air and greater fuel efficiency, but critics maintained it would result in a tax shift and would have to be made up by higher property taxes.
David Crocker, chairman of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights campaign, or TABOR, said opponents played to voters’ fears while outspending supporters by a 12-1 margin.
“Fear is very difficult to overcome,” he said.
The proposal was modeled on a similar referendum that Maine voters rejected in 2006. Supporters said the measure would rein in government spending, create jobs and put money in people’s pockets, but critics claimed it would hurt schools, transportation infrastructure, health care and other services.
Some voters said it didn’t make sense to adopt measures that could cut state and local revenues during an economic downturn. Jessica Forrest, of Portland, said the school district where she teaches has already frozen budgets.
“My concern is we’re already facing budget cuts because of the economy, and I know what it’s like to have less resources,” she said after voting.
“It is disappointing, simple as that,” Steve Bowen, an educational consultant for the Maine Heritage Policy Center, said following early ballot returns. The conservative nonprofit organization lobbied and donated in favor of Question 2, which would have reduced automobile excise taxes on newer vehicles and eliminated excise taxes on hybrid vehicles for three years. The group also organized support for Question 4, better known as TABOR 2.
The Maine Heritage Policy Center — which also advocated for tax reform and government spending control referendums that failed in the past, including an earlier TABOR initiative rejected by voters in 2006 — gave $42,000 of the $64,000 raised in support of Question 2 and $42,000 of the $303,000 favoring passage of Question 4.
Opponents of Question 2 and Question 4 each raised $2.3 million against the initiatives and cited the importance of excise taxes in maintaining Maine’s local roads and bridges, as well as providing revenue for education, as reasons for opposition.
“You hate to think that a major part of the outcome was about the money that was spent to defeat these three questions, but it sure is hard to conclude otherwise,” Bowen said Tuesday. “The ‘No’ side dramatically outspent the ‘Yes’ side by a huge margin in all three cases, and prevailed in each.”
He added money spent to defeat Question 3, which would have repealed a 2007 school consolidation law, to the list of heavily funded campaigns opposing tax caps.
“The defeat of Question 3 seems to me to be inconsistent with the vote against Question 4. Maine people clearly think we need to keep the district consolidation process moving forward — to save money, I would guess — but turned down TABOR, which would have a much more profound effect on spending and budget savings than district consolidation ever will,” he said.
Whether for education, roads, or general services, Bowen believes Maine’s reliance on taxation is misplaced.
“The definition of insanity, they say, is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results,” he said. “Forty years of trying to tax and spend our way to prosperity clearly hasn’t worked, yet Maine people just voted to keep on going down the same road regardless.”
Insanity or not, the Maine Heritage Policy Center plans to continue working for reduce taxes in Maine.
“We certainly intend to keep working to provide some alternatives to the failed status quo, but it is very concerning to me that the message sent to the politicians and the special interests (Tuesday) was, ‘Keep on doing what you are doing.’ Is that the message we need to send?”
Conversely, Christopher St. John, executive director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy, which opposed the tax reform referendums, said in a statement that it’s time for Maine to move to focus on using established legislative process to manage government spending.
“We recognize the economic and fiscal challenges that Maine faces and are grateful that the focus of our legislative representatives can now be on real solutions to balance the budget and provide adequate revenues for necessary public services, rather than the false promises of ‘free lunch’ or restricting revenues and spending by auto-pilot without regard to real world consequences.” St. John wrote in a statement issued this morning.
Lorie Costigan, who covers state government issues for The Times Record, and Clarke Canfield of The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
news@timesrecord.com
With 80 percent of the votes unofficially tallied Tuesday, the proposal was trailing by roughly 61 percent to 39 percent.
“Maine people are tired of seeing this on the ballot,” said Crystal Canney, spokeswoman for the Citizens Unified For Maine’s Future campaign. “Hopefully this is the last time we’ll have to deal with TABOR.”
Voters by a nearly 3-1 margin also rejected a proposal to cut excise taxes on newer vehicles while exempting hybrid and other highly fuel-efficient vehicles from sales tax and three years of excise taxes. Supporters said the measure would save Maine taxpayers $80 million a year while promoting cleaner air and greater fuel efficiency, but critics maintained it would result in a tax shift and would have to be made up by higher property taxes.
| The so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR 2) failed for the third time in five years. Voters by a nearly 3-1 margin also rejected a proposal to cut excise taxes on newer vehicles while exempting hybrid and other highly fuel-efficient vehicles from sales tax and three years of excise taxes. |
David Crocker, chairman of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights campaign, or TABOR, said opponents played to voters’ fears while outspending supporters by a 12-1 margin.
“Fear is very difficult to overcome,” he said.
The proposal was modeled on a similar referendum that Maine voters rejected in 2006. Supporters said the measure would rein in government spending, create jobs and put money in people’s pockets, but critics claimed it would hurt schools, transportation infrastructure, health care and other services.
Some voters said it didn’t make sense to adopt measures that could cut state and local revenues during an economic downturn. Jessica Forrest, of Portland, said the school district where she teaches has already frozen budgets.
“My concern is we’re already facing budget cuts because of the economy, and I know what it’s like to have less resources,” she said after voting.
“It is disappointing, simple as that,” Steve Bowen, an educational consultant for the Maine Heritage Policy Center, said following early ballot returns. The conservative nonprofit organization lobbied and donated in favor of Question 2, which would have reduced automobile excise taxes on newer vehicles and eliminated excise taxes on hybrid vehicles for three years. The group also organized support for Question 4, better known as TABOR 2.
The Maine Heritage Policy Center — which also advocated for tax reform and government spending control referendums that failed in the past, including an earlier TABOR initiative rejected by voters in 2006 — gave $42,000 of the $64,000 raised in support of Question 2 and $42,000 of the $303,000 favoring passage of Question 4.
Opponents of Question 2 and Question 4 each raised $2.3 million against the initiatives and cited the importance of excise taxes in maintaining Maine’s local roads and bridges, as well as providing revenue for education, as reasons for opposition.
“You hate to think that a major part of the outcome was about the money that was spent to defeat these three questions, but it sure is hard to conclude otherwise,” Bowen said Tuesday. “The ‘No’ side dramatically outspent the ‘Yes’ side by a huge margin in all three cases, and prevailed in each.”
He added money spent to defeat Question 3, which would have repealed a 2007 school consolidation law, to the list of heavily funded campaigns opposing tax caps.
“The defeat of Question 3 seems to me to be inconsistent with the vote against Question 4. Maine people clearly think we need to keep the district consolidation process moving forward — to save money, I would guess — but turned down TABOR, which would have a much more profound effect on spending and budget savings than district consolidation ever will,” he said.
| Statewide Ballot Results | ||
| Question 1 — Gay Marriage | ||
| Yes | 298575 | 52.79% |
| No | 267014 | 47.21% |
| Question 2 — Excise Tax | ||
| No | 414038 | 74.05% |
| Yes | 145093 | 25.95% |
| Question 3 — School Consolidation | ||
| No | 317332 | 58.40% |
| Yes | 226023 | 41.60% |
| Question 4 — TABOR | ||
| No | 334096 | 60.19% |
| Yes | 220985 | 39.81% |
| Question 5 — Marijuana | ||
| Yes | 329600 | 58.67% |
| No | 232223 | 41.33% |
| Question 6 — Transit Bond | ||
| Yes | 361264 | 65.41% |
| No | 191002 | 34.59% |
| Question 7 — Constitutional Amendment | ||
| No | 283027 | 52.22% |
| Yes | 258935 | 47.78% |
| With 93% of precincts reporting. | ||
Whether for education, roads, or general services, Bowen believes Maine’s reliance on taxation is misplaced.
“The definition of insanity, they say, is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results,” he said. “Forty years of trying to tax and spend our way to prosperity clearly hasn’t worked, yet Maine people just voted to keep on going down the same road regardless.”
Insanity or not, the Maine Heritage Policy Center plans to continue working for reduce taxes in Maine.
“We certainly intend to keep working to provide some alternatives to the failed status quo, but it is very concerning to me that the message sent to the politicians and the special interests (Tuesday) was, ‘Keep on doing what you are doing.’ Is that the message we need to send?”
Conversely, Christopher St. John, executive director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy, which opposed the tax reform referendums, said in a statement that it’s time for Maine to move to focus on using established legislative process to manage government spending.
“We recognize the economic and fiscal challenges that Maine faces and are grateful that the focus of our legislative representatives can now be on real solutions to balance the budget and provide adequate revenues for necessary public services, rather than the false promises of ‘free lunch’ or restricting revenues and spending by auto-pilot without regard to real world consequences.” St. John wrote in a statement issued this morning.
Lorie Costigan, who covers state government issues for The Times Record, and Clarke Canfield of The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
news@timesrecord.com
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