How Taxpayers Fared At The Ballot Box?
Karen Tuinstra, state policy analyst for the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, has written NTU Issue Brief #174, “Election 2009 Results: How Taxpayers Fared at the Ballot Box.” Tuinstra begins by providing a macro view of what happened at the polls last week:
“With a limited number of states holding elections for public office in 2009, voters in many parts of the country focused on ballot measures instead. In order to better inform taxpayers of how these efforts would affect their wallets, NTU published General Election Ballot Guide 2009, The Taxpayers Perspective last month, which described ballot measures in twelve states and their likely effect on the size and cost of government. Now that the votes have been tallied, we look back on the results to see how taxpayers fared.
"Despite a wave of protests and activism opposing bigger government, the results of the vote on November 3rd proved only somewhat indicative of this rising tide. There were several ballot contests where Americans rejected higher taxes and more government regulation, while many others approved higher taxes and larger government.
"Out of the 44 state and local ballot questions identified by NTU's Ballot Guide 2009, measures that could lower taxes or control government passed 70 percent of the time (for a total of 7 proposals passed). On the other hand, measures that could raise taxes or expand government were also approved at a high margin, of 76 percent (for a total of 26 proposals passed).”
She uses tables to provide additional detail about tax. bond and spending, property rights, and state government reform measures that were on the November 3, 2009 ballots. Tuinstra concludes the brief by writing:
“For advocates of limited government, the ballot measure results from the 2009 election comprised a mixed bag. Americans' concerns on the national level over how much government is growing were visible in some state and local contests, but not uniformly so. Just as landmark laws such as California's Proposition 13 and Colorado's Amendment 1 failed in several forms at the polls before finally being adopted, future gains will likely occur gradually. Fortunately, taxpayer groups and government watchdogs are already working to make sure that pro-taxpayer measures are included on the 2010 ballot. Perhaps more than any other part of the body politic, citizen activists know all too well the importance of the old adage, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."