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In an e-mail sent Monday to University of Maine System employees, Chancellor Richard Pattenaude told of his and the system board of trustees’ concerns with Question 4 on Maine’s Nov. 3 ballot — also known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

If passed, TABOR would limit state and local spending to a formula based on the growth rate of population and inflation. Any spending over the limit would require citizen’s approval at the polls.

“On September 14, the board voted to formally express its serious concerns about the negative effects TABOR’s passage would have on public higher education in Maine. The board took its position after seeking input from both TABOR proponents and opponents, and after looking at TABOR’s impact on public universities in Colorado, the only state in the nation to adopt TABOR,” the e-mail stated.

“The Board believes that passage of TABOR would only compound the budget problems that university leaders are working to resolve,” the e-mail stated.

Bruce Poliquin, a Republican candidate for governor in 2010, visited four Maine cities Monday urging people to vote yes on Question 4. He called state spending “out of control” and said Maine “must get a handle on spending.”

• Op-Ed: TABOR II will destabilize our state (September 17, 2009)
• Orono town council tackles TABOR II (September 24, 2009)
• Letters: Tabor and same-sex marriage (September 24, 2009)
• TABOR Now campaign files complaint against South Portland (October 26, 2009)
• Op-Ed: On TABOR II and other issues, GSS must take a stand (September 24, 2009)

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009, 11:09 pm. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.