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Pre-2005 Content Archive

Report

A Faulty Fix: Repairing the "Ratchet" Will Not Repair TABOR

March 21, 2006

Key Findings

  • The main problem with tax and expenditure limits like Colorado’s TABOR is the arbitrary formula used to limit revenues each year. Fixing the “ratchet” (a feature of TABOR that worsens revenue shortages after a recession) would not avert the sharp decline in public services Colorado experienced under TABOR.
  • Services in Colorado deteriorated severely even before the ratchet took effect — evidence that the ratchet is not the major problem with TABOR.
  • The current set of TABOR proposals — known as “SOS” — claim they fix the ratchet through an alternative formula for annual adjustments; the change moderates the ratchet but does not eliminate it.
  • The SOS proposals also include Budget Stabilization Funds. A BSF could fix the ratchet in the context of these limits — but only if it is designed and used properly. The evidence suggests that would be unlikely in most states.
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Report

Video: The Real Story Behind TABOR

March 2, 2006
This video discusses the impact of the "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" on Colorado and provides lessons for other states that may be considering similar limits on state taxes and...
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Report

Administration Defense of Health Savings Accounts Rests on Misleading Use of Statistics

February 16, 2006 | and

Key Findings

  • In recent days, the President and other Administration officials have claimed that 40 percent of HSA enrollees have incomes below $50,000 and that 37 percent of HSA enrollees were previously uninsured.
  • These figures are being used in a misleading way. For example, they apply to only a portion of HSA enrollees and cannot be used to draw general conclusions about HSAs.
  • Extensive data not cited by the Administration support concerns that HSAs are most attractive to healthier and wealthier people.
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Report

African Americans and Social Security: The Implications of Reform Proposals

January 18, 2006 | William Spriggs and

Key Findings:

  • Studies show African Americans receive modestly more in Social Security benefits for each dollar they pay in payroll taxes than whites do.
  • African Americans earn 73 percent as much as whites, on average, but because of Social Security’s progressive benefit structure, their average retirement benefit is about 85 percent as much as whites’.
  • African Americans benefit disproportionately from Social Security’s disability and survivors benefits, since they are more likely than other workers to become disabled or die before retiring. For example, while 15 percent of all U.S. children are African American, 23 percent of the children receiving Social Security survivors benefits are.
  • The risks of replacing part of Social Security with private accounts would be more acute for African Americans than for whites, while the potential rewards likely would be smaller.
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