Colorado Voters Suspend Controversial Spending Cap

In a victory for Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, voters in that state yesterday approved a statewide measure that suspends the Taxpayer Bill of Rights—or TABOR—and will allow roughly $3.7 billion in tax revenue to be spent on education, health care and transportation projects.

The victory of Measure C, which won with 53 percent of the vote, is seen as a setback for tax-control proponents advocating similar TABOR amendments in other states.

Voters, however, just barely turned down a companion bond measure that would have allowed state officials to borrow up to $2.1 billion and start spending money on repairs in some of the state’s poorer school districts to comply with the terms of a lawsuit against Colorado. The money also would have been used to construct roads and bridges, and build facilities at some of the state’s colleges and universities. Just over 50 percent of the voters rejected that measure,...