TEL - grass-roots movement to control spending?

A staff writer for The Christian Science Monitor (CSM) reports on a possible grass-roots movement to control state spending, the tax and expenditure limitation (TEL). California voters will vote this fall (see analysis of Proposition 76 by California's Legislative Analyst's Office, LAO), and Ohio is considering a similar measure. "Both Maine and Oregon are preparing initiatives for 2006. Conservative groups are poised to follow suit in 20 other states," the CSM article continues.

NCSL has posted, State Tax and Expenditure Limits--2005, a review page of TEL in the nation, with content on traditional limits, other tax and expenditure limitations, formulas for fiscal restraint, studies on TELs impact and effectiveness, and status of 2005 TEL actions. Included are charts of states under a tax or expenditure limitation. The report concludes:

The most restrictive TELs will ensure that voters will have a direct say over fiscal issues in a state, and legislators will have reduced fiscal policy-making authority. In addition, interest groups whose funding priorities are exposed to fiscal restrictions may seek to carve out protections for those priorities...the dual effort to deliver state government services and restrain state government growth will remain a delicate balance for the foreseeable future.