The national teachers union pumped $465,000 into the effort to oppose the Taxpayer Bill of Rights over the last several months, and with the help of other state and local employee unions the opposition has collected $625,000 since mid-July.
In contrast, the group pushing the initiative, known as TABOR, raised just over $148,000 in the same time period, running from July 19 through the end of September.
The biggest anti-TABOR contributor in this last reporting period was the National Education Association, giving $250,000 directly and another $215,000 through Citizens Who Support Maine’s Public Schools, with a mailing address at the Maine Education Association in Augusta.
The Maine Municipal Association, representing cities and towns, also gave $85,000, and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees gave $50,000. According to an earlier campaign spending report, filed in mid-July, the MMA already had given $25,000 to fight TABOR, as did the Maine State Employees Union.
The money is being collected by Citizens United to Protect our Public Safety, Schools and Communities – the political action committee spearheading the anti-TABOR drive – which had $34,265 on hand at the end of September, having spent most of what it raised in that time period. The greatest chunk of the money went for TV advertising.
The pro-TABOR forces entered the final month of the campaign with $72,688.
“We’ve got enough money for a respectable TV buy, and if we get more, we’ll do more,” said Mary Adams, who organized the petition drive to put TABOR on the ballot. “We’re in the same room with a 600-pound gorilla. They’ve got unlimited funds,” she said about the opposition.
Adams released a blistering e-mail after the finance reports came out for Citizens United, referring to the unions opposing TABOR as “pigs at the trough.”
“We knew the unions and special interests were going to throw their weight against us,” Adams said. “These groups are commonly referred to as ‘pigs at the trough’ by Maine’s hard-pressed taxpayers.”
“In spite of this major Pig PAC Power, the taxpayers of Maine can overcome their influence for control over taxes when they vote yes for the Maine Taxpayer Bill of Rights,” she said.
Dennis Bailey, who is representing the anti-TABOR group, said he was happy to have the National Education Association support and that of the other groups.
“Our budget was based on what we assumed the other side was going to be spending,” he said, and the rumors were that up to $1 million would be coming in from out-of-state by conservative groups pushing TABOR-like referendums.
“So far, and I emphasize so far, the big money hasn’t shown up on the other side,” he said, adding he still believed it could happen.
According to the latest filing for pro-TABOR forces, $27,700 came from individuals listing out-of-state addresses, but none from the outside conservative advocacy groups opponents said would flood the campaign. In previous filing periods, $20,000 came from Americans for Limited Government, which supports tax and spending cap efforts across the country.
The latest report shows some sizeable donations from local business people, including real estate developer Joseph Boulos of Falmouth, who gave $25,000; Richard Dyke of Windham, founder of Bushmaster Firearms, who gave $20,000; and, David Shaw, founder of Idexx, who gave $5,000.
TABOR, Question 1 on the November ballot, would cap spending at all levels of government and require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or local governing body and a majority vote on the ballot to override the limits or raise any taxes or fees, even ones for budgets that fall in the spending limit.
It would allow spending at the state level to increase at the rate of inflation plus population growth, but at the municipal level it would be capped at population growth plus inflation or the change in assessed value, whichever is lower.
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