New Releases NeRHA Joins Coalition to STOP Initiative 423 September 21, 2006. Lincoln – The Board of Directors of the Nebraska Rural Health Association have made the decision to join the coalition to STOP Initiative 423. Nebraskans Against 423 is a nonpartisan coalition formed to oppose the 423 Initiative. Members are comprised of people who care about economic development, health care, education, aging services, public safety, emergency services and Nebraska's quality of life. This restrictive spending lid that will be on the November ballot in Nebraska is a variation of the TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) amendment adopted by voters in Colorado in 1992. In fact, the State of Colorado is the only state in the union to adopt such a proposal. By most accounts, the Colorado TABOR has been viewed as a total failure, especially it's negative effects on the economy and funding for education. Programs for children and the elderly have also been particularly hard hit. In Nebraska, unnamed, out-of-state activists have spent more than $620,000 to put this issue on the ballot. Neither the names of these activists nor their motives for involving themselves in Nebraska's constitutional affairs have been revealed. In the fall of 2005, Colorado voters approved a referendum to suspend portions of the TABOR in order to breathe life into some necessary services and functions of state government. The referendum effectively suspends portions of the TABOR for a period of five years. Initiative 423, the Nebraska version of TABOR, would limit state spending increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus growth in population. Naturally, if the state faces a spending lid, then major budget items such as state aid to education, special education, the University, Medicaid, and the Highway Trust Fund would become likely targets for budget reductions. As noted above, the impact of TABOR in Colorado has been significant. Between 1992 and 2001, Colorado declined from 35th to 49th in the nation in K-12 spending as a share of personal income. Colorado now ranks 48th in higher education funding as a share of personal income -- down from 35th in 1992. Between 1991 and 2004, the proportion of low-income children who lack health insurance in Colorado doubled (the same period in which the percentage of children who are uninsured actually declined nationally). Between 1992 and 2002, Colorado declined from 23rd to 48th in the nation in access to prenatal care, a sign of funding shortages in local health clinics. The amendment would lock an inflexible and impractical spending formula into our state's constitution, therefore, the NeRHA believes that Initiative 423 would be detrimental to health care in rural Nebraska.