In a strange development in late May, a bipartisan group of Senators on the Finance Committee cosponsored legislation introduced by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) to permanently repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax. However, the legislation does not include provisions to offset the huge cost of the bill.

While the Senate was bogged down last week debating judicial nominations and a possible vote to end the use of the filibuster when considering judicial nominees, the House has been hastily forging ahead on appropriations bills at a furious pace. Soon after the bicameral budget resolution was agreed to April 28, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) laid out 302(b) allocations to the 11 appropriations subcommittees and markups immediately began. Seven of the bills remain to be completed.

In 1992, Colorado passed a constitutional amendment instituting a "taxpayer's bill of rights" (TABOR) in order to make it more difficult for the state to increase taxes during the good times and spend during the bad times. Although Colorado's TABOR law has resulted in a structural cycle of drastic disinvestment in public services, many other states have either considered enacting tax and expenditure limiting legislation (TELS) in 2005 or will likely consider it in 2006.