Colorado
Governor Bill Owens will address the annual convention of the
Maine College
Republicans, to be held Saturday at the
Portland Club in Portland.
Owens, who is considered by some to be a possible nominee for President or Vice
President in 2008 or 2012, helped pass the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) as a constitutional amendment in Colorado. A version of that state's law has been proposed for the November
ballot, though a Maine Superior Court justice ruled Monday that the petition
signatures for the citizen initiative were not submitted in accordance with
state law.
TABOR was recently suspended for five years by a slim majority of Colorado
voters. TABOR opponents say it was because the law hurts citizens by cutting
public services (November 7, 2005, entry) below acceptable levels, while TABOR supporters, like Owens
(who advocated for the suspension, years after being a pioneering backer of the
idea), say it's because the state needed some minor changes - you know, like
avoiding a fiscal crisis due to a shortage of money, even with drastic cuts to
higher education, roads, and social services. Even businesses, usually strong
backers of tax reduction, objected to the steep cuts in education and
infrastructure.
The connection with Owens that led to him speaking in Maine was from Maine
College Republicans chairman Nate Walton, who spoke at "Restoration
Weekend," activist David Horowitz's event about the Academic Bill of
Rights in Phoenix, Arizona, in late February. Owens, also noted for his
intolerant social policies, also attended, and the invitation was made,
according to Oliver Wolf, the Maine College Republicans' communications
director.
Also
speaking at Saturday's conference will be US Senator Olympia Snowe, who is up
for reelection this year, and is noted by constituents and members of the media alike for her inaccessibility.
(And
the security at her Portland office is far heavier than at Senator Susan
Collins's office a block away. Not only is Snowe's office in an office building
and up several flights, but a Snowe staffer says it's because of "homeland
security" that the office of Maine's senior senator is equipped with a
camera and buzzer in the hallway, a plexiglas window like a bank teller's, a
locked door to the inner sanctum, and a sign-in book before any of the staff
will actually talk to a visitor. Collins's office, by contrast, is on the
ground floor of a busy building, near a public eating and gathering space, and
is open to anyone without any physical barriers. What does the Department of
Homeland Security know that we don't? Or is Collins expendable?)
"We
have a good relationship with Senator Snowe," says Wolf, who sees the meeting as "a great opportunity" to involve young people in politics.
Other
speakers will be prominent adult Republicans from around the state, including
those who are running for governor, US House, and state legislators.