Americans for Limited Government
Encyclopedia
Americans for Limited Government (ALG) describes itself as a non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free-market reforms, private property rights and core American liberties. Its primary concerns are tax and spending reform, property rights restoration, school choice
, limiting the size of government, and political term limits.
, Eric O'Keefe
, John Tillman; Ed Crane
; and Bill Wilson
.
has reported that 99 percent of ALG's funding in 2005 came from three unnamed sources. ALG Chairman Howard Rich did not respond to the Center's request for financial information, and Rich also did not answer questions on how much money personally donated to the group. This limited donor base contrasts with ALG's statement that the "grassroot volunteers and donors make up the soul and heart of our organization."
as defined in the US Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London decision in 2005. Many of these measures would also require governments to compensate land owners when land use and environmental laws decrease the value of their property. Most of these initiatives allow governments to waive restrictions instead of paying compensation.
On such provision, Measure 37
, was approved by voters in Oregon
in 2004. Encouraged by this success, and piggybacking on the public backlash from the Kelo
decision, ALG and the closely related Fund for Democracy supported similar initiatives in eleven states in 2006. They were qualified for the 2006 ballots in Arizona
, California
, Idaho
, Montana
, Nevada
, and Washington, but failed in Colorado
, Georgia
, Missouri
, Oklahoma
, and South Carolina
. Another initiative might have been on the ballot in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough of Alaska
. I-933 in Washington state.
In addition to more general controversies associated with ALG (see below), critics of ALG's property rights efforts have focused on two pragmatic areas: first, that the initiatives will make government incapable of regulating land use. and second, that the initiativesn will cost tax payers billions of dollars as it requires compensating businesses for complying with existing laws.
or spending to within limits set according to inflation and population growth. These laws provide for "rainy day" (emergency) funds as well as the ability for state voters to decide whether their representatives should spend revenue surpluses rather than have it refunded to the taxpayers. Colorado voters passed the best-known example of a TABOR law in 1992 and later voted to suspend its restrictions via the 2005 Colorado Economic Recovery Act].
The 2006 TaBOR initiatives were referred to variously as Stop OverSpending (SOS) (in Nebraska), Taxpayer Bill of Rights (in Maine and Oklahoma) and the "Rainy Day Amendment" (in Oregon) consisting of ballot Measure 41
and 48
. The Oklahoma Supreme Court
threw out the TaBOR initiative in that state because it had too few signatures and because the "evidence support[ed] substantial illegal participation of out-of-state circulators." A subsequent opinion will be issued addressing the details. Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and Ohio have also removed TABOR from the ballot; initiatives were on the ballot, but voted down, in Maine and Oregon.
ALG's promotion of TaBOR, as well as TaBOR itself, has resulted in controversy. Opponents of TABOR claim that the lack of tax revenue that results from such legislation harms state infrastructure
. After the principles of TaBOR were written into the Colorado
constitution, for example, there was a substantial drop in funding for education and money for public works. Under TaBOR, Colorado declined from 35th to 49th in the nation in K-12 spending as a percentage of personal income. Colorado's average per-pupil funding fell by more than $400 relative to the national average, Colorado's average teacher salary compared to average pay in other occupations declined from 30th to 50th in the nation, and funding for higher education per resident student dropped by 31 percent after adjusting for inflation. In addition, Colorado consistently ranks among the nation's worst providers of on time vaccinations for children and the number of low-income children without health insurance
has doubled in recent years. Supporters of TaBOR counter that the legislation has spurred economic growth and made government more efficient, and dispute the findings of their critics. As noted above, Colorado residents voted to suspend TaBOR for five years in 2005.
s, arguing that competition among schools will increase both the quality and the economic efficiency of public education. The organization claims that privatizing American schools will decrease education spending, promote accountability in school administration, and permit parents a greater degree of control over the schools their children attend. Opponents claim that ever since Milton Friedman
suggested the concept during the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education
, vouchers have functioned to increase racial and economic discrimination in schools, beginning in the late 1950s with the appearance of segregation academies
. Critics also contend that since approximately four out of five US private schools are religious, voucher and charter systems violate the Constitution
.
.
In 2006, petition drive management companies hired to collect signatures for ALG-supported initiative campaigns were the subject of accusations, lawsuits and other difficulties. On October 2, 2007, Paul Jacob
, once a senior advisor to ALG, became one of three people indicted for conspiring against the state of Oklahoma on the matter of conspiring to "defraud the state" on matters related to hiring out-of-state petitioners. The Tenth Circuit later ruled that the law under which Jacob had been charged was unconstitutional, and the charges were dropped.
ALG has been criticized for representing wealthy out-of-state interests under the guise of local grassroots activism. However, in an interview in South Carolina
, a reporter asked ALG sponsor Howard Rich
about his motivation behind out-of-state contributions; Rich said:
School choice
School choice is a term used to describe a wide array of programs aimed at giving families the opportunity to choose the school their children will attend. As a matter of form, school choice does not give preference to one form of schooling or another, rather manifests itself whenever a student...
, limiting the size of government, and political term limits.
Leadership
People who have served on ALG's board include Howard RichHoward Rich
Howard S. Rich, also Howie Rich is a Manhattan-based real estate developer who is notable for funding libertarian oriented political initiatives such as term limits, school choice, parental rights regarding education, limited government and property rights. He has published essays advocating these...
, Eric O'Keefe
Eric O'Keefe (political activist)
Eric O’Keefe is the chairman and CEO of the Sam Adams Alliance and co-founder and co-chairman of the Alliance for Self-Governance...
, John Tillman; Ed Crane
Ed Crane
Edward H. Crane is the founder and president of the Cato Institute.In the 1970s, he was one of the most active leaders of the Libertarian Party...
; and Bill Wilson
Bill Wilson (Americans for Limited Government)
Bill Wilson is the head of the Virginia-based Americans for Limited Government, an advocacy group financed in part by New York real estate magnate Howard Rich...
.
Funding
ALG is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization. The nonpartisan Center for Public IntegrityCenter for Public Integrity
The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit organization dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern. The Center is non-partisan and non-advocacy and committed to transparent and comprehensive reporting both in the United States and around...
has reported that 99 percent of ALG's funding in 2005 came from three unnamed sources. ALG Chairman Howard Rich did not respond to the Center's request for financial information, and Rich also did not answer questions on how much money personally donated to the group. This limited donor base contrasts with ALG's statement that the "grassroot volunteers and donors make up the soul and heart of our organization."
Property rights
One of ALG's primary projects is funding ballot initiatives throughout the country that would curtail the scope of eminent domainEminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
as defined in the US Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London decision in 2005. Many of these measures would also require governments to compensate land owners when land use and environmental laws decrease the value of their property. Most of these initiatives allow governments to waive restrictions instead of paying compensation.
On such provision, Measure 37
Oregon Ballot Measure 37 (2004)
Oregon Ballot Measure 37 is a controversial land-use ballot initiative that passed in the U.S. state of Oregon in 2004 and is now codified as Oregon Revised Statutes 195.305. Measure 37 has figured prominently in debates about the rights of property owners versus the public's right to enforce...
, was approved by voters in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
in 2004. Encouraged by this success, and piggybacking on the public backlash from the Kelo
Kelo v. City of New London
Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States involving the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another to further economic development...
decision, ALG and the closely related Fund for Democracy supported similar initiatives in eleven states in 2006. They were qualified for the 2006 ballots in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, and Washington, but failed in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. Another initiative might have been on the ballot in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. I-933 in Washington state.
In addition to more general controversies associated with ALG (see below), critics of ALG's property rights efforts have focused on two pragmatic areas: first, that the initiatives will make government incapable of regulating land use. and second, that the initiativesn will cost tax payers billions of dollars as it requires compensating businesses for complying with existing laws.
Taxpayer Bill of Rights
ALG also supports initiatives to enact Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TaBOR) laws, which require states annually to reduce or restrict revenueRevenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
or spending to within limits set according to inflation and population growth. These laws provide for "rainy day" (emergency) funds as well as the ability for state voters to decide whether their representatives should spend revenue surpluses rather than have it refunded to the taxpayers. Colorado voters passed the best-known example of a TABOR law in 1992 and later voted to suspend its restrictions via the 2005 Colorado Economic Recovery Act].
The 2006 TaBOR initiatives were referred to variously as Stop OverSpending (SOS) (in Nebraska), Taxpayer Bill of Rights (in Maine and Oklahoma) and the "Rainy Day Amendment" (in Oregon) consisting of ballot Measure 41
Oregon Ballot Measure 41 (2006)
Oregon ballot measure 41 was one of two unsuccessful ballot measures sponsored by the Taxpayers Association of Oregon on the November 7, 2006 general election ballot...
and 48
Oregon Ballot Measure 48 (2006)
Oregon ballot measure 48 was one of two unsuccessful ballot measures sponsored by the Taxpayers Association of Oregon on the November 7, 2006 general election ballot. Measure 48 was an initiated constitutional amendment ballot measure...
. The Oklahoma Supreme Court
Oklahoma Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma and leads the Oklahoma Court System, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma....
threw out the TaBOR initiative in that state because it had too few signatures and because the "evidence support[ed] substantial illegal participation of out-of-state circulators." A subsequent opinion will be issued addressing the details. Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and Ohio have also removed TABOR from the ballot; initiatives were on the ballot, but voted down, in Maine and Oregon.
ALG's promotion of TaBOR, as well as TaBOR itself, has resulted in controversy. Opponents of TABOR claim that the lack of tax revenue that results from such legislation harms state infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
. After the principles of TaBOR were written into the Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
constitution, for example, there was a substantial drop in funding for education and money for public works. Under TaBOR, Colorado declined from 35th to 49th in the nation in K-12 spending as a percentage of personal income. Colorado's average per-pupil funding fell by more than $400 relative to the national average, Colorado's average teacher salary compared to average pay in other occupations declined from 30th to 50th in the nation, and funding for higher education per resident student dropped by 31 percent after adjusting for inflation. In addition, Colorado consistently ranks among the nation's worst providers of on time vaccinations for children and the number of low-income children without health insurance
Health insurance
Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care expenses among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is...
has doubled in recent years. Supporters of TaBOR counter that the legislation has spurred economic growth and made government more efficient, and dispute the findings of their critics. As noted above, Colorado residents voted to suspend TaBOR for five years in 2005.
Public schools
ALG promotes a free-market approach to the American public school system based on vouchers or charter schoolCharter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
s, arguing that competition among schools will increase both the quality and the economic efficiency of public education. The organization claims that privatizing American schools will decrease education spending, promote accountability in school administration, and permit parents a greater degree of control over the schools their children attend. Opponents claim that ever since Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was an American economist, statistician, academic, and author who taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades...
suggested the concept during the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
, vouchers have functioned to increase racial and economic discrimination in schools, beginning in the late 1950s with the appearance of segregation academies
Segregation academies
Segregation academies are private schools started in the United States during the 1950s, '60s, and 70s as a way for white parents to avoid the desegregation of public schools as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v...
. Critics also contend that since approximately four out of five US private schools are religious, voucher and charter systems violate the Constitution
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating, Together with the Free Exercise Clause The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,...
.
Recall of Judges
A fourth issue of concern for ALG is accountability in the judicial system. The group was involved in efforts to pass the Montana Constitutional Initiative 98 in 2006, which would have allowed voters in that state to recall elected judges or justices for any reason. At present, Montana provides for the recall of these officials only in cases of incapacity, incompetence, misconduct, or felony. The initiative, along with two others, was removed from the ballot due to fraudulent signature gathering techniques, by a unanimous decision of the Montana Supreme CourtMontana Supreme Court
The Montana Supreme Court is the highest court of the Montana state court system in the U.S. state of Montana. It is established and its powers defined by Article VII of the 1972 Montana Constitution...
.
Controversies
In addition to the specific controversies associated with individual issues and initiatives (discussed above), ALG has been the subject of several more general forms of criticism.In 2006, petition drive management companies hired to collect signatures for ALG-supported initiative campaigns were the subject of accusations, lawsuits and other difficulties. On October 2, 2007, Paul Jacob
Paul Jacob
Paul Jacob is an activist, organizer, and advocate for legislative term limits, initiative & veto referendum rights, and limited government in the United States. He writes a weekly column for Townhall.com and his short radio commentary feature, "Common Sense," is syndicated by the Citizens In...
, once a senior advisor to ALG, became one of three people indicted for conspiring against the state of Oklahoma on the matter of conspiring to "defraud the state" on matters related to hiring out-of-state petitioners. The Tenth Circuit later ruled that the law under which Jacob had been charged was unconstitutional, and the charges were dropped.
ALG has been criticized for representing wealthy out-of-state interests under the guise of local grassroots activism. However, in an interview in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, a reporter asked ALG sponsor Howard Rich
Howard Rich
Howard S. Rich, also Howie Rich is a Manhattan-based real estate developer who is notable for funding libertarian oriented political initiatives such as term limits, school choice, parental rights regarding education, limited government and property rights. He has published essays advocating these...
about his motivation behind out-of-state contributions; Rich said:
External links
- Americans for Limited Government
- Americans for Limited Government SourcewatchSourceWatchSourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy...
profile - Takings Initiatives Accountability Project
- The Oregonian on Howard Rich
- The Oregonian on ALG
- PBS on Howard Rich and ALG