TABOR springs leak; leggies jumping ship

Man the lifeboats!

Women and children first!

This is not a drill.

Already taking on water and listing sharply to the right, the USS TABOR'S crew is frantically trying to keep their vessel afloat.

It appears to be on its way down, unless some major leaks get repaired in the next 24 to 48 hours.

First came the report that Assembly Republicans, in caucus Wednesday, would consider a range of anti-tax amendment options, not merely the latest draft from the sponsors of the constitutional amendment. The proposal has been rewritten multiple times, and seems to lose more Republicans every time a new version appears.

One option is to replace the book-length amendment with a single paragraph that does not try to spell out every detail, but enables legislation to be passed in the future.

As those ideas were being floated, two Republican State Senators jumped ship on the amendment, offering their own half-baked legislative idea and declaring that a constitutional amendment isn't needed.

If State Sens. Sheila Harsdorf and Ron Brown stick to that position, it could sink TABOR in the Senate no matter what the Assembly does. With 19 Rs in the Senate, and 17 votes needed for passage, three defections are all it would take to scuttle the measure. And several other GOP Senators are on the brink of joining Harsdorf and Brown in opposition.

“This is about accountability,” said Harsdorf. “We can implement tax relief and spending limitations now, and make changes that deliver long-standing relief without legislating in our state’s constitution. That is what we are elected to do. This is a plan to do it.”

Brown added: “The state must step up to the plate and control its costs, and give local governments the tools they need to control their spending. We don’t need to change our constitution to do this, we need to change our laws.”

UPDATE: Journal Sentinel Daywatch confirms:

Two Republican state senators said today that they do not plan to support a constitutional amendment to limit state and local spending - a major setback for other GOP legislators pushing the measure.

"I don't believe fiscal policy belongs in the constitution," said Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls).

Harsdorf and Sen. Ron Brown (R-Eau Claire) proposed what they said is a way to control state and local spending by law, and not by amending the Wisconsin Constitution.

UPDATE 2: Seth Zlotocha sees a major GOP intra-party battle coming.