OKLAHOMA CITY - Former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey threw his support Tuesday behind a so-called taxpayer bill of rights initiative petition that has been challenged by some of Oklahoma's most prominent business leaders. Joined by conservative state lawmakers who also support TABOR, Armey, R-Texas, said the measure will limit government growth and impose spending constraints that would force lawmakers to make better choices.

"The government that governs least governs best," said Armey, chairman of FreedomWorks, a coalition of organizations that supports lower taxes and less government.

"Money spent foolishly winds up giving you waste. You've got to make every penny count," he said.

Last November, Colorado voters suspended that state's TABOR plan for five years, giving up $3.7 billion in tax cuts to shore up education and health care, which suffered revenue reductions after the 2001 recession. Armey blamed special interest groups, including the state's teacher organization, for upsetting the plan.

"This is not an easy thing to do. You're asking government in a state to change the way they do business," Armey said.

Oklahoma lawmakers said the TABOR initiative pending in the state Supreme Court has been modified to address the Colorado concerns.

In February, business executives opposed to the measure filed a lawsuit challenging it. TABOR sponsors said they hope the lawsuit can be resolved in time for the issue to appear on the November general election ballot. Under TABOR, state government spending is limited to increases in population and inflation. Critics say the plan would severely reduce education funding and slash vital state services.

"It would make a situation that is already struggling and put it in crisis," said Gary Jones, executive director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association. The group is demanding an 8 percent across-the-board pay raise for the state's 35,000 workers.

"It's clear that Dick Armey doesn't know anything about the government of Oklahoma. We're barely surviving in Oklahoma," Jones said. "Public employees are already struggling with some of the lowest salaries in the country." Jones said state lawmakers have been "very prudent" in the way they fund government and spend tax dollars. State Question 640, passed in 1992, requires a three-quarters vote of the Legislature or a vote of the people to impose new taxes.

Rep. Ken Miller, R-Edmond, proposed a separate TABOR measure earlier this year that called for a vote of the people on a proposed constitutional amendment to limit increases in state and local government spending. It died in the state House.

The initiative petition, State Question 726, relies upon the consumer price index as a formula for inflation. But Miller, associate professor of economics at Oklahoma Christian University, said government does not provide the same services as those measured in the CPI.

"The market basket on what state government provides is different than what the average consumer purchases," he said. Inflation on government services is higher than the CPI, specifically in the health care and education fields. Miller said he supports constitutional constraints on spending but is undecided on the TABOR petition.

A TABOR-like measure by Rep. Fred Morgan, R-Oklahoma City, would lower the state's existing cap on increases in state spending. The state Constitution limits increases in state spending to 12 percent a year. Morgan's bill would reduce that to 6 percent plus inflation. The measure is pending in the Senate.