Should Voters Cap State Spending?

I wanted to take a moment to recommend this article from the Christian Science Monitor today. It's a good overview of the movements afoot in several states (California, Ohio, Maine, Oregon, among others) to pass initiatives mandating that state governments spend no more money than they raise through revenue.

The piece notes that twenty-six states currently have spending caps, and legislative proposals are currently under consideration in Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee and Wisconsin. In other states, the push for spending caps is coming primarily from the grassroots, with the support of several national groups focused on fiscal conservatism.

I don't think that the idea of spending caps for states is rotten in principle - I find the idea of big deficits much worse! - but I do worry about state and local governments becoming excessively pinched if revenues were to exhibit a sudden downtown. Some appropriate level of flexibility would be a key element of any blueprint, so I don't want to generalize and reflexively endorse or oppose the concept in general. Witness Colorado, notes the CSM: they've had a spending cap for 10 years, and the "same governor who once touted the idea is now urging voters in a fall initiative to lift the cap for five years."