Watching the farce play out in California is both fascinating and enlightening..
Spending addicts still fixated on taxes
Even through voters rejected a range of higher taxes, some legislators, unions press for increases.
An Orange County Register editorial
Is it ever safe to be a California taxpayer? Despite lawmakers imposing the state's largest-ever tax increase only four months ago, and despite voters overwhelmingly rejecting an even larger increase last month, there's persistent sentiment among the usual suspects in Sacramento to add yet more taxes to Californians' burden.
"[L]abor and education groups, health care and social service advocates and (a bit more quietly) some Democratic lawmakers continue to insist that tax hikes should be part of California's solution to its $24.3 billion budget deficit," Sacramento Bee columnist Steve Wiegand reported Tuesday.
San Luis Obispo Republican state Sen. Abel Maldonado also has said it's "not reasonable" to rule out tax increases, contrary to his own party's leadership. Maldonado was one of six Republican defectors from their party's no-tax stance who voted with unanimous Democrats in February to provide the bare-minimum approval margin to increase sales, income and car taxes a record $12 billion.
Constituencies benefiting from taxes relentlessly press their case in Sacramento as the June 15 deadline nears for adopting a balanced budget that, according to state Controller John Chiang, must be met to prevent running out of cash by the end of July.
A lobbyist with the California Federation of Teachers, one of several public employee unions facing the possibility of less funding than they hoped for, told Mr. Wiegand: "There are a plethora of options that are being ignored that must be brought to the table."
Among options the teachers union and others propose are increasing top personal income tax rates, restoring motor vehicle fees to the level partly responsible for Gov. Gray Davis' recall, raising property taxes on nonresidential property, increasing corporate tax rates, imposing an oil production tax, adding taxes to tobacco and alcoholic beverages, imposing new sales taxes on services and admissions to entertainment and sporting events and a repeal of some business tax breaks. A plethora may be an understatement.
The Legislature has irresponsibly spent every dime it acquires, and then some. Republican state Sen. George Runner noted that over the past decade education spending alone increased $15 billion, "even though there were 74,000 fewer students over that same period."
"Before California's leaders can reform the budget," said a Reason Foundation study on spending during the years from Gov. Pete Wilson through Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, "they must admit the state has a spending addiction." The cause of California's "current fiscal mess is its profligate spending, not any lack of revenue."
Despite the sagging economy and revenue shortfalls, California is still expected to bring in approximately $84 billion in revenue in the fiscal year ending June 30, "more revenue than any other state by far," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
Legislators now will show whether they are tone deaf in addition to irresponsible. Voters defiantly turned down a variety of new taxes in May's special election. Will Sacramento thumb its nose at voters to appease special interests?
ocregister.com |
