Posted on 07/09/2008 7:47:05 AM PDT by SmithL
Democrats on Tuesday proposed billions in tax increases on businesses and high earners to help bridge California's budget shortfall.
The proposed hikes include rolling back the dependent child income tax credit expanded in the 1990s, creating two higher income tax brackets for the state's biggest earners and increasing corporate taxes.
The long-awaited list of revenue proposals faces near certain defeat, however, as Republican lawmakers have repeatedly said they are unified in their opposition to any tax increases. Approving a budget and increasing taxes requires a two-thirds vote, which means GOP support is mandatory.
"I guarantee you it will be a troubled and very challenged proposal on the Assembly floor," said Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, a member of the two-house budget conference committee that finished its work over Republican opposition Tuesday. "After we're done (rejecting the tax increases), we can all go back to square one to figure out how we get a supermajority vote on this budget."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers have yet to strike a compromise on how to close a $15.2 billion budget shortfall in the $101 billion general fund. The entire budget proposed by the governor is $144 billion, including bond and special funds.
Lawmakers missed a June 15 constitutional deadline for passing a balanced spending plan for the fiscal year that began July 1.
In earlier drafts of the budget, majority Democrats presented plans that called for as much as $11 billion in added revenue. Tuesday's proposals amount to $8.2 billion, plus another $1.5 billion from a proposed tax amnesty plan.
Democrats have proposed before – a 2005 move failed to receive a single GOP vote – the creation of 10 percent and 11 percent tax brackets for high earners. The highest tax bracket now is 9.3 percent.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
This is not news.
Coming to our federal Gov’t soon.
“Taxing their way back to prosperity.”
The idiot voters keep electing them so they must like the tax increases.
Buy (or rent) a fleet of buses to drive the illegals back to Mexico.
That would do wonders for the state budget deficit.
All business should move as well as all Military bases.
They need this tax increase to give the economy a jump start.
California’s problems are causing a sizeable number of people to move out. Unfortunately they don’t change their voting habits and just incur the same problems on their new location.
If you want to see the damage that a democratic legislative base can do and a RINO gov/pres, look no further than our illustrious state.
We have some of the highest tax rates in the country and our economy is sputtering with the strain that government puts on businesses. NOW they want to add MORE to the burden for small business.
We have some of the brightest republican minds in the country (Tom McClintock and Elton Gallegly) we just don’t have anough of them...
I guess California wants to scare away the remaining businesses.
All this does is speed up the migration of California’s “Do as I say , not what I do” liberals to other states where in turn they dilute Republican strongholds. It’s the same thing up in the Northeast with Taxachuetts and New Yawk.
Guess folks aren’t leaving the state fast enough...
It should be constitutional that they be forced to return their salaries and resign.
Upstate's population is declining so severely we may lose a couple of House seats after the next census. Which is why the welcome mat's out for illegal aliens.
Note to the nation: Keep voting for 'Rats and RINOs and all this too can be yours....
Easy! Open up drilling leases off the California coast. Budget shortfall solved.
Next issue!
After 30 years in this God-forsaken state, I am planning on moving back to Indiana in about a year and a half.
When the liberal judges bypassed the will of people and legislated from the bench that gay marriage is now legal, that was the last straw for me.
Eli Lilly just bought another California bio-tech company yesterday.
Indiana wants to thank California for taxing more businesses and their owners. We appreciate your companies, the jobs they produce, and the tax revenue they generate. It makes our lives so much more comfortable.
With the ability in that state for citizen’s initiatives, I would be that they could pass a bill in that state that the legislators work for free, after the constitutionally mandated date, until such date that they actually pass a budget. Take them off the payroll, when they are late meeting their obligations.
I think we should sell CA back to the mexicans and build the wall around CA too!
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