In the 1970s, there was a congressman from CA(?) by the name of Al Ullman who proposed a VAT and went around the country selling this tax that, according to him, would not add “a single penny of new taxes”. Most people heard that part and wanted to know why we needed the VAT.
Needless to say, neither he nor his VAT were supported by the voting public and both went on to live in obscurity. He wasn’t re-elected.
Oregon, not California.