Free Republic

In 2004, voters narrowly approved Proposition 63, the Mental Heath Services Act (MHSA), which imposed an additional 1% tax on personal income above $1 million. The funds generated from this “millionaire’s tax” were intended to expand county mental health programs. Taxpayer and business groups opposed the measure for a couple of obvious reasons. First, California is already a high tax, high spending state that didn’t need any more revenue. Second, as we predicted, Prop 63 would exacerbate California’s income tax volatility. Although the final vote for Proposition 63 was tallied more than four years ago, evidence suggests that California’s most...

Money, money everywhere and not a buck to spend -- at least from the barrels of billions locked up by ballot-box budgeting. That money can only be spent on specific programs previously approved by voters. It can't be used to help balance the books in Sacramento or pay down the state's rising debt or avoid slashing programs for the elderly poor and disabled. Ballot-box budgeting usually involves a noble cause with an ignoble means: snatching a tax source or raiding the treasury at the expense of other public needs. The frequent knock on the Legislature is that it won't get...