Analyst: Raise Revenue to Ease Calif. Deficit

The Associated Press

Published: Tuesday, May. 18, 2010 – 3:42 pm

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s nonpartisan budget analyst says lawmakers should consider raising the alcohol tax and delaying corporate tax breaks as part of a plan to deal with the state’s budget deficit.

Increasing the vehicle license fee permanently and reducing some tax credits are among other recommendations in a report issued Tuesday by the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The report comes days after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released his revised plan for closing California’s $19.1 billion deficit. He proposed eliminating California’s welfare-to-work program, which provides cash assistance and other services for low-income families with children.

The analyst says simply delaying the corporate tax breaks given in recent years would generate additional revenue for the state treasury.

AMEN!

“California is not just being cruel, it is being foolish, because the costs of an unemployable adult population will continue to mount and the bill will be presented again and again in future budgets, although perhaps disguised as county police, jail and court costs.”

The unemployment rate in low tax states like Mississippi (11.5 percent), South Carolina (12.2) and Florida (12.3) is almost as high as it is in California (12.6). In Nevada it’s 13.4. (So all the right-wingers who threaten to move to Nevada should do so. It’ll help both states.)

Contrary to myth, as a percentage of personal income, California ranks 19th in the nation in state and local taxes

Also contrary to the pervasive mythology, California’s lowest income families pay the largest share of their incomes in state and local taxes; the richest pay the smallest share.

Of course, the rich pay much more of the total share: They have the highest incomes many times over. But their burden is lower.

1. At a time when our goal is to shrink the welfare rolls and get people back to work, our governor eliminates CalWORKS, the only effective program we have to get people off of welfare and back to work. So we will now be the ONLY state in the union without a welfare-to-work program and will lose billions of federal dollars because of it. Congratulations, Mississippi, you are now a progressive state!

2. Last year, the governor tried to cut the cost-effective In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, which costs taxpayers five times LESS than nursing home care. The courts shot him down, pointing out that these cuts violate a number of Federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. So what does he propose this year? That’s right, class, more IHSS cuts.

3. Once again, the governor proposes a cuts-only budget that will be DOA. Trying to solve the budget problem with cuts alone is like trying to fight with one hand tied behind your back.

In conclusion, remember that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the results to be different.