Help Stop New Tax Hikes in California

Just over a month ago, Californians went to the polls and delivered a resounding “No tax hikes” to their state leaders.  Legislators have had four weeks to come up with a better plan that will work for the state and guess what their solution is?

More tax hikes!  Take Action and tell your lawmakers more tax hikes are unacceptable.

That’s right, more tax hikes.  Except that these are different tax hikes they think the public won’t see through, regardless of the fact that it’s always the same folks who end up footing the bill.  Tax proposals now on the table include $2.2 billion in various taxes on business, a 9.9 percent tax on oil extraction, and a massive $1.50/pack cigarette tax hike.

California legislators must think the taxpayers are pretty gullible to swallow this new plan.  Taxing business, just when many are fleeing the high taxes of the state, when others are bleeding jobs and struggling in the current economy is a terrible idea. Taxing oil extraction falls in the same category.  It isn’t some faceless corporation that drills for energy – it’s people who could use those jobs.  And it isn’t just some entity in the sky that absorbs those high taxes – it’s people who will have to pay at the pump.

Cigarette tax hikes are a selfish cash grab that tries to put the economic woes of a state on a small, often-targeted minority.  They also hurt small businesses as people go across statelines, or to the black market and internet for cheaper cigarettes.

No one would deny that California is in a bind.  But this is a problem that can’t be taxed away.  When these tax sources dry up, and if history is any guide they certainly will, legislators will simply tax something else.  Legislators were elected to do a job and that means making tough decisions, not just creating more taxes for the group that drew the short straw that day.  Spending has far outpaced growth in the state.  In good years, California’s government spent as if the revenue would never end rather than keeping spending in line with priorities.

Take Action and urge your legislators not to seek quick fixes that will only push the problem down the road a short ways, but to stop playing favorites with programs and benefits and do the real cutting that needs that be done.  During hard times, every family has to cut back.  There’s no reason why governments shouldn’t do the same.