The Taxman Cometh

By Kimberly Dvorak

San Diego-They’re back…Just when you thought the elections were finally over, Sacramento decides to keep them alive with a special election on May 19th.

Propositions 1A – 1F are attempting to disguise themselves as a “rainy day budget, education reform, higher lottery payouts, children’s services, mental health funding and elected officials salary reform.”

Don’t be fooled says Dr.Gary Gonsalves of Stop Taxing Us. “This is nothing more than Public Employee Unions trying to increase taxes in California in order to forgo any type of reform.”

“We are exposing their playbooks,” he continues. “California is broken. You can’t begin to fix the problem until we defeat these ill-planned propositions.”

Ditto says U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif. “Nobody has been able to convince me that any of these will benefit Californians.”

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Associated agrees with other watchdog groups. “This giant tax increase is disguised as a ‘spending cap’ and ‘budget reform,’” says Jon Coupal of HJTA. “Don’t be fooled by this outright deception.”

If you own a television the unions have been pummeling the airwaves with sad stories about teacher and firefighter job losses that will take place if proposition 1A-B doesn’t pass.

“Nothing could be farther from the truth,” Gonsalves said. “On balance, it seems to us these measures fall far short of the needed reforms.”

The gist of proposition 1A is a huge tax increase.

According to the Claremont Institute’s Golden State Center for State and Local Government April 7 report; these propositions will cost taxpayers more than $1,000 per year.

Proposition 1A would extend this year’s tax increases into 2012. Proposition 1B would increase education spending. Proposition 1C would borrow money on future lottery earnings and abolish the tie between the lottery and education. Propositions 1D-E would move money around from special set-aside programs which currently hold a surplus.

Finally, proposition 1F would prevent legislators and the governor from getting a pay increase in years with a deficit until a budget is passed.

“The sum total for all these propositions is an approximately $1,100 tax increase for every California family,” Gonsalves points out. “That makes this is a big election for California voters.”

According to a poll of likely voters, Gonsalves claims when asked about prop 1A the tally is close with 51 percent of voters saying no. “However, when that same voter is educated about 1A the no vote increases to a staggering 71 percent.”

That’s why many Tea Party goers are attending a get- out-the vote rally this weekend at Spanish Landing on Saturday May 16th at 11 a.m. in San Diego.

“There are more than 20 different organizations that will be participating at this event,” organizers Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition said.

The future of these propositions now rests in the fate of California voters. “I think it’s sad that so few exercise this precious right to vote,” Carol Derbis, president of Oceanside Watch League O.W.L. said.

“California taxes have discouraged business and sent hard-working taxpayers out of the state at an alarming rate. It’s urgent that we reign in the spending,” Derbis said.

Accountability seems to be on most taxpayer’s minds and these watchdog groups are working overtime to make sure these propositions are voted down.

Perhaps Gonsalves summed it up the best, “all we can do is keep going. California’s problems aren’t going to be solved overnight, but stopping the bleeding would be a great start.”

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A Brief Description of Propositions 1A - 1F:

Proposition 1A – The Rainy Day Budget - Changes the budget process. It extends this year’s tax increases two years and expands the state’s “Rainy Day Fund.” This would make budgets easier to pass without cutting bureaucracy. The state is looking to raise roughly $16 billion though the 2013 year cycle.

Proposition 1B – The Teachers’ Union Special –Requires supplemental payments to local school districts and community colleges. This bill exempts education spending from belt tightening and more specifically the education bureaucracy outside the actual classroom. No reform is offered here.

Proposition 1C – Gambling with the Lottery – Allows $5 billion of borrowing from future lottery profits to help balance the 2009-10 state budget. The luxury of doing so, however, will cost the state handsomely in the long-term and may incur harmful and unintended consequences.

Proposition 1D – Children Services Funding – Temporarily provides greater flexibility in funding to preserve health and human services for young children while helping balance the state budget. This would temporarily reallocate to the General Fund some $1.68 billion of this surplus over the next five years.

Proposition 1E – Mental Health Funding – Helps balance state budget by amending the Mental Health Services Act to transfer funds for two years in order to pay for early screening, diagnosis and treatment.

Proposition 1F- Elected Official Salaries – Prevent pay increases during budget deficit years. This proposition represents a tepid mea culpa by the legislature for driving the state finances into the ground. Currently the legislatures have to vote themselves a pay increase anyways.

For more San Diego Tea Party information you can listen to Jesse Lipscomb’s radio show on Wednesdays between 7-8 p.m. on 1170 KCBQ AM and stoptaxingus.com.