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By GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers need five Republican votes to put a $9 billion tax extension plan to a public vote in June, and an anti-tax pledge signed by nearly all GOP lawmakers appears to stand in their way.
“I don’t see those votes,” Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Biggs, said. “I see a very unified (Republican) caucus.”
Nielsen, who represented Sonoma County in the state Senate from 1978 to 1990, now serves as vice chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee and is steadfastly opposed to Brown’s tax plan.
Grover Norquist
Like the other 26 Assembly Republicans, Nielsen signed the “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” promulgated by anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, founder of the Americans for Tax Reform organization in 1985.
All but two of the 14 Republican state senators have also signed the pledge, Norquist’s group says.
Democrats are shy by two votes in the Assembly and three votes in the Senate of the two-thirds majority needed to put the tax measures on a special election ballot — a linchpin in Brown’s plan to solve California’s $25 billion budget deficit.
Norquist, who helped craft the Bush federal tax cuts, sent all the pledge signers in the California Legislature a letter last month stating that a vote to put Brown’s taxes on the ballot would violate their pledge to “oppose and vote against any and all efforts to raise taxes.”
Some Democrats are simmering over Norquist’s engagement with California, while Republicans say the pledge merely reflects their core belief in shrinking government.
“Who appointed this Washington, D.C. lobbyist king of the state of California?” Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, said.
Without added revenues, Evans said, lawmakers will be obliged to adopt an “all-cuts budget” that would likely include cutting the public school year by a week, closing parks and libraries, shortchanging local governments and letting non-violent offenders out of prison.
Nielsen, who now represents a sprawling district along the I-5 corridor from Yolo County to Yreka, said the GOP opposition to taxes “is not about a response to a pledge,” but a “fundamental belief” that raising taxes does not fix a broken system.
Despite $40 billion in previous cuts to the state general fund, “government has not changed all that much,” Nielsen said.
Brown wants a vote by lawmakers in March to put a proposed five-year extension of several current tax rates on a June ballot, and is personally lobbying leaders and rank-and-file members of both parties to back his plan, said H.D. Palmer, a state Department of Finance spokesman.
The governor believes “things are on track right now” and that lawmakers “grasp the gravity of the situation,” Palmer said.
“I know the governor is working very hard to win their (Republicans’) support,” Evans said.
If approved by voters, the tax plan would generate more than $9 billion in the fiscal year beginning July 1, comprising the bulk of $12 billion in “revenue solutions” to the deficit, Palmer said.
The proposed revenues are balanced by $12.5 billion in spending cuts proposed by the governor, he said.
There is no specific “Plan B” if the tax plan is rejected, but Palmer said the only recourse would be multi-billion-dollar cuts in the areas “where California spends the money.”
Public schools at $36 billion and health and human services at $21 billion collectively account for more than two-thirds of the general fund budget, Palmer said.
Higher education (nearly $10 billion) and corrections ($9 billion) round out the top four expenditures.
Assemblyman Michael Allen, D-Santa Rosa, said he is “optimistic” that Brown and others can “get the votes necessary” to put the tax plan on the ballot.
“The proof is in what happens over the next couple of months,” Allen said.
Two out of three adults support the idea of putting the taxes to a public vote, but a smaller majority — just 53 percent — favors the actual taxes, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll released last week.
Democrats (65 percent) and Independents (60 percent) were more favorably disposed to the tax plan than Republicans (37 percent).
Statewide polls may have some influence, but no one in the Legislature runs statewide, said Jim Brulte, a former Republican leader in the state Senate and Assembly who now works as a political consultant.
“Legislators listen to the sentiments in their district,” he said, noting that Brown’s proposal “is not an easy vote for Republicans.”
Letting voters decide on the taxes is not, in his mind, a tax increase, Brulte said, but “Republican primary voters might not see it that way.”
No California Democratic lawmaker has signed the Norquist pledge. Two Republican senators — Anthony Cannella of Ceres and Sam Blakeslee of San Luis Obispo — have not signed it.
Nielsen contended that Brown’s package is a tax increase because it involves tax rates that were established in 2009 with the premise they would last only two years. The governor’s plan would turn them into seven-year taxes, Nielsen said.
He also dismissed the idea that voters should be allowed to decide the matter. “I think the Legislature needs to make the decision and not punt it to the voters,” Nielsen said.
Evans, who serves on the Senate Budget Committee, said the key question is whether “California voters have the right to determine their own future.”
Of the 29 ballot measures offered to voters in special elections between 1973 and 2009, only eight have been approved, said David McCuan, a Sonoma State political scientist.
“Voters like to be asked to dance,” he said. “They like to say ‘no.’”
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I agree, no new taxes…for us, the middle class and poor.
Does anyone know how much the rich are taxed and how much they should be taxed? And what is the definition of rich?
A history of the top income tax rate shows it was 94% on income over $200K in 1944 and 1945. http://www.truthandpolitics.org/top-rates.php
I think we should cut government services to balance the budget. And we should cut taxes on the middle class and poor and replace them with tax increases on the rich.
Yeah, I don’t like the thought of taxing someone 94%. But it appears we needed to do it to fund World Wars. Seems to me terrorism is a World War.
The only thing I don’t like about the Republican party is that their only goal seems to be to keep the tax rates low for the rich. Obama tried to increase taxes on what he said the rich was (e.g., $250K for joint filers?). If inflation averaged 2% for the last 70 years, then the WW2 definition of rich ($200K) would be $800K today ($200K x 1.02^70).
Maybe if Obama got the definition of rich right AND spent the increases on lower taxes to the middle class/poor AND lowered government services, then perhaps there wouldn’t be so many people voting for Republicans.
Government pensions may be rich, but they are a percentage of pay. Cut pay at the top ranks and you will reduce both current expense (salary) and future expense (pensions).
Thank God for patriots like Grover Norquist!
This State government is cornered!…soon to be check-mate!
They’re running out of options,the day of reckoning is coming…
…and so are the cuts-WITHOUT tax increases.
RE: Jaak Saam – “They want the state budget deficit fixed once and for all, with a balance of cuts and tax extensions, and so do we.”
So, maybe you can explain to me why in the last go-around, taxpayers struck down all three tax increases? This ‘extension’ is actually an increase too, since the rates are set to expire and go back to the lower thresholds. Jerry should have asked for no more than a three-year extension; asking for five only shows me that he isn’t at all serious about making the real cuts that need to be made. His real solution is simply asking for more taxpayer handouts, but we already know that, since he is a Democrat.
I hope this goes to the voters too, since I’m not at all convinced that it will pass, and Gov. Brown is going to have the real message from the voters directed right back to him, just as Obama did recently. Obama got a wake-up call on how the voters felt, and Jerry just might be getting that same call. Hope the message doesn’t just go to voicemail.
@Reality Check
My (perhaps unclear) point was that Brown badly wanted the governor’s job for a 3rd time and spent millions to get it, so he cannot complain about this current mess that his policies helped create during his first 2 terms. For 2 years, Obama has used the lame excuse that his admin “inherited” a bad economy so he cannot be held accountable, but the guy paid $375 million to buy the White House. He wanted the job, so stop blaming everyone else.
Kudos to the PD for their excellent editorial on Tuesday 2/1/11 supporting Jerry Brown on his budget proposal and his proposal to let the people of California vote on taxes.
“We don’t know what we will ultimately recommend concerning these ballot measures. But it’s clear that Californians have had enough of extremism and entrenchment. They want the state budget deficit fixed once and for all, with a balance of cuts and tax extensions, and so do we. And we support the governor in his plan to let voters have a role.”
We elect our political candidates to go to Sacramento because we believe that the elected politician will do what we need them to do. Then, instead of letting them get to work and do their job we expect to have “special election ballots” so we can do their job for them? Is that what it’s come down to? And all this because JB said “No new taxes without voter approval”. So this way they can shuck their responsibility of balancing the budget with the money at hand and get the coveted “Added Revenue.” Isn’t this what we didn’t want them to do? Raise taxes to balance a budget? Noreen Evans tries to impress upon us the fact that we as Californian’s might miss out on an opportunity by stating “California voters have the right to determine their own future.” Well I say we did that when we voted this group in. Now get to work, use what you have and if you don’t have enough then I guess you’ll have to cut something. It’s a tough job but you asked for it. Or maybe we can run California on a show of hands…
//Brown spent millions for a third-term as governor . . .//
True. But in light of what the Republican candidate spent that statement leaves one speechless.
Yes, California is and will continue to pay for its past reckless spending, and Brown’s policies as Gov Moonbeam set much of this in motion.
But, my partisan juices would flow a little more if not for the fact that Republicans frequently cooperated with the excess. Yet, now they as the fiscally virtuous despite never once proposing an honestly balanced budget in the last several years.
This act is getting a little old.
Amazing, but could not find even one shred of truth in anything Anthony Walters wrote. Must be some kind of record.
Brown spent millions for a third-term as governor, and has discovered that California is a train wreck thanks to 50 years of Democratic legislative control and self-serving political hacks like Noreen Evans. The taxpayers, property owners and businesses now will pay dearly for the reckless spending, government excesses and illegal immigration problems.
@bear
Also I would point out an interesting piece done by the IMF that answers your question about our sovereign debt and future entitlement problem.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2010/cr10248.pdf
One of the conclusions is that all taxes would need to be raised by 34%(!) to cover the current and future deficit.
RE: Anthony Walters – “Is it any wonder that the Republican brand is going extinct in California? They have become a party of No! A meaner, spiteful, pettier and destructive political organization would be hard to find. I can’t wait until the last of these hypocites are gone!”
Of course, when that happens, the very next day the state of California will be filing bankruptcy. You just can’t keep taxing people and businesses to death, just so you can support illegal immigration and every liberal social program, spending billions more than government can take in.
It used to be a joke, that when filing our your state and federal tax forms, the amount of the tax ‘due’ matched all of your ‘income’ for the year. That ‘joke’ seems is a lot closer to reality.
@ Skippy your comment is illogical. The analogy between drug addiction and the rights of people to vote in a democracy is so far off that I can’t believe you think it makes sense to equate the two. But if your comments are a subtle and nuanced argument about the shocking lack of basic logic in California schools because of lack of revenue then that is ingenious! Meanwhile, I still think it is wrong for our elected representatives to take a pledge to a Washington lobbyist and deny their own constituents the right to vote.
“Should Californians be able to vote on tax hikes?”
One might ask if drug addicts should have the right to purchase dope until they die.
What’s the logical outcome of that?
Kudos to the Rep’s. and Mr. Norquist for standing athwart generational debt and fiscal insanity and crying “STOP!”
As evidenced by the last election, Californians are completely detached from reality and the consequences of electing Democrats.
Call it tough love or cold turkey, but the party’s over.
@bear
I didn’t know that allowing people keep more of there own money was considered welfare? Hmm…
Really? More taxes? from who? from where? The lobbyist has no power in this really, it’s a pledge, not a contract and the politicans will vote based on their own ideas in the end, as most do, so I don’t know why people are getting so excited about one persons opinion. The more important issue is that most people I know don’t have anymore to hand over and I know I definitely don’t, so blame whoever you want if it makes you feel better, but the bottom line is resources are limited and I think California has reached it’s limit.
Two words: republican welfare.
It goes to millionaires and corporations.
Isn’t it so revealing that the republicans want to use the worst economic situation in 80 years to cut pensions, Social Security and Medicare.
They don’t need these benefits. The majority of Americans do. If not you, then a family member who YOU might be responsible for.
Remember we’re operating with a previously approved-by-republicans set of tax cuts. Someone should calculate the deficit if we hadn’t enacted these welfare payments to rich people.
And why should rich people pay more? It’s just like car insurance. If you own a Lexus and I own an ’88 Civic, you should pay more because you have more to protect.
“Let us vote” (!) How does this Grover Norquist guy get to tell California voters when we can exercise our democratic rights? And how is it that all the Republican’s who are always calling Obama a “socialist” who is taking away the right of the people have no problem with a Washington DC lobbyist running the state of California and denying our right to vote? I guess their hypocisy is to be expected because when a principle of democracy comes up against the possibility of making more money the principle always loses! It’s fun to see all the Tea Partiers on this blog trying to avoid the ugly truth of the GOP following an outside lobbyist by yelling about “public pensions!” Good Try…but I am not buying it. How can you guys allow your party and your representatives to put their loyalty to Grover Norquist above their duty to the people who voted for them?
The state faces a crisis with retirees pensions. The mismanagement of CalPERS should be considered criminal, but the fools that invested in Enron and worthless derivatives were never fired. Then there’s the siphoning off of wealth to the wealthy, who pay a lower tax then ever in history. On a larger scale is this story:
Wealth Gap Is Increasing, Study Shows
The rich really are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, a new University of Michigan study shows. Rising inequality isn’t new. But what happened under Bush is something entirely unprecedented: For the first time in our history, so much growth is being siphoned off to a small, wealthy minority that most Americans are failing to gain ground even during a time of economic growth — and they know it. http://tinyurl.com/49jj89
More evidence of the moral bancruptcy of Republicans. The GOP now care more about a Washington DC idealogue than their own state and the people who vote for them. How dare they sign a pledge to a lobbyist and hold that pledge higher than their duty to Californians? And to add to the hypocrisy many of those Republicans who won’t even let us vote on budget matters are from the districts using the largest amount of state services! Why are they afraid to let people of Ca vote? Why are they refusing to help the Governor solve California’s problems the way that the people elected him to do. Is it any wonder that the Republican brand is going extinct in California? They have become a party of No! A meaner, spiteful, pettier and destructive political organization would be hard to find. I can’t wait until the last of these hypocites are gone!
Here’s to hoping the Republicans stick to their guns and vote no on Brown’s proposal. We all know what happens in California when a tax increase makes it to the ballot.
Do people care if the money is paid as taxes or in expenses?
Cutting a week of school not only affects the learning, and future careers of our kids, but it also will cost working families say $200 in extra child care.
Our local DMV has gone from a 15 minute wait for a simple transaction to an hour and a half. That’s an hour and a half I can’t bill clients for, costing both me and the state money.
The county dump has been privatized and prices have skyrocketed.
Funny, when my expenses are more than my budget who do I tax? Dear California government LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS AND QUIT TAXING THOSE OF US WHO STILL HAVE JOBS! Quit paying the way for people too “smart” to work for a living. Execute the people on death row and make room for the next wave of trash we need to seperate from society. AND stay within your budget!
Sonoma County overwhelmingly supported Brown for Governor. The rush of our local elected leaders to tie up funds in Redevelopment Districts is an appalling break in trust. Clearly we to taste the bitter pill. No new taxes, time to cut fire, police and schools. There were choices and you made all the wrong ones.
The bloated benefits and ineffective and inefficent unions is clearly the big elephant in the room. However, the big elephant is paying off the politicans. The largest and most multi-leveled destructive element in California is illegal immigration represented by a long beach full of large dead bloated whales.It’s so bad the politicans won’t even fly over it to see if they can clean it up. End illegal and save California.
Public education, HHS, higher education and corrections … sounds about right. I say slash and burn. It’s been a long time coming. It can’t do anything but help reprioritize a very sick, myopic state that is drunk with my money as well as yours. Let the cutting begin!!!!!!! Pe
There is nothing so permanent as a California temporary tax increase. At some point, the temporary promises of proponents of tax increases lose all credibility and lead only to public cynicism.
Brown is off to a good start with his initial round of cuts. Yet, they are all more symbolic than substantive. Symbolism is important, especially when it comes to addressing the public’s long held belief that public employees enjoy perks not experienced by regular taxpayers.
Still, proposed tax increases are going nowhere until the elephant in the room is addressed: public employee benefits.
And since Brown, as Governor Moonbeam, set up the scenario in which union-led public employees could demand and get the benefits currently straining public budgets, it is only fitting that he address this issue.
Noreen Evans is funny.
I have a few suggestions for Jerry….start cutting un-necessary State Agencies…like the The Academic Performance Index, California’s Acupuncture Board, CA African American Museum, CA Apprenticeship Council, CA Arts Council, CA Athletic Commission, CA Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, CA Board of Chiropractic Examiners…..I didn’t even dent the list of agencies in CA….nor did I mention the useless green agencies…
Come on…they want to tax us so they can pay to keep the CA Horse Racing Board up and running? Give me a break…..eliminate the California Opinion Unit and seek a little commonsense and dignity!
Divide and conquer. That’s the time-honored strategy here and the reason Californians so distrust their government. Rather than putting everything on the table at the same time as any reasonable person would do, the Governor has proposed financing (albeit at reduced levels) only those non-sexy government services taxpayers don’t particularly care about (prison expansion, blue ribbon commissions, etc.) leaving unfunded the high profile and sexy services they do (in this case, education). The Governor and his lieutenants (Noreen Evans, Michael Allen, et al.) then fan out and spread the message that education will be gutted if we don’t pass new taxes to finance it. The argument is thus falsely framed so that anyone opposed to the tax increases will be tarred and feathered as opposed to education. Rubbish, of course, but in an environment where most voters form their opinions based on slogans and soundbites, it plays. The truth of the matter, and the message we need to get out there, is that we have to live within our means, that all government services must be put on the table at the same time so qualitative decisons can be made about what we want, what we don’t want, and the extent of both.
The Governor promised to be honest with us, but has only been partly so. Had be been truly honest, he would have included education with his proposed budget and then asked us, “is this what you want?” We would then be in a position to decide if more taxes were appropriate or not. Until we get a truly honest budget proposal that includes all government services, any new taxes just help perpetuate the current dysfunctional system.
….\Public schools at $36 billion and health and human services at $21 billion collectively account for more than two-thirds of the general fund budget, Palmer said……Higher education (nearly $10 billion) and corrections ($9 billion) round out the top four expenditures.\
Hey Noreen Evans, that is $76 billion dollars that could be audited before you close parks and release criminals.
Start by cutting spending- from the savings you generate will come the revenue you claim to need so desperately.
Jeery Brownstain and his fellow democrats are already telling us they will take a few state cars and telephones away which amount to peanuts, but refuse to cut state salaries, or benefits or state staff. Yet they want the people to pay more taxes.
Why not cut taxes, fire 10% of all civil servants and ending defined benefit retirement plans and have all state employees retire at 67 and pay into their own retirement?
I hope there is no new taxs, How much money do they need? GET RID of those high Pensions and that Teachers union and of coures all the benfits the Illegals are taking is killing this state. This state has to go broke before they the Dems get it. Spend spend spend does not work and everybody with half and IQ knows that.
Taxes, redevelopment is giving our taxes away. Did you read about the redevelopment money [our tax money] going to Coddingtown in the Press Democrat last week?
Please see: http://www.redevelopment.com/
Property tax losses to redevelopment agencies state wide 1989 – 2006 $ 5,474,097,774. $5.4 BILLION !!
Redevelopment debt state wide 2006 $ 81 Billion.
City of Santa Rosa redevelopment debt 2010 $ 59 MILLION. Another $ 120 MILLION in debt is planned for the gateways redevelopment project. If the City of Santa Rosa goes thru with gateways the debt will be $ 179 MILLION.
Last year the city asked for contributions to keep the pools open; $ 94 THOUSAND was contributed by the citizens. It’s good to keep the polls open, it not good to played for chump.
Stop the Santa Rosa City Council before they do more harm to our City. The Santa Rosa City Council will discuss redevelopment on Tuesday February 1, 2011 about 4 PM in the council chamber at city hall, 100 Santa Rosa Avenue. Please join us there.
Who appointed Noreen Queen? The voters who returned her to office in the State Senate!
@Mike, Local government continue to spend money on rail programs like SMART because the voters vote for those programs.
You have to wonder when CalTrain is not financially sound in one of the most heavily populated areas of SF Bay, how can anyone rational person believe SMART will suceed?
But I digress, we’re talking about voters, not rational thinking people.
The real cuts aren’t going to happen until we’re desperate for a bailout,and that bailout is used by Boehner&Co. to leverage this state into getting it’s act together.
It has become obvious over the years that we are simply unwilling,as a state,to live within our means.
Illegal immigration,union dominance and a broken school system have created an enormous voting bloc of freeloaders and malcontents who are holding this state hostage.
NO NEW TAXES,PERIOD!
Vote no against any new taxes.
It is the likes of Brown and Evans and the Dumbocrats that have put this state in near bankruptcy!
Who appointed either of these two King or Queen of the outhouse?
To answer Ms. Evens remark. I guess when you became the tax and spend queen. If I thought for one minute raising taxes would help in Cal. I would vote for it but, reality is Ms. Evens all raising taxes does is put more money in the pockets of tax and spend politicians. Cut schools, let people out of prison,close libaries,shut down parks. How about dealing with the illegal immagration problem. Send the ones home who commit crimes, use our welfare system as a way of life, go to the hospital for a bloody nose, undercut our wages. We can save money by not putting everything in two languages because these people refuse to speak English. Why punish the tax payers, and children.
So Democrats are all for fighting to keep their precious Redevelopement districts so they can keep spending and also want to raise taxes. Evans wants “Added Revenue.” They just won’t stop. Well too bad. If it does make it to a vote I for one will not support any self imposed tax. Forget it. They can slash all the services and departments they need to as far as I’m concerned. It’s reported that Democrats and Independents were more favorably disposed to the tax plan than Republicans. Thats not going to be the case if the Democrats fight every cut like they’re doing with redevelopment.
Hopefully the lawmakers in Sacramento just say no to another tax increase. The taxpayers in California already pay too much tax for too little result.
It is time the state legislature and the governor cut and cut again state spending and stop future spending to balance the budget.
The Deep Recession has caused massive unemployment, home prices to drop, and economic hardship to many in the private sector. The real cuts have to be made in the public sector to bring the economy back into balance and bring stability to the whole local and state government system.
Clearly the state government and local governments have not heard to message during the past 4 years. They continue to spend money on rail programs that are not essential, redevelopment projects that should not be funded and on regulations that drive businesses out of state. This has got to stop.
Taking cells phone away and restricting pulbic employees from using public automobiles is a small start and clearly not enough. The real work has yet to begin.
“Who appointed this Washington, D.C. lobbyist king of the state of California?” Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, said.
Noreen Evans: Who appointed you Queen of the State of California?
Noreen Evans is part of the job killing problem in california; will left wing activists ever get a clue….tax and spend liberalism just got thrown out with 85 percent of tea party candidates being elected. Condescending elitists in the North Bay are not capable of letting the nationwide sweep sink in. Sonoma County is in for its worst budget year in history, and liberals can only think of who they will scim money from next; the middle class and business will continue to exit the area.
California needs to stop kicking the can down the road and start making some real cuts to an extremely bloated budget.