A California Republican

In case you ahven’t been following the news about California’s budget crisis - the Democrats have a new plan. They have discovered a way to make budget fixes based on a majority vote so that they don’t need the Republicans (they still need the Governor to sign off).

The way this works is based on an obscure legal theory that has been around i nthe Capitol for a while. It says that if, in one bill, you lower a tax and raise others so that the proposal is revenue neutral you don’t need a 2/3 vote, only a simple majority. This has never been tried, and has never been legally challenged. It is somewhat following the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law.

So the Democrats crafted a plan. They are going to lower the gas tax and raise the sales tax. This is important because the gas tax goes into the transportation account to pay for highways and other transportation projects. The sales tax goes into the General Fund and can be spent for anything. So there is a difference here - but it only matters to people who spend transportation money.

But wait! The Democrats have a solution for that. Instead of simply leaving the transportation funds without any income, they will impose a gas “fee” that goes to the transportaion accounts. Now, call me dumb, but when something is called a tax in one bill and a fee in another it seems like bait and switch rather than true solutions to me. So really what happens with this is that they are going to raise the sales tax and keep money coming in from taxing (well fee-ing) gas.

There is also a 2.5% income “surcharge” that will go into the General Fund. This sounds an awful lot like a higher income tax. However, the Democrats assure me that it isn’t a tax - it is a surcharge. When pressed for the difference, I am not sure any state legislator came up with a difference that someone might agree with. Well, someone that has to pay taxes on their income. The members of the Legislature are still getting their tax-free per diem allowance during this debacle. I am simply getting my paycheck, which will now (possibly) have a 2.5% surcharge.

No one is quite sure if this is legal. The Dems held a press conference where they assured everyone this would work, and that it was legal. But there are legal challenges ready to go if this ever passes. A legal challenge means the processes in the bills are going to be stayed (not go into effect) until the outcome of the challenge is resolved. So really, this does nothing. This could be a court battle of months - by which time a new budget is due.

So once again, no one is solving the problem.