Secretary of State Debra Bowen has officially cleared a corporate tax increase initiative to circulate for signatures. The initiative, sponsored by Lenny Goldberg of the union-backed California Tax Reform Association, would repeal the single sales factor, tax credit sharing and net operating loss carryback provisions of February's budget compromise. The measure needs 433,971 signatures by February 8 in order to win a place on the June 2010 ballot.
On September 18, the Cal-Tax Board of Directors voted to oppose the measure because it would have a negative impact on jobs and the state's economy.
In other ballot measure news:
UC Berkeley Professor Files Measure to Lower Vote Requirement for Tax Hikes and Budget. George Lakoff, a University of California at Berkeley linguistics professor, filed an initiative September 24 that seeks to lower the legislative vote requirement for approving taxes and the state budget. The initiative would require a simple majority vote for taxes and the budget, down from the current two-thirds vote requirement.
Mr. Lakoff, who gained fame in 2004 as the author "Don't Think of an Elephant," a book on using "framing" and specific phrases to advance a liberal political agenda, has dubbed his measure the "California Democracy Act."
Cal-Tax President Teresa Casazza said the measure would strip taxpayers of an important constitutional protection, and would lead to higher taxes. "Californians have made it crystal clear that they don't support higher taxes, and that they don't want to make it easier for the politicians to raise their taxes," Ms. Casazza said. "Supporters may try to spin this initiative so voters don't think of a tax increase, but Californians are smart enough to see through the rhetoric and understand that this initiative is intended to pave the way for major tax hikes."
On the initiative papers filed with the state attorney general, Mr. Lakoff used his taxpayer-funded UC Berkeley e-mail address as his official e-mail contact.
Tobacco Tax Initiative Filed. A new initiative proposes to increase the state's tobacco tax by $1 per pack of cigarettes to raise money for cancer research. The initiative was filed with the Attorney General's Office on September 22. The sponsors are represented by the Sacramento-based law firm of Olson, Hagel and Fishburn LLP.
Measure Would Allow Referendums on Tax Legislation. A wide-ranging initiative was filed September 24 to make a number of changes to the state's initiative and referendum processes, including a change that would allow tax levies and urgency bills to be put to a referendum.
The initiative, filed by an individual who does not appear to have major political backing, also would extend the time period for collecting signatures to a full year (to make it more likely for all-volunteer efforts to have a chance of qualifying measures for the ballot) and would require the legislative counsel to provide assistance in the drafting of initiatives. The measure is titled the "Grass Roots Initiative Reform Act."
Cal-TaxReports, September 28, 2009
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