August 2002

ELECTRONIC EDITION

August/September 2002

Volume 6, No. 7

SUBJECT		ARTICLE
LEGISLATURE		Constitutional Amendments Are Needed To Derail ‘Midnight Specials’ that Abuse the Legislative Process. Fundamental fairness goes out the window as “midnight specials” derail the legislative process, writes Assembly Member Russ Bogh, who believes constitutional amendments are needed.
TAXES		Paid Leave Bill Threatens Employers and Workers with Billions in New Taxes. High on the list of job-killer bills, the paid leave measure threatens employers and workers with billions in new taxes, writes Julianne Broyles, director of insurance, employee relations and small business for the California Chamber of Commerce.
STATE BUDGET		Candy Over Compromise, Act II. Assembly Member Tim Leslie, in a sequel to his commentary a year ago about a corpulent child being stuffed with sweets despite declining health, writes that the child – the state’s budget – is not surprisingly in the emergency room.
STATE BUDGET		Cal-Tax: State Budget Process is Taxpayers' Nightmare. The state budget is a growing nightmare for taxpayers, writes Cal-Tax President Larry McCarthy, who adds that action on tax increases without public hearings is akin to a sneak attack.
STATE BUDGET		2002 California Budget Enacts Tax Law Changes. The fine print of the 2002-03 California budget’s tax provisions is covered by attorney Chris Micheli, who lobbies the tax arena for the governmental relations firm of Carpenter Snodgrass and Associates.
TAXES		The Naked Taxpayer. In “The Naked Taxpayer,” Barbara O’Connor writes that the Franchise Tax Board’s prototype online tax preparation program for low-income taxpayers may be a well-intended effort to help an underserved group cross the digital divide. However, the director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento, calls it a substandard program with severe privacy problems that ultimately makes targeted people more vulnerable.
EDUCATION		School Vouchers Aid Taxpayers, Too. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has reignited debate on school vouchers, and financial benefits for taxpayers should weigh heavily in the discussion, writes Kevin McCarthy, president of the Arizona Tax Research Association.
		(Editor’s Note: This is a compilation of articles posted during recent weeks on the electronic Cal-Tax Digest – www.caltax.org.)

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