Sen. Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) announced today that he is no longer co-authoring Senate Bill 752.  Here is the statement that he issued:

“I have decided to remove my support for Senate Bill 752.  In light of the state’s deteriorating fiscal situation I cannot support the bill as currently written.

I will continue to work to assist California’s families by looking into tax breaks and other opportunities.

Over the last 48 hours, thousands of Californians have asked me what I was thinking so I thought I would take this opportunity to share my thoughts.

I looked at this from two angles; first, I have never seen a tax cut that I didn’t like and second, I always look for ways to create opportunity.  Republicans in the legislature should be thinking creatively about how to return more tax money to hard working Californians.

The idea of a KIDS Account is not a new one and has conservative roots. Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania introduced an identical idea in the Senate in 2005. He said, “America must become an ownership society where individuals in all economic stations have the opportunity to obtain assets, whether that be a home, savings account or investment portfolio.”  Just yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke voiced his support for similar accounts by saying “To the extent that we can help people learn about how to save, how to budget, we are doing a great service.”

The national savings rate is at its lowest point since the Great Depression.  Americans are carrying record levels of debt. According to a survey by the Coalition for Financial Security, less than a third of people under 40 own investment products.  The State must not legislate investment behavior.  What we can do is create opportunities for people to learn financial skills.  As individuals increase their financial literacy, the cause of liberty is advanced.

So many government social programs guarantee dependence on government for years and generations to come.  Individuals choosing to spend their savings on higher education, buying a house or rolling it over to a retirement account will become less dependent on state government.  Republicans understand that as self-sufficiency increases the power of the state decreases.

I came to Sacramento with an agenda to create opportunity and self-sufficiency.  Legislative Republicans have to be creative in order to advance our agenda.  Legislative Republicans should help create generations of adults who will depend less on government.  Financial literacy advances freedom.  Freedom advances a Republican agenda and more importantly advances the cause of liberty.”

This entry was posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.