This just in from Patrick Gleason & Kelly W. Cobb over at Americans for Tax Reform…
Americans for Tax Reform is active in all 50 state capitals and from this perspective one thing is clear, when it comes to legislative creativity, lawmakers in Sacramento have every other state easily beat – no contest. Unfortunately for those currently contending with the state’s nearly 12% unemployment rate, California legislators only seem to use their creativity for the purpose of enacting job-killing tax increases and other measures that only serve to further depress the Golden State’s already flagging economy.
The latest exhibit of this unfortunate fact is Assembly Bill 155, legislation that, if Democrat lawmakers have their way, would “gut-and-amend” an existing bill to re-enact a sales tax on out-of-state and online purchases signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in June. The end goal of this legislation, pushed by the often misguided and incorrect Sen. Loni Hancock, is simply to block California voters from deciding the fate of the controversial online sales tax on the ballot. Gov. Brown has been stressing the need for job creation lately, yet let’s not forget that the application of his signature to that legislation cut off a vital source of income for many Californians, with 25,000 Golden State advertisers losing some or all of their business as a direct result.
Sacramento’s latest Internet tax plan is nothing more than an end-run around the will of the people and an effort to enshrine the enactment of an economically destructive tax increase into law. Fortunately this measure is subject to a two-thirds vote requirement, and as such, Republican lawmakers can block it if they keep their commitment to their constituents.
This morning ATR sent a letter to all California legislators making clear that AB 155 is a violation of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, and strongly urging opposition to this ill-advised legislation. For a copy of the letter, click here.