A key Senate tax committee today voted 9-0 to advance legislation I am sponsoring to empower California’s tax agencies to better assist struggling taxpayers.

The bill will help California’s job creators who are survivors of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and give tax agencies the needed flexibility to deal fairly with taxpayers who are victims of California’s economy.

More specifically, Senate Bill 228 (Wyland) would permit the Board of Equalization, Franchise Tax Board and State Controller to “withdraw” a lien when a taxpayer pays an outstanding liability in full—removing the lien from the taxpayer’s credit record.

Under current law, when a taxpayer falls behind on payments, California’s tax agencies may place a lien on that taxpayer’s personal property.

Once a taxpayer pays the outstanding liability in full, California tax agencies may “release” the lien. However, the release does not remove the lien from a taxpayer’s credit record,… Read More

There are a lot of publications worth reading — but none is as enlightening, and as filled with works of gravitas as the Claremont Review of Books. The CRB, which is published by the Claremont Institute, is a “must read” for those serious about public policy in America, and in California. Don’t take my word for it — today we feature a staggeringly insightful article, The Tao of Jerry Brown, from Claremont scholar William Voegeli that appears in the latest addition of CRB (reprinted with permission, of course). My first thought when I heard the news about Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver separating was to make light of it — Schwarzenegger, of course, would make jokes at the most awkward of times while Governor. But then, after thinking about it, I realized that there is nothing funny about a couple having marital problems. The entire Schwarzenegger family is in my prayers. Last week our friends over at Randle Communications rolled out the announcement that longtime Sacramento … Read More

I am delighted today to present “The Tao of Jerry” — an outstanding, substantive perspective on our state’s governor, as offered by Claremont Institute scholar William Voegeli. The piece is lengthy, and even that may be an understatement. That having been said, once you have read it, I’m sure you will agree that to edit it down to a shorter length would have been to have lost precious insights into this complex man who is once again atop the Golden State’s political structure. My only reading “tip” for you would be that if you do not have the time to read this at your computer, the essay is available in .pdf format here — so you can print it to read at your leisure. Voegeli is a frequent contributor to one of the most significant and important publications to which I subscribe, the Claremont Institute’s Claremont Review of Books.… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: We are pleased to present this original commentary from Jennifer Kerns. Kerns is a taxpayer advocate and Republican strategist – Flash]

CTA, Code Pink and Cindy Sheehan…Oh, My! By Jennifer Kerns

It wouldn’t be the official start to May Revise season without a little rancor at the State Capitol.

But this week’s hysteria reached an all-new “circus” atmosphere when Cindy Sheehan, Code Pink AND the California Teachers Association all converged at the same hour to shout about everything from the State budget to war in the Middle East.

On one side of the Capitol, the California Teachers Association gathered with a few hundred of their closest well-paid friends to hold a press conference to kick off their

“State of Emergency” campaign against an all-cuts State budget. Whether it… Read More

Faithful FlashReport readers know that when it’s merited, I opine on the biased reporting of many of the MSM publications in California. To be honest, I don’t call out egregious stories often enough — sometimes it’s too much of a burden (how many times to do I have to see stories that refer to Governor Brown’s proposed NEW taxes as merely tax extensions?). This morning I am aiming my sights at a story that ran on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday, “Koch brothers may fight California oil tax.”

Do not be confused by the headline. The Koch Brothers (as is clear to anyone who actually reads the story) are likely not even aware of this oil tax measure that is apparently the brain child of a community college professor from Cypress – it is a long way from qualifying for the ballot. Yet the paper saw fit to print a front-page story about it based on rumors and speculation. Despite the misleading headline, nothing in the story indicates that the Koch brothers even know there is an oil severance tax initiative… Read More

Everyone said to be prepared as the left wing whack-jobs were all descending on the Capitol this week to rally for higher taxes. While I have yet to hear of a visual on Cindy Sheehan who supposedly is going to chain herself to the building, or something like that, we’ve gotten some photos in from the event. In this shot, you see one of the many people wearing their fancy compulsory-dues-paid-for “California Emergency” blue shirts on — with the big “Tax the Rich” sign. Clearly visible is the link to a website — peaceandfreedom.org. So that no one doubts the exact agenda of this activist and his organization, here is their “Summary” platform…

• Double the minimum wage, and index it to the cost of living. • Guarantee the right of all workers to organize and to strike; forbid striker replacement. • Socially useful jobs for all at union pay levels. • Equal pay for equal work, and for work of comparable worth. • A 30-hour workweek with no cut in weekly pay; longer paid vacations. • Guaranteed dignified income for those who… Read More

Last night the South Carolina Republican Party co-hosted the first Presidential debate amongst Republican candidates (editorial note: failing grades to those that skipped it). Anyways, I was on the SC GOP website and they had a fun ad at the top, so I thought I would share it…

I’m a Republican from SCGOP on Vimeo.

Join Us. Visit SCGOP.com today.

Advertisement for The South Carolina Republican Party.… Read More

Last evening I published a note on Facebook offering to publish something from a reader who submitted a column on short notice. A big shout-out to the half-dozen submissions. Let me say this first — Joe from the coast, you need to actually send me .jpg files of his charts and graphs for me to use your stuff. That said, hope you enjoy Scott’s submittal…

FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION FOR CALIFORNIA; BUT DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING…HARD By Scott Hounsell

While our state continues to face a financial crisis and Democrats continue to grasp at straws to explain how, even after raising taxes two years ago we are right back at our 20 billion dollar budget deficit, the left continues to state that continuing those tax increases is the only way to pay for the shortfall. Despite this urgency, they ignore facing the issue and rather spend the time further regulating environmental quality and business development, discouraging and driving away business from our suffering economy. With both taxation and regulation driving corporate business out… Read More