While some might say that Willie Brown was part of the system in the period where our government was functionally disabled, he does have a keen eye on these things.
It’s not that the public won’t go for it – the problem is that the Legislature can’t put together the two-thirds vote needed to put something on the ballot.
I was up in Sacramento on Thursday, and it was clear from my meetings with Democratic lawmakers that while there may be the votes to add some new “fees,” taxes just are not in the equation. (SF Chronicle 6/7/09)
This is pretty much conventional wisdom at this point. The issue, it seems, is getting beyond conventional wisdom in Sacramento. Your guess is as good as mine on how that happens…
Of course, we have to keep in mind that just because the votes are not there right now doesn’t mean they cannot be produced in the future. Brian is absolutely right about getting beyond conventional wisdom – particularly the notion that if someone says they won’t vote for something right now, that their position is written in stone and can never be changed.
If that were true, we’d never have closed the Yacht Tax loophole.
I’m hearing that Dems will try to find votes for fees to prevent wholesale elimination of programs, but that many programs, including CalWORKS, may see 50% cuts.
Which just isn’t good enough. Time Dems picked a big fight over tax loopholes.
In addition to what Willie Brown’s “hearing,” actual votes have already rejected cuts to Cal Grants and Hastings College:
Republicans actually were against eliminating Cal Grants but wanted to find additional offsets in the budget. But in the end, they voted to get rid of every aid grant for every California student who want to attend an institution of higher learning.
You would think that the Democrats could do something with that.
A friend of mine told me there were 16 GOP seats in Sacramento that were held by very thin margins in 2008. Even the ones that weren’t close want to keep their jobs.
Let’s let them know that for every dollar they cut from programs we want, for every dollar in revenue they don’t approve–we will donate a dollar to their opponent in the next election.
Let’s point out that 60-75% of Californians approve of tax proposals like oil severance, high-income increases, corporate increases. These are not just Democrats. These are DTS and GOP voters too.
Between the two, we ought to get their attention–and the votes we need to raise revenues to rescue these programs.
Let’s talk to the California Chamber of Commerce, the Silicon Valley Business Council, ag groups, hotel and restaurant associations and every other business group we can think of. Point out the billions California stands to lose in federal matching funds and stimulus dollars. See if their members will be hurt when $80 billion a year in tourism goes away after parks close. What it will do to their business when they lose police and fire protection and roads start to crumble. And how they’ll feel when they have to spend way more money a few years down the line to fix all the stuff we didn’t maintain this year and next.
Get them to raise the roof with the Republican legislators they support. I think they’ll get their attention.
Folks, I disagree with Mr. Brown. I think the votes will be there. We just have to do the work to get them.