Given the fact that the Republicans have no interest whatsoever in reforming our broken revenue system in a way that would be palatable to the majority of Californians, it leaves the Legislature looking for other solutions. The majority vote revenue package has been hanging around for a while, and Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a version of it last year. But, the Democrats are bringing it back.
Assembly Democrats decided to find money to cut textbook costs for college students by closing a corporate tax loophole on multinational corporations.
By casting Assembly Bill 1178 as revenue neutral, raising and cutting equal sums in taxes, Democrats could ignore Republican opposition and pass the measure by a simple majority.
The bill moved to the Senate by the bare-minimum number of votes required, 41-28. (LA Times)
Of course, the Republicans haven’t met a tax loophole that isn’t sacred, a credit which isn’t deified. They have no interest in working with the Democrats and the majority of the country.
While majorities may support the supermajority, majorities also favor a working government. And right now, the Republicans are nothing but an obstacle to good governance.
With a simple majority, the Democrats in the legislature could also make the state income tax rates fairer. Currently single taxpayers making $47,500 pay the same rate as persons making up to $1 million, i.e., there are no tax brackets between $47,500 and $1 million. This puts a disproportionately large burden on people at the lower end of that scale, while letting the upper end skate. As long as the package is revenue neutral, these rates could be lowered for low-income people, and raised for high-income people, by simple majority vote.
I hope every group endorsing in Democratic primaries will insist on ironclad commitments on this, from every candidate who wants to call themselves a Democrat in the state legislature.
Brian, I ask as a serious question – if the net effect is to add revenue for textbooks, how is it revenue neutral? What’s the “procedure” for a trick like this?