Sen. hopes to avoid referendum

by Brian Leubitz

Sen. Hancock (D-Berkeley) has refiled her “Amazon” sales tax measure. Why, you ask? Well, the thing about the referendum process is that you can’t use it against a bill passed by 2/3 of the Legislature.  So, can she get the two votes?

Getting this passed will take the votes of two Republicans in each chamber — votes that weren’t there when the bill passed as part of the budget earlier this year.

Asked if she had secured the needed votes, Hancock said, “We’re talking to people. We have a week and a half left so we’re putting it out there and talking to people.”(SF Gate)

As we’ve mentioned here a few times, the Amazon tax measure raises some really interesting questions that don’t always line up perfectly with the R-vs-D divide.  Specifically, the Big Box stores are quite interested in seeing Amazon’s built-in government subsidy cut.

The question is how much influence do Wal-Mart and Best Buy have over the Republican caucuses in each house?  We’ll see over the next few weeks.