Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to persuade anyone willing to listen and able to vote in November that raising taxes by $6 billion a year, mostly for state education spending, is crucial.
Good luck with that.
Backers and detractors are finding some common ground, though: Both say the push is badly needed.
Supporters view Brown’s income- and sales-tax increase as an investment in public schools and the state’s future. Opponents see it as a path to budget reform — once the measure fails.
“Reforms come when they have to, and not before,” taxpayer advocate Richard Rider told me last week.
I turned to Rider and Murtaza Baxamusa, an advocate for unions and the middle class, to dissect and discuss Proposition 30, Brown’s tax proposal, after the governor promoted it while in town Monday.
Rider and Baxamusa are go-to guys on a range of economic issues. You’ve probably heard of them. Maybe you even heard them on KPBS the day Brown touted his tax measure at San Diego City College.
Their conversation (video below) was an enlightening and entertaining 15 minutes — so much so that I decided to have them engage in this space, too.
That day, Baxamusa said the revenue from Brown’s tax increase would be “our investment in our future to maintain our education and our quality of life. That’s what makes California great.”
Rider’s reply? “If we give more money to the state, reform will not come. We’ve seen this over and over on the local level and on the state level. If we want reform, we first have to say, ‘No mas.’”
Brown’s tax proposal would increase the state’s sales tax by a quarter-cent for five years and income taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year for seven years.
With it, school spending would not suffer — to use Brown’s word — and the state would guarantee a certain amount of money to counties for assuming responsibility for more state prisoners and parolees.
Without it, there would be automatic budget cuts of $5 billion in K-12 schools and $1 billion in higher education and other programs. Under that scenario, school calendars could shrink by three weeks, forcing many parents to stay home or pay more for day care.
San Diegans have heard sky-is-falling warnings before. Just two years ago, Mayor Jerry Sanders joined a number of city officials in vowing that voter rejection of a temporary sales-tax increase would trigger massive cuts to police and fire budgets.
Everyone knows now that neither the increase nor the cuts happened.
This time around, though, Rider agreed with Baxamusa that the state’s threat is not so idle.
“It’s going to be a one-year disruption followed by hopefully some meaningful reforms,” Rider said. “Using the kids as hostages will not sell a second year, so they’re going to have to do something. ... Yes, you may have to take one for the team as a parent, but that’s the price we have to pay to bring it back in line.”
Said Baxamusa: “This is going to be an eye-opener should there be any consequences mid-year. ... This is not a game of chicken. This is really about the centerpiece of the budget in California.”
Critics said more responsible decision-making and fiscal oversight would halt years of California budget shortfalls. They’re using recent revelations of secret state surpluses and questionable accounting in the state parks department to make their case.
Backers said Brown’s proposal depends on how well he and others argue for it. Even with California in the bottom third of per-pupil school spending nationally, there’s no question they have a tough sell.
Baxamusa, for one, said the measure’s chances rest with Brown.
“This is a contract with Californians,” Baxamusa said. “It’s really at the end of the day about leadership.”
Baxamusa wouldn’t make a prediction when I asked him how the simple-majority vote may go at the end of that day — Nov. 6 — but Rider isn’t reluctant at all. He guessed the measure would lose with 53 percent of voters opposed and 47 percent in support.
Expect the predictions to increase with the rhetoric this fall.
This is just the start.
IMO: Education is very important to our state (yes I'm a Californian from San Diego) and our nation as a whole. This is way I've supported increased taxes for education, and school bonds, even though I have no children.
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