You might have heard otherwise from politicians, but California’s spending has actually been increasing—not decreasing.
This year’s state budget is 5.6% higher than last year.
Yet all we hear from the politicians is how California can’t fund its schools, public safety and healthcare programs. What is even more alarming is that, despite the increase in spending, Gov. Jerry Brown is currently threatening that if we do not pass his Proposition 30 tax increase, he will cut billions from schools.
But if it passes, the proposition will put state spending at the highest level ever.
Proposition 30 would raise sales and income taxes on all Californians as much as $50 billion over the next seven years, but it doesn’t guarantee any new funding for schools.
Instead, Proposition 30 lets politicians take money currently earmarked for education and spend it on other programs. Even the official ballot label says the money can be used for “… paying for other spending commitments,” such as pensions, bureaucracy and welfare.
Furthermore, recent studies have shown that only up to 50% of the money intended for schools actually makes it into the classroom.
Not only does Proposition 30 fail to put money directly into classrooms, it is utterly devoid of the education reforms California so desperately needs. In short, nothing to cut waste, eliminate bureaucracy or cut administrative overhead.
Meanwhile, the $6 billion a year in higher sales and income taxes from Proposition 30 will devastate our economic recovery, hurting working families and small businesses the most.
The proposition raises sales taxes by $1 billion a year, increasing California’s sales tax, which is already the highest in the nation. Consumers will take huge hits as the cost of everything they buy will go up due to the higher tax. And millions of small business owners who file their taxes as individuals will face as much as a 30% increase in their income taxes.
Proposition 30 will destroy small business and kills jobs. We should be encouraging small-business job growth, not stunting it with higher taxes.
Rather than reforms, politicians are wasting billions on pay raises, hidden funds, secret committees, and pet projects like the High Speed Rail.
The governor just signed the sale of $5.8 billion of bonds for the rail project and found $54 million in hidden funds in the State Parks department Spending billions of dollars on unpopular programs and mismanaging our tax dollars is no way to sell a $50 billion tax hike.
Just like Californians have had to learn to live within their means during these hard economic times, politicians need to learn to live within their means and prioritize their spending, cut waste, eliminate bureaucracy—not use hard-working Californians and their small businesses as their piggy banks.
It’s time to stop the excessive spending and abuse. Don’t let politicians hurt working families and small business even more during these hard times.
Send Sacramento politicians a message by voting no on Proposition 30.
