State budget special election: An update {Golden State wants more of your gold}

SacBee: Capitol Alert ^ | 5/25/11 | Kevin Yamamura

[SmithL]

One of the most common questions in our budget online chat yesterday had to do with the budget special election.Gov. Jerry Brown originally called for an early June election, but that became impossible once talks ended in March. Here's where various players stand on the election issue at the moment:

Brown: Wants a special election as soon as possible, which realistically means September if the Legislature agrees on a budget by June. To balance the budget until an election, he wants lawmakers to extend sales and vehicle taxes from July 1 until the election. He backed off his original call for a retroactive extension of an income tax surcharge for 2011, though he still wants a smaller dependent tax credit.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento: Wants to balance the 2011-12 budget by having the Legislature approve a one-year extension in taxes. Wants the electorate to vote on extending the taxes for four more years some time in 2012.

Assembly Republican Caucus: Opposes tax extensions and opposes an election, other than one on pension reductions and a spending cap. Issued a plan that relies on cuts such as a 10 percent reduction in state worker compensation and taking funds from First 5 and mental-health programs, as well as Brown's projection of unexpected tax revenues.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles: Believes the Legislature should approve taxes on its own, but says he is open to a "ratification" by voters at some later date.

Voters: The most recent public polls show broad support for an election, though that doesn't translate into broad support for taxes. This includes Republicans who say they want a special election so they can vote against the taxes.

[SmithL]

Birds gotta fly,

fish gotta swim, and

Rats gotta TAX!

[NormsRevenge]

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles: Believes the Legislature should approve taxes on its own, but says he is open to a “ratification” by voters at some later date.

—
legislation by fiat ala
The UCBerzerkely grad..
who wasn’t

[South40]

The left is owned by the unions and they will never allow spending cuts before the raising of taxes.