Posted on 08/30/2002 10:12:42 PM PDT by Saundra Duffy
LEGISLATIVE ALERT By Senator Ray Haynes August 30, 2002 The Democrats are at it again. Another sneaky, underhanded trick is being played out even as I write this. The Assembly Democrats, with the blessing of Governor Davis, are attempting to triple the Car Tax!
When the Assembly Republicans held firm against this tax increase in the budget, and polling showed the Democrats that this was a very unpopular tax with the voters, the Democrats backed off and suggested raising the cigarette tax instead.
However, current information from the Legislative Analyst's Office indicates that the budget deficit has grown by another $2.5 billion, bringing the total to $26.1 billion. So the Democrats are trying to pull a fast one.
They gutted a health care measure (AB 1105) and inserted provisions which will allow the Director of Finance, (this is the same appointee by Governor Davis who signed off on the Oracle contract) to raise your car tax if "HE" decides that there are insufficient funds available to the State to pay its bills. This will mean a $3.9 billion tax increase for those of us that own cars, which is just about everyone.
If the legislature were to vote to raise the car tax, it would take a 2/3rds vote, but because they are giving the authority to an unelected appointee of Governor Davis, this bill can be passed by a simple majority vote. And as you know, the Democrats have majorities in both houses. Personally, I believe that this is unconstitutional, but they are going ahead with it, and will worry about such details later, perhaps after years in court (like the $300 smog impact fee they used to charge people moving into this state, which was later found to be unconstitutional).
They are trying to sneak this through without arousing the ire of people like you. We must work fast to try and defeat this move. Otherwise, you can bank on the fact that as soon as the election is over, the taxes you pay on your car are going to triple.
I am asking you to take a few moments of your time and let your Assembly member and Senator, and Governor Davis that you are against AB 1105, and you do not want them balancing the budget on the backs of your family and millions of other California drivers. Please feel free to disseminate this information to as many people as possible.
Contact your Assembly member: http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset7text.htm
Contact your Senator: http://www.sen.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/senators.htp
Contact the Governor: governor@governor.ca.gov
Call your local talk radio programs to express your opposition to the AB 1105.
Senator Ray Haynes
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