State Tax Update Archive
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Prop 37 Waiting on Ballot for California's Voters

Proposition 37 would close a loophole in the law that allows politicians to impose new taxes without a vote of the people or two-thirds of the Legislature.

Proposition 13 was passed in the 70's and required that new state taxes be approved by two-thirds vote of the Legislature. 

Then in 1996, Proposition 218 was passed which mandated that all new local taxes be approved by a vote of the people in that area.  The California Supreme Court subsequently passed down a decision in 1997 allowing state and local governments to impose new taxes on California businesses by calling them "fees" without meeting the requirements of Proposition 13 and 218.  Proposition 37 would close that loophole requiring fees to be treated as taxes and thus requiring any increase to pass the requirements set by Propositions 13 and 218.

The two propositions laid the groundwork for a national tax revolution and their integrity needs to be maintained to protect California's taxpayers from tax and spend liberals.

I-695's Sponsor, Eyman Faces Demonstrators

Tim Eyman who sponsored the initiative in Washington state that gave voters the power to vote on all new taxes and tax increases as well as lowering the Car Tab fee to $25 dealt with a protest a little too close to home.  Mr. Eyman has authored the "Son of 695" which would roll back all tax and fee increases imposed since July 2 and limit property assessments.  This is needed because once politicians realized that I-695 was going to pass late last summer they hurriedly passed a sleight of tax increases to keep their pockets stuffed full of cash for years to come.  This initiative would undo all of those.

Opponents to this initiative staged a protest right outside of Eyman's home while putting his address on press releases and the Internet inviting anyone and everyone who had a problem with I-695.  The protest made the front page of the Everett Herald.

Seems like Washington is quickly becoming a terrorist state within America's borders.  First demonstrations destroy small businesses and threaten hard working Americans during the WTO talks, then they threaten taxpayer advocates.

United Taxpayers of New Jersey Lawsuit Stalled

The United Taxpayers of New Jersey had planned to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of $8.6 billion in school construction bonds but are having a problem finding a lawyer.  The bond package became law in July without approval from the voters that could violate the constitution by not getting voter approval for the borrowing.  According to United Taxpayers of New Jersey all of the bond experts it wants to hire have a conflict of interest relating to work they do for the school districts who are set to benefit from the money.  The lawyers who know the New Jersey bond issue best all seem to have some sort of interest with the school boards or the state and don't want to jeopardize their relationships.  The United Taxpayers of New Jersey may have to find representation from outside of the state to get their suit filed.

Enemy of the Taxpayer - Senator Bill O'Gara (D) of Maine's 29^th district has been named October's Enemy of the Taxpayer.  Senator O'Gara's record demonstrates his willingness to tax Maine's citizens despite an already hefty tax burden. Even though Maine has the highest taxes in the nation (state and local burden as a percentage of personal income) Senator O'Gara wants to tax more.  He has already voted to raise the gas tax by $0.05 per gallon, to tax Social Security Benefits, to raise the sales tax to 6% and voted against reducing the sales tax to 5%.  Even worse he voted against exempting the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts from the sales tax and wants to tax Girl Scout Cookies at 10%; even higher than the sales tax!