California Voting: Proposition 24
The Governor's Race
The Lt. Governor's Race
The Attorney General's race
The Senate Race
Proposition 19: Yes
Proposition 20: Yes
Proposition 21: Yes
Proposition 22: ?
Proposition 23: No
Proposition 24:
Repeals Recent Legislation That Would Allow Businesses to Lower Their Tax Liability.
Official summary:
* Repeals recent legislation that would allow businesses to shift operating losses to prior tax years and that would extend the period permitted to shift operating losses to future tax years.
* Repeals recent legislation that would allow corporations to share tax credits with affiliated corporations.
* Repeals recent legislation that would allow multistate businesses to use a sales-based income calculation, rather than a combination property-, payroll- and sales-based income calculation.
Estimated fiscal impact:
* Increased state revenues of about $1.3 billion each year by 2012-2013 from higher taxes paid by some businesses. Smaller increases in 2010-11 and 2011-2012.
If ever there was a proposition that didn't belong on a ballot, this one is it. Who the hell knows enough to analyze the effect of obscure cut legislation on California's businesses, California's jobs, and California's economy? It's likely true that none of the legislature did so (or, for that matter, could have done so) either because
The tax breaks targeted by the initiative were agreed to by California lawmakers as part of budget agreements in late 2008 and in what capitol reporter Steve Harmon refers to as "secret negotiations in February".
As I recall, it was all done at the very last minute and no one had any idea what they were voting for.
That said, how, in the middle of one of the worst budget crises in the state's history, do you go and vote for 1.3 billion dollars of tax cuts per annum? For anyone? There's a very distinctive smell here, and it's not steak, mushroom and garlic.
California's tax regulators estimate that about 120,000 businesses in the state would have higher taxes, if Proposition 24 is approved by voters.
Okay, so how many businesses are there in California? 3.3 million small businesses, apparently. Throw in another 100,000 larger ones and call it 3.4 million. That comes out to 3.5% of all businesses in California.
Screw it. I'm not throwing away 1.3 billion in revenue so 3.5% of California's businesses can get a tax break that they never had before and probably wouldn't miss if it had never become an issue. If legislators can be made to vote for a tax break in the middle of the night in the middle of a budget crisis, then I think I'm entitled to tell them to go to hell, even if I don't understand the technical details.
Caveat Emptor.