“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
From Senator George Runner . . .
Week In Review: Budget update - Governor vetoes illegal legislation that would have raised taxes on Californians
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As you may have read, the Democrat Legislators approved legislation on Dec. 18 that would raise taxes without the mandatory two-thirds vote required by the California Constitution.
Democrat leadership claimed they found a loophole that would allow them to essentially exchange old taxes for new fees; in other words they would reduce or eliminate some taxes and create fees as backfill revenue. In the end, Californian families and businesses would shell out another $10.8 billion in taxes.
As a preemptive strike, my Republican colleagues and I joined forces with taxpayer advocacy groups and business leaders not only to oppose the plan but to move forward with a law suit to challenge the legality of the Democrat plan. We filed suit yesterday in California’s Third District Court.
Sen. George Runner told the Capitol Press on Dec. 18 that Republicans, taxpayer advocate groups and business leaders will file suit to challenge the legality of a Democrat budget plan.
The Governor said he would veto the Democrats’ budget plan, but after negotiating with Democrat leaders for the past three weeks (over issues related to stimulating the economy – not tax increases) he finally vetoed the bill yesterday. (Click here to read his letter to the Democrat leaders).
Given the severity of the budget deficit, we wish the veto would have come three weeks ago, but we applaud the Governor for his action.
All that said, the California budget still has a gaping deficit that demands immediate attention. We are optimistic that Republican leaders will be invited back to the negotiation table, and we are hopeful the Governor and the Democrats will take heed to our pledge to oppose new taxes.
We will also continue pushing for reduction in government growth and spending and economic stimulus to create more jobs for workers, incentives for employers and quite possibly better roads and highways for California drivers.
But while we are hopeful, we are also cautious of our Democrat colleagues’ eagerness to burden Californians with more taxes and fees – at any cost, including trampling the California Constitution.
Therefore, in the event another illegal plan is approved, I am ready to file a referendum with the Secretary of State to have such legislation overturned by the voters of California.
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