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Taxes non-starter in ailing economy, GOP leader says
By Aurelio Rojas - arojas@sacbee.com
Last Updated 2:58 pm PDT Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Senate Republican Leader, Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, speaks to the Bee Capitol Bureau on Tuesday, May 6. Brian Baer / bbaer@sacbee.com
Saying the ailing economy is putting enough stress on taxpayers, Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill said Tuesday that Republicans will adamantly oppose any tax hikes to bridge California's budget deficit, which he pegged at $16 billion for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Cogdill suggested the budget could be balanced through service cuts and tapping into the reserves of voter-approved initiatives intended for early-childhood education, mental health services and transportation.
Taxpayers already are grappling with "record gas prices (and) food prices going through the roof," Cogdill, R-Modesto, said during a meeting with The Bee's Capitol Bureau.
"They're very concerned about their mortgages and whether or not they're going to be adjusted to a point where they'll join the lengthening line of foreclosures." he said. "To put tax increases on people at this time, it makes absolutely no sense."
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, has suggested expanding the sales tax to include services such as consultants, dry cleaners, lawyers and technology support. And Assembly Speaker-elect Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, believes the deficit cannot be closed through cuts alone.
Democrats, meanwhile, are likely to oppose Cogdill's suggestion to borrow money from three initiative-created funds: The county-based First Five commissions for children, established by Proposition 10; Proposition 63 to expand mental health services; and the Proposition 42 gas sales tax for transportation purposes.
Sen. Darrell Steinberg, the Senate's incoming president, said "no way" will he allow proceeds from Proposition 63, which he sponsored, to be used to defray the budget deficit.
"The voters of California passed an initiative which specifically prohibits the state Legislature from taking the money to balance the budget," said Steinberg, D-Sacramento, adding that such a raid on the initiative would be "unlawful."
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