CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2022, OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“GOOD REASON FOR A GAS TAX HOLIDAY”
It was a
gutsy call when Gov. Gavin Newsom in late February suggested a gas tax holiday.
That kind of move has been anathema for California governors since the 2003
recall of Democrat Gray Davis in favor of movie muscleman Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger
made hay on the false assertion that Davis added a new gas tax that year, even
though all he really did was restore a levy he previously put on pause for more
than a year.
It became
Schwarzenegger’s key issue during that campaign, and it worked. No one
remembered that Davis saved millions of people hundreds of dollars each over
the preceding year. All they noticed was that they were paying more at the
pump.
Now comes
Newsom, not exactly calling for a tax reduction. He recommends putting in abeyance
indefinitely a 51-cent gas tax increase scheduled to take effect this summer.
He has to know there will come a time when the state will need that money and
either he or a subsequent governor will have to let the tax hike take hold.
He knows
this could lead to a second recall against him even if his likely reelection
this fall goes smoothly.
While
Newsom acts unfazed about that possible outcome, Sacramento’s other two top
leaders hesitate to give Californians this little bit of inflation relief.
In a
joint appearance before the Sacramento Press Club, both state Assembly Speaker
Anthony Rendon and state Senate President Toni Atkins expressed misgivings.
Both said
they think not charging the new tax, mandated by a years-old law, could cost
jobs by reducing funds for transit operations, road maintenance and highway
construction.
Said
Rendon, “I think that’s something that could potentially jeopardize a
tremendous amount of jobs…it could inhibit economic growth in certain sectors
in this state.”
He and
Atkins showed most concern about effects on members of building trades unions,
outfits among the leading backers of Democratic legislative campaigns.
But
there’s no reality to this worry, and they both know it. The approximately $500
million a one-year gas tax holiday would cost can easily be made up by tapping
California’s current huge budget surplus.
Said
Senate Republican leader Scott Wilk of Santa Clarita, “Democrats are tone deaf
if they think people don’t need a break at the pump.” In fact, California gas
prices in late February averaged $4.82, highest in the nation. In some places,
posted prices climbed well over the $5 landmark.
Wilk is
correct. There’s no doubt the state can afford to give drivers – most
Californians – a break when it is spending billions of dollars on the homeless,
a highly visible but actually tiny portion of the populace.
This is
especially true now, when some legislators are actively considering a proposed
new tax on the stuff owned by – not the incomes of -- persons with assets
valued at more than $50 million.
Even if
they are not producing income, say these ultra-liberal Democratic lawmakers,
those assets further the passing on of generational wealth and passively but
steadily add value. Assets involved include homes and stocks that pay no
dividends, but consistently gain market value.
The
measure is sponsored by Assemblyman Alex Lee of San Jose, who aims at the
15,000-plus wealthiest folks in California. He would tax anyone with a net
worth over $50 million at 1 percent and apply a $1.5 percent levy on those with
more than $1 billion in net assets.
“We want
the obscenely ultra-rich to be paying their fair share,” Lee told a reporter.
This, he
says, would add about $22 billion to the revenues of a state which already
sports a budget surplus almost double that amount, with legislators unsure what
to do with all the money at their fingertips. The asset taxation plan, novel
except in the property tax realm, would need voter approval to be effective
even in the unlikely event legislators pass it.
This is
but one example of the kind of funding source the state could tap to replace
any gas taxes it forgives. Which is just one more reason why it’s a good idea
to give average people a break right now at a very visible place, the gas pump.
-30-
Email Thomas Elias at
tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising
Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It" is now
available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
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