Don’t Leave Our Economy a Clunker
By Jessica Bartholow, Legislative Advocate
Western Center on Law and Poverty

Last week’s Revenue and Taxation Committee hearing was, in most respects, just like any other convened this year. It was held in a small hearing room on the first floor of the old side of the Capitol building which was filled with the suits and highly shined shoes of corporation lobbyists there to testify for bills that would expand tax loopholes and enact newly invented tax breaks. On this day, however, the room’s periphery was lined with advocates for California’s low-income families who have been taking note of the tax expenditures so easily secured by moneyed interests over the past couple of years while safety-net expenditures have been cut to the bone. They were there to testify for AB 1386, introduced by Assembly Member Warren Furutani (D – Carson), which calls for a temporary increase in the personal income tax of the richest 2% of Californians.

As they waited, Assemblyman Knight’s AB 2528 was heard. This bill calls for an additional tax credit for Californians who participated in the federal Cash For Clunkers Program. As the bill was presented, Assembly Member Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) furrowed her brow with confusion and asked twice for Assembly Member Steve Knight (R-Antelope Valley) to restate the goal of the bill and declare his support for the federal program which had received heavy criticism from California Republicans. Assemblyman Knight complied with her request and stated that the federal program was a success in generating economic stimulus. Perhaps even more ironic than Mr. Knight’s newly declared support for the program was the fact that the bill, which calls for a state tax credit for program participants, was being presented to a committee in which Assembly Member Jim Beall (D- San Jose) is a member. Mr. Beall has authored AB 1058 that would allow poor Californians to keep their clunkers and not have them count against them when applying the California Work Opportunities and Reinvestment in Kids (CalWORKs) program. Current law does not allow a family to own a vehicle worth more than $4,750 and participate in CalWORKs, yet Knight didn’t even blush when he asked the committee to vote yes for his bill that would give $4,500 in tax credits to Californians who bought new cars this year.

When the Furutani bill was heard, advocates for California’s poor testified in support, along side educators, the disabled and health advocates, then shuffled their well-worn heels off to the next committee, held in the large yet overfilled room on the 4th floor of the Capitol, where they would once again defend programs that keep low-income families from going hungry and homeless.

By the end of this week, Californians will be presented by the Governor’s May Revise Budget. I hope that they will tell him and Sacramento lawmakers that they will not stand by as the state gives away its cash through widening tax loopholes and unchecked tax breaks for the wealthy while leaving our economy, our schools and our families a clunker.