Yesterday, the National Federation of Independent Business/California, the state’s leading small business association, formally joined in legal efforts to prevent legislators from circumventing the state Constitution by cleverly replacing the word “tax” with “fee” in an effort to obtain a simple majority vote to raise taxes on hard-working Californians.
Why did our organization, and the 23,000 small businesses we represent, choose to engage in this lawsuit? Frankly, because California’s “mom and pop” business owners – indeed, our state’s number one job creators – are absolutely outraged. As well they, and millions of other voters throughout the Golden State, should be!
Last November, California voters sent a new crop of presumed “leaders” to Sacramento with the hopes that they would not only create the law, but that they would abide by it as well. Moreover, voters approved Proposition 11, the Voters First Act, to put redistricting into the hands of the people of California, not the elected leaders (foxes) who have for too long been guarding their precious and plum positions (henhouse).
Sadly, instead of bringing change to the statehouse, it appears our leaders have chosen to not just protect the status quo, but to amplify it.
The most clever wordsmiths can twist a word however they wish – fee, levy, assessment, revenue-enhancement. A tax is a tax is a tax – and in the end, it doesn’t change the fact that it is still a new and unanticipated cost that Main Street can ill-afford, especially when unemployment is at record highs and consumer confidence is in the tank.
The recent attempts by state leaders to fool the public, malign the law-making process and circumvent Proposition 13 and the California Constitution represents everything that is wrong with the legislative process. As voters, we must unite in holding these officials accountable for their blatant manipulation and disregard for the law.
Whether or not one supports new revenue as part of the solution to the budget mess, no law should be broken in the process by anyone, certainly not by those whom we’ve entrusted to write the very language. During a time when people are losing sleep about the their businesses, families and future, more than ever we are desperate for leaders who will follow a code of honor, integrity and commitment to their oath, not Chicago-style gimmickry, wordsmithing and backroom deals that will take us downward even further and faster. Californians deserve nothing less.