Ask any “mom and pop” small business owner how they’re feeling on Main Street California these days, and they’re most likely to give you the same answer: “Uncertain and scared.” And with good reason.
California’s elected leaders continue to heap new taxes upon our leading job creators – and without one solitary reform to fix our broken system or assurance that they will spend our dollars responsibly.
So why should we trust the Governor, labor or any other tax-hike advocates when they tell us their various measures will solve our economic woes and help the local butcher, baker or candlestick maker sleep better at night. They won’t.
That’s why the National Federation of Independent Business/California and Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, representing the voice of small business and taxpayers in our state, together released an Open Letter to California’s Business Community calling upon everyone with an interest in business, jobs and the economy to join us in opposing these terrible, destructive tax proposals.
Some politicians, pundits and number crunchers may want you to believe that California is on the mend, but make no mistake: the Golden State is still a long way away from restoring its shine, and small business owners and taxpayers are a long way away from feeling confident once again.
Look at the grim numbers as they stand today:
- California still has the 3rd highest income tax in the nation.
- Our state sales tax rate (7.25%) is still the highest in the nation.
- California’s corporate income tax rate (8.84%) is still the highest west of the Mississippi.
- California’s 2011 Business Tax Climate ranks 2nd worst in the nation.
- We have the fourth highest capital gains tax at 9.3%.
- California has the second highest gasoline tax (averaging 65 cents/gallon) in the nation.
- California is ranked 14th highest in per capita property taxes (including commercial) – the only major tax where we are not in the worst ten states.
With these startling figures alone, how is it that we can rest assured “the ice is thawing” in some way?
And, lest we forget, our state leaders have promised us time and again meaningful, sustainable reforms to help business and jobs recovery – and with no tangible results:
- Nothing to fix our $500 billion unfunded pension liability.
- No meaningful, comprehensive reform to the regulatory morass that is strangling job creators.
- Nothing to stop egregious and frivolous “shakedown” lawsuits that have nothing to do with justice and everything to do with making a quick buck for the plaintiffs’ bar.
Simply stated, it is difficult to understand why, given California’s heavy tax burden and harsh regulatory and legal climate, any private sector entity doing business in California would support higher taxes.
Governor Brown, we understand, is working tirelessly to cajole and persuade business organizations and leaders to support his proposal to raise sales and income taxes on business, and yet by his own projections, the state deficit will shrink to $1.9 billion by 2015 without a single tax increase.
The Governor, labor and other tax proponents want you to believe that $35 billion in new and higher taxes will pave the way to solving California’s ills.
But we must ask: without one reform to control the cost of government or make it more efficient, without any history of politicians making good on their promises for reform, and with a projected shrinking deficit without any new taxes, why should small businesses or any taxpayer pay one cent more? No track record, no science, no logic – no good.
NFIB/CA and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association could not sit on the sidelines and allow our leaders to shake the remaining coins out of the pockets of already struggling Californians. But we cannot do this alone.
We call upon all citizen taxpayers and the small business community to do what is right for all of California and urge you to join us in opposing any and all proposed tax increases by signing and submitting this attached form.
As Benjamin Franklin once noted, we must hang together in order to avoid hanging separately.