Author: Chandra Sharma

State Controller John Chiang, who last week announced his intent to ignore the Governor’s Executive Order reducing the salaries of state employees to the federal minimum wage during the budget impasse, issued a new statement this morning — he claims that even if he wanted to comply with the Governor’s order, the ‘antiquated’ computer system used by the state to manage and issue payroll would not allow it.

I don’t ever recall reading about the payroll system causing a 6-9 month delay in processing wage and salary increases for the state’s workforce — maybe the delay only occurs in one direction?

Nonetheless, I do understand how such a change could be so complex. Sure, updating 200,000 database records is considered a fairly straightforward function in the technology world and likely requires so little processing power that your average Blackberry, iPhone or graphing calculator could accomplish the task within the requisite timeframe, but we must be careful not to expect too much all at once.

Here’s a suggestion for the Controller – maybe it’s time to switch?

Here are some articles in the news today that are worth a look:

• Occasional F&H Contributor Joe Hicks comments on the recent Los Angeles Fast Food Ban in the LA Times — Fast-food moratorium is meddling
• F&H Blogger John Kabateck comments on the ongoing budget skirmish in today’s Capitol Weekly — A small-business view on the budget: Use common sense
• Congressman Darrell Issa states his opposition to the Federal Housing Bailout Plan on the Flash Report — HOUSING BAILOUT SCHEME LEAVES TAXPAYERS HOLDING THE BILL

In retrospect, it seems absolutely deplorable – as new technologies continue to popularize and grow, improving the way we communicate, live and interact, the government has been deprived of its fair share. High-Speed Internet Service, Text Messages, iTunes Music and Video Downloads – yes, they all may seem like cutting-edge innovations that are helping bolster California’s economy by creating jobs and encouraging investment, but truly, all they’re doing is cheating the government out of valuable tax revenue.

For shame! Thank god that Progressive cities like Los Angeles and Sacramento, along with equally progressive legislators like Charles Calderon are there to put a stop to such an injustice and help the government get its fair share – after all, all those environmental impact reports aren’t going to pay for themselves.

But let’s be honest – taxing Music Downloads and Text Messages is a nice start, but if California is ever going to live up to its true tax potential, we’ll have to start getting more serious about taxing early and often. How long have iTunes and Text Messaging been around? We can’t afford to waste future tax revenue by sitting around waiting for the next big thing – it’s time to get proactive!

Here are some ideas for current and future innovations that we can tax immediately to make sure the government gets its fair share:

Check out these articles from this morning and the past weekend:

• HIGHER PROPERTY TAXES? @$! %
  
  Joel Fox and Allan Zaremberg, Flashreport
• The Golden State’s Not-So-Golden Goose
  
  Christopher Palmeri, Businessweek
• Slow news day? Old, new media push Schwarzenegger/Obama rumor
  
  Dan Weintraub, Capitol Alert
• Democrats Tax Plan Is A Tax On Job Creation And Economic Opportunity
  
  Senator Bob Dutton, Flashreport

A few Odds and Ends from this past week:

• The East Bay Express is reporting that Senate President pro Tem Don Perata may soon be indicted on federal charges stemming from a recent FBI corruption probe. In related news, the State Democratic Party gave Perata $250,000 to help fight the FBI Probe, and Shane Goldmacher of the Sac Bee reports that some Democratic Activists are none too happy about it.
• On the NFL stadium front, Yahoo News speculates on who might be the occupant of developer Ed Roski’s proposed Los Angeles Stadium. In the San Jose Mercury, Mark Purdy argues that San Jose’s vote in 1988 to build what is now the HP Pavilion Arena made San Jose a real city, and speculates that the same could be true for Santa Clara if the proposed 49ers stadium at Great America were to be built.
• California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring and Assemblyman Roger Niello react to the Democrats’ tax-laden budget proposal today on the Flashreport Blog.
• Assembly Republican Caucus Chair Bob Huff argues in the OCRegister that a Spending Limit is key to California’s Fiscal Health.

Check out this piece that ran over the weekend at Flashreport, a commentary by Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association calling for Legislative spending limits to help deal with Sacramento’s seemingly continual budgeting problems.

On the heels of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s announcement of his ‘potential’ run for Governor in 2010, he’s facing some trouble back home as a national furor is developing over the City’s decision to shield eight illegal immigrant crack dealers from deportation.

Newsom’s response? He claims he lacks the authority to intervene.

I don’t recall a lack of authority ever stopping him before…

For a great example of runaway bureaucracy at work, check out this article in today’s Orange County Register, which outlines a keen observation by Board of Equalization Member and F&H Blogger Michelle Steel on how the state is wasting millions of dollars by charging itself sales tax.