Dan Walters at Calmatters.org has distilled the upcoming election for us noting that the candidate-based voting is a forgone conclusion, but the numerous initiatives is where the action will take place. I grew up in "Taxachusetts" but my home state has nothing on California. Squeezing more blood from the middle-class stone is on-going and the question is will this be the election where the backlash arrives? As Walters writes
The scale of the conflicts is most evident in an initiative, sponsored by the Business Roundtable and anti-tax groups, that would make state and local tax increases markedly more difficult to enact. It hits Democrats and their allied public employee unions where they live and they have mounted a two-pronged effort to block passage: a lawsuit, now pending in the state Supreme Court, to strike the measure from the ballot, and a competing proposition that would impose a higher and potentially prohibitive vote threshold on the tax measure.
On crime, he notes the ballot will include an "initiative that would modify Proposition 47, a 2014 ballot measure that reduced penalties for many crimes." I think of it as the "Walgreen's initiative" after hearing multiple instances of people walking out of the store on B'way with a garbage bag full of stuff. You want shampoo? Call a clerk to unlock it. Today's Comicle has a piece about some Safeway taking out the self-check kiosks and it ain't because they want to hire more checkers. Walters expects the backlash initiative to qualify. Further down the ballot:
Other high-profile measures either qualified or likely to qualify include a business-sponsored initiative that would repeal the Private Attorneys General Act, a two-decade-old union-sponsored law that makes class action lawsuits against employers relatively easy to file. Others include a third effort to make it easier for local governments to enact rent control, a boost in income taxes on high-income Californians to finance pandemic prevention, and an increase in the state’s minimum wage.
Talk about dumb and dumber. Let's mess up the rental market, the entry-level job market and kill the Golden Goose all in one fell swoop. There are five months to go. We shall see if the voters have had enough or if we get more of the same. Stay tuned.
Seeing the word "Taxachusetts", brought back a joke from many years ago.
Where was Ted's last wife registered at, for wedding gifts?
Answer: Scuba World!
Posted by: Paloma Ave | June 03, 2024 at 05:57 PM
Our tax status even hurts some of our pro sports teams! From the WSJ:
In theory, taxes should affect all North American professional sports equally. But that’s not the case with hockey, which has different salary cap rules and geographic dynamics than the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball.
All of which means that income taxes are now playing a bigger role on the ice.
Since 2020, as the NHL’s salary cap has increased just 2.4%, the teams making deep playoff runs have tended to be from states with lower tax rates. Of the 20 teams that made it to the conference finals or an equivalent round, 11 hailed from Florida, Texas or Nevada—all states without personal income tax.
Professional athletes owe taxes in every jurisdiction where they work each season, but the bulk of their salary is taxed at the rate of their home state. This means teams in states with the lowest income-tax rates have suddenly discovered they possess a meaningful advantage.
According to Sean Packard, tax director at accounting firm Octagon Financial Services, which represents over 100 hockey players, if a skater signed a $3 million contract with the Nashville Predators, he would pay zero dollars in state income tax (he’d still owe about $1.14 million in federal taxes). Had he signed that same contract with the San Jose Sharks, he would fork over roughly $371,000 more to cover California state income tax.
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For non-hockey fans, even though the number of players on the ice is small compared to other sports, hockey relies on a longer roster because the sport is so tiring that they run with four "lines" or shifts. Being able to pay the guys on the fourth line a bit more ups the skill set of the line. Go Sharks---let's hope they get out of the cellar with some good, cheap draft picks that can move up to the NHL quickly.
Posted by: Joe | June 04, 2024 at 01:02 PM