Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should veto special VTA sales tax
because it’s custom legislation and puts cart before horse
Sen. Elaine Alquist’s bill, SB 264, “Transactions and use taxes: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority,” has passed the state Senate and an Assembly committee and is likely to be approved by the full Assembly.
If conventional wisdom is correct and the bill is approved, we urge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto this bill.
South County’s current representative on the VTA board, Morgan Hill City Councilman Greg Sellers, endorses SB 264. Sellers sees “no downside,” as he told reporter Emily Alpert, saying that the bill “merely provides a new option for the VTA to consider smaller tax increases. It’s logistical.”
We strongly disagree with Sellers’ assessment.
This bill is custom designed for the VTA. It allows the troubled agency to seek 1/8-cent sales tax increases instead of the 1/4-cent increments that the VTA – and the vast majority of other agencies and municipalities – currently must present to voters.
If 1/8-cent increments are a good idea, then Alquist should sponsor and the full Senate and Assembly should pass a bill to allow all agencies and municipalities to seek them, not just the VTA.
That’s a downside of this bill because custom legislation is almost always bad legislation.
This legislation is flawed because it puts the cart before the horse. The VTA has yet to substantively address serious issues raised in the civil grand jury report and the Hays Group audit.
It has financial, organizational, and board structure issues that have been detailed frequently in this newspaper. Until those are addressed, it’s premature to make it easier for the VTA to pass new sales taxes, which this bill will do.
In fact, making it easier for the VTA to get more tax dollars will likely further delay any action on these items.
Putting the taxation cart before the reform horse is another downside of this bill.
Contact your Assembly member and the governor to voice your concerns about this bill and urge them not to support it.
CONTACT YOUR GOVERNMENT LEADERS
- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Fax: (916) 445-4633
E-mail: go******@*********ca.gov
- Assemblyman John Laird
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0027
Tel: (916) 319-2027
Fax: (916) 319-2127
E-mail: in**@*******rd.org
- Senator Abel Maldonado
100 Paseo de San Antonio, #206
San Jose, CA 95113
Phone: (408) 277-9461
Fax: (408) 277-9464
E-mail: se***************@****ca.gov
- Senator Elaine Alquist
State Capitol
Room 5080
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4013
Fax: (916) 324-0283
E-mail: se*************@****ca.gov
