ballot propositions

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The Other Tax: Prop 39

Byuclafaculty

As the website of the official opposition group to Prop 39 (as of this morning) indicates, there is not much effective opposition.  Go to the group’s Facebook page and you find the same thing.  Prop 39 – as proponents put it – closes a corporate tax loophole that was opened up as part of a tax deal in the legislature in 2009.  It favors out-of-state corporations by giving them a choice of tax computations.  So in-state businesses are not happy with the idea of competitors from out-of-state getting a special deal.  That fact means that elements of the local business…

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Before and After

Byuclafaculty

Before the Election: Campus Program on Ballot Propositions: Nov. 1 The UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment present: Death and Taxes (and other hot topics): Debating the 2012 California Ballot Propositions  with Gray Davis, Luskin Distinguished Policy Fellow, and Cameron Smyth, Luskin Senior Fellow California voters face big decisions on the 2012 ballot initiatives. From tax policy to the death penalty to genetically modified food labeling, a lot is at stake on the ballot. Join us for an educational and informative forum to analyze the initiatives. TIME Thursday, November 1, from 12:15 – 1:45 pm (Note:…

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The Governor on Higher Ed and UC

Byuclafaculty

On Oct. 16, Gov. Brown came to UCLA to promote his tax initiative, Prop 30.  As part of that visit, he met with UC student journalists at the UCLA Daily Bruin offices.  An audio was made of the interview.  The full interview runs about three quarters of an hour.  It is available at: http://www.dailybruin.com/multimedia/51093 However, about thirteen minutes was focused on Brown’s thoughts about higher ed, particularly his long-term vision for UC as an ex officio Regent.  I think it is fair to say that while he had thoughts, it would be hard to term them a coherent, long-term vision. …

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Lawsuit filed against a CSU campus over promotion of Prop 30

Byuclafaculty

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. has filed a lawsuit claiming that an email by a campus administrator improperly used public resources (the email system) to promote Prop 30, the governor’s tax initiative which has been endorsed by the UC Regents.  The Regents live streamed their endorsement during a regular meeting using UC facilities.  So why a particular CSU campus is the target of the lawsuit is unclear. The offending email is not reproduced in its entirety in the lawsuit but is summarized as follows: The communication expresses and solicits support for Proposition 30.  The email is addressed “Dear Students,” and solicits…

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Change in Direction: Prop 38 Supporter Stops Anti-Prop 30 TV Ads

Byuclafaculty

As readers of this blog will know, Prop 38 (the Molly Munger school tax) and Prop 30 (the governor’s tax – endorsed by the UC Regents) are in somewhat of a face-off. Although if both passed, the one with the most votes would probably go into effect, that outcome seems unlikely. Prop 38 has polled poorly whereas Prop 30 has been marginally ahead. So the more likely outcomes are 1) Prop 30 passes and Prop 38 fails or 2) both fail.  If we get #2, there will be trigger cuts including $250 million for UC and tuition increases.  If we…

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Johnny Dollar Reports

Byuclafaculty

There used to be an old radio show, “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.”   The closest we now have in California is state controller John Chiang who provides monthly cash reports on the state’s budget. For the first quarter of the current fiscal year (2012-13), we are behind on revenue by about $200 million (which is really noise given the size of the budget).  We spent, however, over a billion dollars more than budgeted for the first quarter.  The extra spending seems to be occurring in the social welfare area.  It’s not K-12 or higher ed. Anyway, if the budget estimate…

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Who Will Vote in November? Do Voters Dislike Voting on Ballot Propositions?

Byuclafaculty

There are eleven state propositions on the November ballot as well as the national, state, and local candidates and local propositions. Among those state propositions is Prop 30, the governor’s tax plan endorsed by the Regents.  As a new PPIC publication notes, voters in California are not a random sample of the population.  See the table above.  And despite complaints about all those propositions on the ballot (there are eleven this time), they like direct democracy as the chart below indicates. The PPIC publication from which the table and chart are drawn is at: http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/atissue/AI_1012MBAI.pdf

Campus Program on Ballot Propositions: Nov. 1

Byuclafaculty

The UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment present: Death and Taxes (and other hot topics): Debating the 2012 California Ballot Propositions  with Gray Davis, Luskin Distinguished Policy Fellow, and Cameron Smyth, Luskin Senior Fellow California voters face big decisions on the 2012 ballot initiatives. From tax policy to the death penalty to genetically modified food labeling, a lot is at stake on the ballot. Join us for an educational and informative forum to analyze the initiatives. TIME Thursday, November 1, from 12:15 – 1:45 pm (Note: An earlier version of this announcement said the start time…

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The 3rd Tax on the Ballot

Byuclafaculty

Most of the media attention with regard to tax initiatives on the November ballot has gone to Prop 30 (the governor’s tax) and Prop 38 (the Molly Munger tax) and their rivalry. However, also on the ballot is Prop 39 which is generally described as closing a corporate tax loophole that favors out-of-state firms.  It has polled well and there doesn’t seem to be an organized opposition campaign against it.  Prop 39 is said to involve about a billion dollars in potential revenue.  However, it has been criticized in some newspaper editorials as ballot-box budgeting because it earmarks about half…