Sacramento is getting closer to a plan to close California's massive budget deficit, but we need your help to make sure that closing corporate tax loopholes is part of the solution. The legislature's Budget Conference Committee has produced its alternative to the governor's plan and the legislature will likely vote on it this week. Click here for a summary of the Committee's budget blueprint (pdf).
The Conference Committee budget proposes to shut down two of the three new corporate tax giveaways that we've been pushing to close, but legislative Republicans and the governor are demanding that these loopholes stay open.
Follow the links below to find out how you can make sure we get a budget deal that puts families - not corporations - first.
> Contact Your Legislator: Shut Down Corporate Tax Giveaways
> Sign the Petition: No More Budget Cuts Until Corporate Tax Cuts are Shut Down!
> Why is Chevron getting a massive state tax cut? Click to download pdf
BACKGROUND
California is once again confronting a massive budget deficit and there is no question that tough choices will have to be made. Governor Schwarzenegger’s latest budget plan though, would just make matters worse for the economy, for working families, and for the state’s most vulnerable residents. It involves massive cuts to education, public safety, health care, and human services programs. If enacted, these cuts would shortchange Californians and undermine our economic security for years to come. Click here for a summary of the governor’s budget proposal (pdf).
State services -- and the Californians who rely on them -- have already taken $25 billion in cuts since September. Even as they were slashing budgets for desperately needed state programs, legislators and the governor created billions of dollars in new, permanent, and uncapped corporate tax loopholes. These unfair breaks benefit some of the world’s wealthiest corporations, provide no proven economic value, and come at the expense of California’s future.
That’s why we’re demanding that legislators shut down these loopholes before they make another dime in cuts to vital services. Each year, California gives away more than $50 billion in tax breaks to individuals and wealthy corporations. If we close just some of these tax loopholes, we can protect public safety and maintain lifesaving programs for some of California’s most vulnerable residents.
The decision to keep tax loopholes open and make cuts instead is a conscious choice, and it’s one that legislators should be held accountable for making. Here are just a few examples of the choices legislators can make in the coming weeks as they debate solutions to the budget crisis:
| Legislators can completely eliminate CalWORKS, the state’s successful welfare-to-work program that helps support families as they get training and get back to work. State savings: $1.3 billion | OR |
They could close the “research and development” tax break for corporations, milked by drug companies who spend the millions they save in taxes on lobbying to keep drug prices higher. State savings: $1.3 billion |
| Legislators can stop funding state parks, closing them to the public and endangering wildlife, historic treasures, and public lands AND virtually eliminate in-home supportive services for the elderly and disabled, potentially sending tens of thousands of patients to nursing homes unnecessarily. State savings: $684 million | OR |
They can get rid of the tax loophole that lets giant multinational corporations shelter their profits in offshore tax havens like the Cayman Islands. State savings: $700 million |
| Legislators can eliminate the Healthy Families program, Leaving 900,000 kids uninsured AND take funding away from services for the seriously mentally ill AND cut off access to life-saving medication for low-income HIV/AIDS patients. State savings: $513 million | OR |
They can end the loophole that subsidizes Wal-Mart’s low-wage, no-benefit jobs through the enterprise zone program, which non-partisan analysts have consistently said provides no economic value. State savings: $497 million |
Don’t let Sacramento politicians claim there are no alternatives to cuts. Closing corporate tax loopholes can save jobs and save lives. It’s all a matter of priorities.
Additional Information:
- California Labor Federation fact sheet on cuts versus corporate tax breaks (pdf)
- California Labor Federation summary of the governor’s budget proposal (pdf)
- California Labor Federation summary of Budget Conference Committee Proposal (pdf)
- Assembly Budget Committee analysis of the governor’s proposal (pdf)
- Full listing of California’s individual and corporate tax breaks (pdf)
- Full listing of Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed cuts (pdf)
- California Budget Bites, the California Budget Project’s blog
Contacts
- Angie Wei, Legislative Director (Workers' Compensation)
- Caitlin Vega, Legislative Advocate (Wage and Hour, Public Employees, Low Wage Worker Issues, Underground Economy, Right to Organize, Immigration)
- Jeremy Smith, Legislative Advocate (Family Leave, Worker Health and Safety, Offshoring, Election Reform, Labor Education, Green Jobs, Toxics in the Workplace)
- Emily Clayton, Policy Coordinator (State Budget, Unemployment Insurance, Healthcare)
- Shawna Manning, Legislative Office Manager