California Governor Jerry Brown is calling for a tax initiative to help fund schools and public safety, he announced Monday.
“The stark truth is that without new tax revenues, we will have no other choice but to make deeper and more damaging cuts to schools, universities, public safety and our courts,” Brown wrote to voters on his website, as reported by the Washington Post.
The proposal would temporarily increase taxes for the wealthy and raise the statewide sales tax by half a cent to 7.75 percent, the Washington Post reports. Such a move would raise seven billion dollars a year for five years.
Brown appealed directly to voters because he wanted to avoid getting "bogged down in partisan gridlock as happened this year” in the Legislature, where he failed to reach a tax compromise on a $26.6 billion budget deficit, the Washington Post reports.
But officials are already fighting the proposal.
“Assembly Republicans will again stand united as the last line of defense for taxpayers and will fight these reckless taxes every step of the way,” said assembly minority leader Connie Conway, as reported by the Washington Post.
California has already cut tens of billions of dollars in state spending since late 2007, the Washington Post reports.
