Business groups are prepared to spend tens of millions of dollars this year on a California initiative that would make it more difficult to raise state and local taxes.
The proposal, which is currently gathering signatures for the November ballot, would increase the threshold for passing any new tax or tax hike to two-thirds of voters or an elected body — a change that supporters say is necessary after several recent court decisions weakened previous voter-approved initiatives to protect taxpayers. It would also require the money from those taxes to be spent on specific purposes.
“When we see a slowdown in the economy, as you know, money gets moved around quickly,” said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, who is leading the campaign. “We at least want to make sure that the money is going where it’s intended to go.”
View Article